iOS 16 was one of Apple’s most significant announcements at WWDC 2022. Besides the features which the company executives discussed during the keynote address, several others are coming to the fore now. One such useful feature is the ability to transfer an eSIM between iPhones over a Bluetooth connection.

When you’re setting up cellular on a new or used iPhone running iOS 16, you will be given the traditional option to scan a QR code provided by your carrier or transfer a phone number from another iPhone. Alternatively, you can use the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on “Set up eSIM.” This will give you the option to transfer your eSIM from another iPhone.

Note that the feature has some prerequisites which must be satisfied. Most importantly, the eSIM should be issued by a carrier that supports the feature. The iPhone on which the eSIM is already set up should also be running iOS 16. Additionally, it should be unlocked, have Bluetooth turned on, and close to the other phone to process the transfer. The feature seems to be available in several markets, including the US and UK.

Considering that iOS 16 was announced recently, and only a developer beta has been released, carrier support for the eSIM transfer feature could be limited for now. A public beta build is expected in July. However, Apple says iPhone users would need to wait until this fall for a stable iOS 16 build, which would bring the SIM transfer feature to all users.

As the name suggests, an eSIM is a digital SIM that eliminates the need for a physical nano-SIM. Apple introduced support for eSIMs with the iPhone X. The newer iPhone 13 models support dual eSIMs.