Hello,

I’ve been observing a bug on iPhones for a long time. On iPhones with dual SIM capability, when you insert a second SIM or add an eSIM and if this newly added SIM cannot receive a signal, the currently inserted physical SIM or eSIM may also stop receiving a signal. Yes, it’s a ridiculous issue.

To prevent this, both SIMs (whether physical or eSIM) need to receive a signal, or the SIM that cannot receive a signal needs to be disabled. If the SIM you added as the second SIM is an eSIM and it gets stuck on “activating” for any reason, neither SIM will be able to receive a signal. It’s not possible to delete an eSIM that’s stuck on “activating.” Apple hasn’t provided such an option! Unbelievable. This causes the phone to heat up like crazy and prevents your other SIM from receiving a signal.

There is a definite solution to get out of this situation:

1. In the reset options in the Settings menu, select “Erase all eSIMs.”

I do not recommend this. If the SIM you were using before this problem was an eSIM, you will lose it too if you do this. If your carrier does not allow remote eSIM provisioning, you will be left without a mobile line.

2. Manually change the network selection mode of the stuck eSIM.

This is my recommendation. Go to Settings/Cellular/Stuck eSIM/Network Selection, change the automatic option to Manual, and wait. It will search for networks and find the operators in your area. Select a random operator and exit. Wait. It will try to connect to this operator, and the eSIM activation will fail. You will now be able to delete this eSIM.

Note: If you do not get an error when you select an operator and wait, try selecting another operator and repeat this method.

I hope you resolve this; I understand how frustrating this situation can be.