Can't Transfer Mobile Carrier From Old iphone 12 to New iphone 16 Pro Max

[NoodlesatNight8]

Hello yesterday I received my new Iphone 16 Pro Max. I currently use a Iphone 12. I had an issue with transferring over my mobile carrier. My iphone 12 is updated to the new ios. I was able to set up my iphone 16 through the icloud sync and transfer over apps and icloud account management.

The issue came to the mobile carrier transfer that is done by going to Settings -> Add eSim -> Transfer From Nearby Iphone. When I did this, a pop up screen popped up with the EE logo and the screen suggests that the user needs to refresh the screen by pressing cancel and trying again. 

I did a hard re-set of both phones using the power and low volume button to shut down the phone. Again the process failed. 

I ended up having to call 150 and speak to the agent. A super nice individual calling from EE's team over in Ireland. Unfortunately the only solution is to request a new sim card.

I suspect that since my iphone 12 previously did not house a sim and just an eSim, it could not port  / transfer over to my new phone. 

150 text me today saying a sim has been dispatched. Will update this forum once I continue on with this process. This post is purely informative and to help other users who are and or could experience a similar scenario to me. Stay tuned -

Best wishes, 

Noodlesatnight8

A cold rainy Kennington London, 27th Jan 2025

[bristolian]

It's certainly an illustration of one of the downfalls of embedded/electronic SIM.

Have a physical SIM? Take it from your old phone, put it in your new phone. 2 minutes, job done!

[Chris_B]

@NoodlesatNight8   The eSIM transfer should work but when it doesn’t it will require an actual SIM card.  eSIMs are great if you actually need it but when you don’t it’s a pain when things like this go wrong.    Just to check Bluetooth and WiFi are on on both devices?  

You might want to read THIS 

[NoodlesatNight8]

Hello unfortunately I do not have a sim for this phone in my IPhone 12. I’m hoping that a new sim can rectify this problem. 

Was hoping that this would have been a simple transfer of the mobile carrier. 

[NoodlesatNight8]

Hello yes I’m connected to wifi and Bluetooth on both devices. Both devices seem to recognise one another.  I just see the EE pop up screen saying that the session has timed out on the new iPhone 16 following the entry of a code I see on my old iPhone. Definitely think this is due to not having a physical sim in my old phone. 

[Michael_D · Accepted solution]

Hi @NoodlesatNight8 

You should still be able to transfer over the eSIM from the old phone to the new phone if the software is iOS16 or later on both of them. You can see how to do this here.

If that still doesn't work, it would need to be a new SIM card or eSIM. Did our guides request one for you when you spoke to them?

Michael

[Saddleburner]

Hi NoodlesatNight8. I had a similar problem on Android. I tried for days to 'import' an esim from my old phone and even visited a store for help but with no luck. In my case I randomly found that it only worked by doing the transfer from the old phone and selecting 'transfer to another device' rather than the other way around (export rather than import). Worth a try anyway..

[Leanne_T]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Saddleburner 

Glad you got the information transferred 🙂 

Leanne.

[NoodlesatNight8]

Hello Michael_D

after requesting the new SIM card, it solved the issue and now I’m messaging you back from my brand new working phone connected to the EE network. Thanks for your help. Superstar!

best wishes,

Noodles 

[NoodlesatNight8]

Hi Saddleburner, 

thanks for your reply. While I did try several times to do a phone to phone transfer through the iPhone interface options, it still didn’t work which left me perplexed. I ended up requesting a new sim which solved the issue for me in a matter of minutes. It was annoying to have to wait a few days for the sim but I’m glad it worked. Sorry to hear that you had no luck from help in store - perhaps EE can look into why a store person was unable to assist.