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If you want to understand why an eSim is terrible for consumers, you only need to look at the iPad that has an eSim built in. 

When I land in London, the only local carrier available on the eSim is EE. I cannot choose Vodafone, O2, or any other local carrier because they do not have an arrangement with Apple. That’s right, your phone’s manufacturer will be able to dictate what carriers and plans are available for their device. 

When roaming today, I purchase a local sim and have the exact same choices and service as any local customer. With an eSim, the manufacturer and carrier can arrange to make only throttled or more expenive plans available to visitors. 

An eSim puts the phone’s manufacturer between the customer and the carrier and will likely limit consumer choice and increase prices. 

Swapping a physical sim gives me unlimited freedom to change carriers as I please. With an eSim, I will be limited only to the choices Apple provides for me based on the deals they make with each carrier. Let’s also keep in mind that there would be nothing stopping your carrrier or device manufacturer from charging you an activation or “service swapping” fee. 

This is not a hardware issue. It is a business issue. I will only use phone with a physical sim for as long as I can to make sure I am in control of the service I purchase.