Activating the latest eSIM on your iPhone is simple

Both du and etisalat offer the service

With both telecom operators launching eSIM (embedded SIM) services for iPhones in the UAE, customers can visit etisalat or du stores to get a QR code to activate the eSIM. Currently only iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max support the eSIM facility.

If you’re an existing customer you can change from a physical SIM to an eSIM, while new customers can get a new eSIM mobile connection. Because you can only use one SIM at any given time, you should have multi-SIM service to use two or more SIMs with the same mobile number simultaneously with different devices.

If you are an etisalat customer, both prepaid and postpaid customers can apply for the service, but its only postpaid for du customers. Du will offer eSIM for prepaid customers in December. Etisalat takes only minutes to activate the eSIM, but du’s website says it will take 24 hours to transfer from an existing normal SIM to an eSIM and 24 to 48 hours if you subscribe to a new eSIM connection.