Can I just swap out the sim card ?

Usjes

Hi,

I didn't own a mobile phone so my new employer bought one for me. Unfortunately though it is an iPhone 6 and therefore impractically large. So, can I just take out the sim card and stick it in an old phone of reasonable dimensions so that it would actully be practical as a mobile phone ? Or is there some complication ?

Thanks,

Usjes.

coylemj

Two possible complications ....

1. The (nano) SIM card in the iPhone probably won't fit into an older phone.

When you got the phone, did the SIM card come with an adapter to allow it to be converted back to a bigger piece of plastic to fit into older phones? You may have thrown this away or not even noticed it. You can usually fix this by taking the new SIM to a shop run by your existing network and asking them to switch you to an older (bigger) SIM card but it will probably be a card which can be adapted for micro and/or nano SIMs.

2. The old phone (the handset itself) either needs to be unlocked or be locked to the same network as the SIM in the iPhone. If the phone is locked to a different network, it may be possible to get that network to unlock it.

Usjes

coylemj wrote: »

Two possible complications ....

1. The (nano) SIM card in the iPhone probably won't fit into an older phone.

When you got the phone, did the SIM card come with an adapter to allow it to be converted back to a bigger piece of plastic to fit into older phones? You may have thrown this away or not even noticed it. You can usually fix this by taking the new SIM to a shop run by your existing network and asking them to switch you to an older (bigger) SIM card but it will probably be a card which can be adapted for micro and/or nano SIMs.

2. The old phone (the handset itself) either needs to be unlocked or be locked to the same network as the SIM in the iPhone. If the phone is locked to a different network, it may be possible to get that network to unlock it.

The iPhone came with a new SIM inset in a credit-card sized card, I broke out the smallest sized (nano) SIM card and put it in the iPhone. The accompanying document told me to go to the provider's website to 'activate' my SIM but I haven't done this yet I can make calls so I assume this activation musn't be critical.

I still have the plastic frame to revert the nano SIM to a larger size which will fit in an old Android phone I have which came from a different network provider. So, from what you are saying I may need to get this old phone unlocked from its previous network in order for the new SIM to work in it ?
Can I test this by simply trying the new SIM in the old phone ? Or is the a danger that I could damage or invalidate the SIM in some way so that it would no longer work in the new phone either ?

Thanks,

Usjes

coylemj

It doesn't matter to the network what type of phone you use the SIM in. Even if the iPhone is locked, it doesn't stop you using the SIM in a different phone so regardless of what phone you're going to use, go and activate the SIM.

Usjes wrote: »

Can I test this by simply trying the new SIM in the old phone ?

Yes

Usjes wrote: »

Or is the a danger that I could damage or invalidate the SIM in some way so that it would no longer work in the new phone either ?

No

Usjes wrote: »

So, from what you are saying I may need to get this old phone unlocked from its previous network in order for the new SIM to work in it ?

Yes, it's possible that you need to get the old phone unlocked but get the SIM activated first, otherwise if it doesn't work in the old phone, you won't know if that's because the phone is locked or because the SIM is not yet activated.

Nonoperational

You'd get used to the iPhone 6 very quickly.