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ApplePatent applicationNetworks & wirelessInterest 6/10

Apple patents flexible ID checks for swapping eSIMs between phones

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Apple describes a system where a phone asks a user for specific personal details before allowing an eSIM to be downloaded or moved to a new device. The phone sends these details to the carrier's server, which checks them against its records to confirm the user has permission to make the change.

Why it mattersThis could make switching phones or carriers more secure by letting carriers choose exactly what proof of identity they need, rather than relying on a single fixed method.

In the filing’s own words

The described embodiments relate to wireless communications, including methods and apparatus for implementing an extensible user authentication and/or verification challenge during a cellular wireless service procedure for a wireless device, such as an electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) download and installation to the wireless device or transfer of a cellular wireless service from the wireless device to another wireless device. A mobile network operator (MNO) provisioning server can prompt for required user-specific data to verify authority to perform the cellular wireless service procedure, where an MNO backend system can indicate via a standardized interface the required user-specific data and subsequently verify user data values supplied by the wireless device before allowing performance of the cellular wireless service procedure.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method to provide an extensible user challenge to verify user authority to perform a cellular wireless service procedure for a wireless device, the method comprising: by one or more components of a provisioning server: providing, to the wireless device, a user challenge message that specifies a requirement for user-specific data to verify user authority to perform the cellular wireless service procedure for the wireless device; obtaining, from the wireless device, a response message that includes one or more user data values for required user-specific data; providing, to a backend system, at least one of the one or more user data values; and responsive to receiving, from the backend system, a positive acknowledgment message indicating verification of user authority, performing the cellular wireless service procedure for the wireless device.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
EXTENSIBLE USER CHALLENGE FOR ESIM DOWNLOAD AND WIRELESS DEVICE CHANGE
Publication number
US20260333053A1
Application number
19545497
Filed
Feb 20, 2026
Published
Oct 22, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

H04W 12/35 Electricity & electronicsH04W 8/205 Electricity & electronicsH04W 12/06 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.