Apple Facing eSIM Woes in iOS 16; iPhone 14 Users Getting 'SIM Not Supported' Error

Apple's iPhone 14 and the iOS 16 operating system have been facing quite a few issues. After struggling through device activations, and camera jitters, iPhone 14 users are now complaining about "SIM Not Supported" error messages. Apple appears to be well aware of the issue, and concerningly, there's no fix available. It is possible that Apple's decision of forcing iPhone buyers to rely on eSIMs could be causing trouble.

Is Apple Aware Of These Error Messages?

Some users of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max could randomly receive a message on their device that reads "SIM Not Supported". The message is system generated and it can have some scary output.

After iOS 16 displays the messages, the iPhone 14 might freeze and become unresponsive. It seems a reboot is required to get the iPhone 14 to function properly. There doesn't seem to be any detrimental impact such as data loss due to the error. But rebooting a device needlessly isn't a viable solution.

A memo, accessed by MacRumors, implies Apple is aware of the bug. It further adds that Apple is "investigating" the issue, and is confident that the bug is not because of hardware. The memo concludes that customers should keep their software up to date.

iPhone 14 Users Need To Be Patient

Apple's response, via the memo, suggests the company thinks iOS 16 randomly fails to play nice with the eSIM platform. Apple has advised the troubled iPhone 14 users to wait a few minutes to see if the message disappears. The company has explicitly warned against any attempts to try and restore the device

Incidentally, the iPhone devices sold in the U.S. lack a physical SIM card. These devices have eSIM, which is a software solution and needs a carrier app for activation.

This could explain why quite a few Indian buyers, who are importing iPhone 14 from the US, are unable to activate eSIMs in India. Several recent iPhone models meant for the Indian market have dual-SIM support. Users can insert one physical SIM card but have to use the eSIM facility if they want dual-SIM support.

Although there are multiple variants, the operating system running on all these iPhone 14 devices is iOS 16. Hence it is quite possible that the iOS might malfunction and fail to recognize the eSIM, the physical SIM card, or both, resulting in the warning message. Apple is developing iOS 16.1 and may issue a software patch to address the weird but concerning problem.