Do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade? (Explained)

Sim swap usually comes in handy if you have a problem with your sim card and you needed a sim replacement.

But what of in a case whereby someone upgraded his or her phone, does the person need swap sim card.

This brings us to the topic;

Do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade my phone.

Do you think it is compulsory to always change a sim card after someone upgraded or bought a new mobile phone.?

I will answer all these questions right on this very topic. So let’s proceed further.

Do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade my phone?

You don’t necessarily need to swap your sim card when you upgraded your phone unless the sim card is damaged and not compatible with the new upgraded phone.

There are reasons or situation that should make you to swap your sim card, and they include the followings;

1. The sim card is damaged

You can swap your sim card if the sim card is damaged and stopped working on your mobile phone. In most cases if a sim card hardly get a network reception, it is deemed the sim card is damaged or faulty and should be replaced immediately.

In this case what the user need to do is to perform a sim swap.

If the sim card isn’t damaged and working very properly, then what’s the need of the sim swap?

There no need for that. Let’s move over to the next sim issue that will warrant a sim swap and that is the size of the sim card.

2. The size of the sim card

There three types of sim cards in today’s world, they are the standard sim, micro sim and the nano sim card.

Asking do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade my phone, you can swap your sim card if the sim is a standard sim or micro sim, and you bought a nano sim phone.

The size of a sim card plays an important role when it comes to upgrading a mobile phone. If your sim card is way bigger than the phone sim slot, then there’s a need for a sim swap.

3. The cellular network service

do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade

This is one major important thing to note for this post on do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade. The cellular network I’m talking about is the 5G network.

For example, you bought a new phone which is a 5G phone while your sim card only support 4G network. In this type of situation you need to do a sim swap in order to get a 5G network on your new phone.

When i bought my samsung galaxy s21 ultra 5G, I had to swap my sim card because it doesn’t support the 5G network. However, before swapping your sim card you need to first test to see if the sim will display 5G network on your phone.

You can as well contact your network provider and inquire if your 4G sim will support the 5G network. If the answer is no, then you have to swap your sim card to a 5G sim only if you upgraded your phone to a 5G phone.


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The phone must be of the same network with the sim card unless it is unlocked

Some phone users might get it all wrong here, upgrading their phone to another network carrier instead of their sim network carrier.

For example, you have an AT&T sim card and upgrade your phone to a Verizon locked phone. In this case you can’t use the the AT&T sim card in the Verizon locked phone, rather you have to get a new Verizon sim card to use with the phone.

Most locked usually comes with the network sim card in the pack, that’s the sim card you have to use for the carrier locked phone.

If you upgrade to an unlocked phone, then you have no problem using any sim card network carrier in your new phone.

With all said here, I do hope to have explained and answered the question of do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade my phone.

If I upgrade my phone do I use the same sim card O2?

The simple answer is yes. You can use the same sim card as long as the sim card is not damaged, and compatible with the phone.

Being compatible with the phone simply means the sim card is of the same size with the sim slot, and of same network carrier.

If you upgraded your phone to a phone that has a 5G network and your sim card doesn’t support the 5G network, then you should swap the sim card to a 5G sim.

If you have an 02 sim card, three sim card, EE sim card, etc there’s no need to swap your sim card with a new one as long as the sim card is working and not damaged.

The sim card size is of the same size with your phone sim slot, supports the 5G network in the case you upgraded to a 5G mobile phone. This is same with the topic of today, do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade my phone.

Why did I get a new SIM with my upgrade phone?

Mostly the reason why you got a new sim card when you upgraded your phone is because the phone is a carrier locked phone.

In order to confirm this, kindly insert your old sim card into the new phone and check if it will show network service on your phone.

Like I said earlier on this very post of do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade, I mentioned that carrier locked phone usually comes with a sim card inside the phone pack.

When you unbox the phone, you will see a sim card inside the phone pack. The sim card is what you will use for the phone unless your old sim card is compatible with the phone or same network with the phone, then you can chose to use the new sim or probably the old sim as it works with the phone.

In the case of 5G network, your new phone supports the 5G network while your old sim card doesn’t, then you should swap your sim card number to the new sim card found inside the pack.

Do you keep the same SIM card when you upgrade?

It is not necessary important to keep your sim when you upgraded your phone more especially if the phone is 5G network while the sim card is not.

In this type of situation you don’t have to keep the same sim card but instead you will have to buy a new 5G SIM card and swap the old sim card into the new sim card. 

Remember you won’t lose your old sim card phone number but rather it will transfer or move all data from your old sim card to your new sim card. This is practically called a sim card swap as you will retain the old sim card phone number in your new 5G SIM card. 

There’s no need asking do I need a new SIM card when upgrading my iPhone simply because the old sim card will probably work on the new iPhone unless it is not a nano sim card.

Another case is when the phone is a 5G phone while the sim card doesn’t support 5G network and there is a 5G network in your area, then there is a new to get a new sim card that support the 5G network. 

Whether you have iphone 13, iphone 13 pro max, 13 pro, iphone 12 pro max, 12 pro or the iPhone 12, an old nano sim card whether 3G or 4G will work in these 5G iPhones. 


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Do i need to swap my sim when i upgrade? You can only swap your sim card if it is damaged, not of the same size with phone sim slot, or probably doesn’t support your phone 5G network.

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

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