Peru supports eSIM, and the entire iPhone 15 lineup is compatible. Local carriers such as Movistar and Claro offer 4G and 5G, with coverage reaching about 90%. eSIM plans cost roughly $5 for 1GB and $30 for 10GB, making them cheaper than roaming. Activation takes about 5 minutes with a QR code.
iPhone 15 Compatibility in Peru
Does it have a physical SIM slot?
An Apple phone from the A2846 batch purchased in New York has a completely smooth metal frame on the left side. The space where a SIM card would normally go, measuring 14 mm by 12 mm, is filled with a 1.2-gram black plastic insert. The phone still weighs 171 grams in hand. Once you bring it to Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima, there is no way to insert the physical SIM cards sold in local shops.
The local A3090 model sold in duty-free stores has a 12 mm rectangular slot below the volume buttons. Inside is a plastic tray for a single Nano-SIM card. Small components on the motherboard handle the virtual number, giving the phone two communication channels for two numbers. In Plaza de Armas in Cusco, at an altitude of 3,399 meters, the antenna connected to Claro’s 1900 MHz band.
At a signal strength of -85 dBm, the status bar in the top-right corner showed full 4G bars. Driving back down along the Pan-American Highway to Lima’s coastline at 30 meters above sea level, the phone changed the way it picked up signal. On the streets near Miraflores Beach, it used four internal antennas to receive a 3500 MHz 5G NSA signal. A speed test showed download speeds of 320 Mbps.
Latency stayed steady at 24 milliseconds. The phone’s internal components constantly adapt to changing environmental conditions every day.
- The glass coating maintained a 115-degree water contact angle in the Amazon rainforest at 85% humidity.
- A 0.2 mm silicone seal kept out the fine dust at Machu Picchu.
- The processor has a thermal throttling threshold set at 35°C.
- The 0.5 mm opening at the bottom could accurately detect 680 hPa air pressure in the Andes.
The cold air at high altitude slows the chemical reactions inside the battery. In Puno, at 3,827 meters above sea level, nighttime temperatures dropped to 5°C. Inside the 3349 mAh battery, the liquid thickened. Discharge voltage, normally 3.8 volts, showed slight fluctuations of 0.1 volts.
Ancient stone walls block external radio signals. At the Temple of the Sun in Cusco, the stone walls are more than 40 centimeters thick. After passing through two layers of stone, the signal received by the antenna in the phone frame dropped from -75 dBm outdoors to -112 dBm. Out in the wild, where there are no urban base stations, certain hardware factors determine connection range.
- Remote base stations raise transmit power to 43 dBm to expand coverage.
- When there is no signal, the phone keeps searching for a network and uses 1.8% battery every 60 minutes.
- The positioning hardware at the top locks onto 1575.42 MHz signals with a 5-meter margin of error in valleys.
- The internal chip opens communication bands in the 6.0-8.5 GHz range in open areas of South America.
On a long trip, the phone needs to be plugged into a wall outlet every day. Peru’s national power grid runs on 220V AC at 60 Hz. Hotel rooms usually have US-style flat two-prong outlets, while some also include round Type C sockets.
Plugging in the original 1-meter charging cable, the four copper wires inside can carry up to 27 watts. In a room at 22°C, charging from 10% to 50% took exactly 28 minutes. A 1450 mm² graphite sheet on the back of the phone dissipated battery heat, and an infrared thermometer recorded a peak casing temperature of 39.5°C.
Outdoors, the harsh high-altitude sun hits the 6.1-inch display glass. At noon in the Andes, the UV index rises above 11. Two light sensors above the screen detect over 50,000 lux and instantly push the display to its 2000-nit peak brightness.
The 48 MP rear camera captured a still image of a condor in flight. The f/1.6 lens works with internal stabilization components that move 1,000 times per second to offset hand movement. Recording a 1-minute 4K 60fps video writes 400 MB of data to storage. Power draw while filming reaches 4.5 watts.
- The Bluetooth hardware maintained a 120-meter connection to wireless earbuds on the Inca Trail.
- The bottom port has 24 metal pins, with data transfer capped at 480 Mbps.
- The sensing ring next to the camera can tap into Lima metro gates from 4 cm away.
- The phone detects the Southern Hemisphere magnetic declination of 0.5 degrees for walking directions.
Can it use 4G/5G in Peru?
Stepping off LATAM flight LA2535 into Lima, the sea breeze on the tarmac felt slightly cool at 18°C. The Qualcomm X70 modem on the phone’s motherboard completed its network search within 3 seconds of startup. Claro appeared in the top-left corner of the screen, with a 4G icon on the right. The device automatically connected on Band 4, the 1700 MHz frequency.
At this coastal airport, 34 meters above sea level, microwave signals from the base station passed through the terminal’s glass curtain walls. A speed test recorded 45 milliseconds of latency and download speeds of 68 Mbps. Downloading a 35 MB offline map of Lima beside the baggage carousel took 40 seconds, and the back of the phone warmed by only 0.4°C.
In the taxi ride into Miraflores, 15-story commercial buildings lined both sides of the road. The 4G icon in the signal bar quietly switched to 5G. This was the n78 network Movistar has deployed in the city center. The phone used four internal receiving antennas to pull in microwave data along a high-frequency 3500 MHz channel.
Sitting down in a street-facing café, data performance was tested about 150 meters from the base station outside the window.
- With full 5G signal, download speed reached 285 Mbps.
- Uploading a 120 MB scenic video to the cloud took 9 seconds.
- Connection jitter stayed at a very low 4 milliseconds.
- 1080P HD streaming played without any buffering.
- One hour of testing with the screen on consumed 8.5% battery.
Leaving the capital and driving south toward Paracas along the Pan-American Highway, base station density dropped sharply across the desert. Entel’s red-and-white towers only appeared about every 15 kilometers. In rural areas, carriers shift down to Band 28 at 700 MHz.
These low-frequency electromagnetic waves travel close to the rolling dunes, with a physical wavelength of 42 centimeters. As the SUV moved at 90 km/h, signal strength in the cabin gradually fell from -82 dBm to -105 dBm. Webpages took longer to load, and peak throughput was capped at around 12 Mbps.
Crossing an Andean pass into Arequipa, elevation climbed to 2,335 meters. Buildings in the old city are mostly made of white volcanic stone. Walls 35 centimeters thick greatly weaken outside microwave signals. Deep inside the courtyard of Santa Catalina Monastery, the phone lost its 4G connection entirely.
The baseband software forced the operating frequency lower and dropped into the old 3G network to search for a weak connection path.
- The top of the screen switched to an H+ icon.
- The RF channel fell back to the old 850 MHz band.
- The download speed test needle stalled at 3.2 Mbps.
- Sending a plain text chat message took 2.5 seconds.
- A 2 MB image in social media loaded as a half-gray block.
By the time you reach Cusco at 3,399 meters above sea level, the thin highland air does nothing to block radio waves. Bitel has installed dense microcell base stations on rooftops around Plaza de Armas. The phone locked onto Band 2, the 1900 MHz band, and download speeds on the cathedral steps reached 45 Mbps.
On the PeruRail scenic train to Machu Picchu, the carriages wind along the Urubamba River valley between steep 400-meter cliff faces. Optical fiber runs alongside the tracks every few kilometers, with miniature transmitters strapped to trees. As the train passed through several short tunnels at 45 km/h, the radio signal repeatedly dropped and reconnected.
In Aguas Calientes at the foot of the mountain, Claro has built a relatively stable 4G network. Narrow stone-paved streets are packed with three-story brick buildings. Microwave signals bounce repeatedly off the building walls, creating strong multipath interference. Making a WhatsApp voice call here, the physical latency of 180 milliseconds causes a slight overlap in conversation on both ends.
Once you lace up your hiking boots and start walking the Inca Trail, all signal bars disappear after you get about 5 kilometers away from populated areas.
- The baseband chip forces a scan every 60 seconds.
- It tries to detect any remaining macro-cell bands within a 30-kilometer radius.
- Internal transmit power maxes out at the hardware limit of 23 dBm.
- At Dead Woman’s Pass, 4,200 meters high, the battery dropped 14% in half a day.
- The positioning system switches to pure satellite signals at 1575.42 MHz.
Carrier support
Step off the plane into Lima Airport holding a US iPhone with no SIM tray. Inside the terminal, the glass counters at Claro and Entel display prepaid plastic SIM cards priced at 45 soles. The sales staff there cannot access the back-end system needed to generate a QR code for your phone.
To get mobile data working, you have to take a 40-minute ride into the city. The Movistar branch in San Isidro is a full 300 square meters. Once you walk in and hand over your dark blue passport, the security guard tears a ticket beginning with the letter C from the machine. There are already 14 people ahead of you.
Peru requires fingerprints from all ten fingers when registering a new number. Foreign passport numbers often trigger errors in the system, so the staff usually have to get back-office approval to bypass the fingerprint step.
After waiting 55 minutes in a plastic chair, you finally reach window number 8. You hand over your original passport and provide an email address. You choose a prepaid plan for 29.90 soles. You pay with a 50-sol note and receive an A4 sheet plus 20.10 soles in change.
The staff member turns the monitor toward you, showing a 3 cm by 3 cm black-and-white square. One scan with the phone camera, and the hardware on the motherboard captures the network configuration.
- The phone sends a 32-digit identifier to
rsp.claro.com.pe. - The download takes 12 seconds and uses 45 KB of storage.
- After 8 seconds with no signal, the phone locks onto the network again.
- The status bar first shows 3G, then switches to full 4G within 5 seconds.
- The system forcibly sets the APN to
claro.pe.
At an Entel store inside a shopping mall, the process is completely different. After paying 20 soles for 6GB of data, you also have to pay a 5-sol service fee. The receipt is printed on thermal paper, and if you leave it in a 32°C car for two days, the black ink fades away completely.
Try the store of Peru’s fourth-largest carrier, Bitel, next to Plaza de Armas in Cusco, and the staff will just shake their heads. Their tourist billing system is not connected to the server that issues virtual numbers at all.
Buy an international roaming package through Airalo instead. Spend $15 on a 3GB Peru plan at the New York airport, land in Lima, connect to a base station, and you never even have to take out your passport.
Roaming data has a much longer route to travel. When you send a voice message, the data goes through undersea fiber to a server in Miami and then routes back into South America. That 6,000-kilometer round trip adds another 110 milliseconds of latency every time you tap the screen.
With a local number, data stays on local Lima routing. In a 5v5 mobile game, latency stays steady at 28 milliseconds. Claro’s prepaid plans include 15GB of full-speed data, and within 30 days, social media use and Waze navigation do not count against the allowance at all.
- At a Claro store, 30 soles gets you 15GB of data plus unlimited calling.
- Holafly’s app sells a 5-day unlimited-data plan for $27.
- Formal carrier stores in Lima usually pull down the shutters at 1 p.m. on weekends.
- The system allows a maximum of 2 virtual numbers active on one phone at the same time.
- To get prepaid plans from the three major carriers, you must present the original physical passport for verification.
If you accidentally delete the number profile from your phone settings, the QR code on that A4 sheet becomes useless immediately. The security system will not allow the same code to be scanned twice. The only option is to take another taxi to the store, queue for 40 minutes with your passport, and pay a 15-sol replacement fee.
If you want to move the number to a new phone, you have to go back to a physical store in person. Although current phone systems support transferring numbers between devices over Bluetooth, Peru’s three main carriers still do not allow that function.
Street stalls in Cusco that sell phone cases claim they can do it for you. They register the line using a local ID and send you a photo of the QR code, but they charge twice as much.
If an activated line goes 90 days without a top-up, Peru’s telecom regulator will reclaim it. The switch in your phone settings may still be there, but the connection will be completely dead. The 1900 MHz waves still hit the phone, yet the base station server rejects the connection request outright.
When you walk out of the store into the afternoon sun at 3 p.m., with the street at 24°C, the metal phone vibrates twice in your hand. Two text messages in Spanish appear on the screen. The 30-day calling service is now officially active. A 9-digit Peruvian number is firmly tied to the phone’s motherboard.
Local Carriers vs. Travel eSIMs
Claro, Movistar, Entel
At Jorge Chávez International Airport, the telecom kiosks inside the terminal sell physical SIM cards at steep prices of $40 to $50. For travelers carrying a US iPhone 15, it is much cheaper to take a taxi into Miraflores in Lima and buy a local data plan there.
Inside Larcomar, one of Lima’s major shopping centers, all three major carriers have official stores. They open from 10 a.m. on weekdays, and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. the after-work crowd makes them busy. If you avoid the evening rush, the wait for a ticket is under 20 minutes.
Peru’s telecom regulator, OSIPTEL, enforces mandatory实名 registration. To sign up at the counter, you need to hand over your original passport, and you must place your right index finger or both thumbs on the fingerprint scanner.
The store’s system sends your fingerprints to Peru’s national identity registry, RENIEC. Passport verification usually takes 5 to 15 minutes. If the network is slow, the staff may open your phone settings and look for the 32-digit EID code to confirm that your device supports eSIM.
The prepaid plans and network bands offered by the three carriers differ in specific ways:
| Transporteur | 4G/LTE Bands | Prepaid eSIM Plan Price | Cities with Strong Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claro | Band 2 (1900MHz), Band 28 (700MHz) | 15 PEN / 3GB / 30 days | Cusco, Puno, Arequipa |
| Movistar | Band 4 (AWS), Band 28 (700MHz) | 20 PEN / 5GB / 30 days | Huaraz, Sacred Valley, Ayacucho |
| Entel | Band 4 (AWS), Band 7 (2600MHz) | 10 PEN / 1.5GB / 15 days | Central Lima, Trujillo |
Claro has the largest number of base stations in the southern highlands of Peru. On the PeruRail route to Machu Picchu Town through the Urubamba Valley, Claro can still hold onto a weak 3G signal in mountainous terrain thanks to the low-band penetration of Band 28 at 700MHz.
At a Claro store, ask for the “Prepago Chevere” prepaid plan. Pay 15 Peruvian soles, about $4.20, and your line will get 3GB of daytime data, while plain-text WhatsApp messaging remains zero-rated for 30 days.
After payment, the Claro staff hand you a thermal-paper receipt printed with your personal QR code. Connect your iPhone 15 to the store’s free Wi-Fi, open the camera, and scan the code. The activation bar on the screen finishes within 30 seconds.
Movistar stores are mostly located in historic districts and traditional shopping streets. In Ancash, guides taking people up high-altitude mountains around Huaraz often prefer Movistar. In villages above 3,500 meters, Movistar operates its own Band 4 towers where other carriers do not.
Movistar’s prepaid brand is called “Preplan.” For 20 Peruvian soles, you get 5GB of data valid for 30 days, along with 500 minutes of domestic calls. Those 500 minutes are useful for calling ride-hailing drivers whose numbers begin with 9.
A small number of Movistar store managers receive a limited monthly quota of prepaid eSIMs. Staff may try to push you toward a 49 PEN postpaid plan and insist that you link a local credit card. You need to say “Solo Prepago” clearly and show them the no-SIM side of your phone.
Entel concentrates its towers in densely populated cities such as Lima and Arequipa. It has extensive Band 7 (2600MHz) high-frequency coverage, and speed tests at Plaza de Armas in Lima often exceed 60 Mbps.
If you are staying in the city only briefly, Entel’s 15-day plan at 10 PEN is good value, and it includes 1,5 Go of data. Entel updated its face-scan activation system in 2023, and the full process from fingerprint scan to receiving the eSIM QR code takes about 10 minutes.
The eSIM slips printed by all three carriers include the 9-digit Peruvian mobile number assigned to you, in the format 9XX XXX XXX. When you use Cabify in Lima, the app sends a four-digit SMS verification code to that number, and receiving the text is free.
The US iPhone 15 supports dual eSIM standby. In iOS under Cellular, set the newly purchased Peru eSIM as the default line for voice and mobile data. Keep your home-country eSIM active for bank verification texts, but turn off data roaming so you do not get charged.
When you run out of data, you need to top up at the cashier of a Tambo or OXXO convenience store. Read out your 9-digit phone number to the cashier, hand over a 10 PEN note, and within 10 seconds your phone will receive a Spanish text confirming the top-up.
Money added at the convenience store becomes account balance only. You then need to download the official app and convert that balance into a data package. There is also a USSD command to buy data:
- Open the phone dialer and enter *777#.
- A black-and-white menu appears on the screen.
- Press 1 to buy a mobile data package.
It is very rare for an iPhone 15 to stay stuck on “Activating…” for more than 5 minutes after scanning a QR code. If it does, open “Cellular Data Network” in settings and check whether the APN field is blank. For Claro, enter claro.pe. For Movistar, enter movistar.pe.
Some store systems cannot generate a QR code. In that case, the staff manually type the SM-DP+ address into your iPhone 15. Claro’s server address is rsp.claro.com.pe, paired with a 40-character activation code, and manually entering it works the same as scanning the QR code.
Airalo, Holafly, Nomad
While waiting at the airport in Los Angeles or New York, you can take out your phone, link a Visa card, and pay in about 3 minutes. Buying an international eSIM saves you the trouble of spending 2 hours in a Lima shopping mall having your passport checked and fingerprints taken.
Looking at Airalo’s most popular price list, its Peru-specific package is called Zorro. For $6, you get 1GB valid for 7 days. For $15, you get 3GB for 30 days on your iPhone 15. In Peru, it runs on Movistar’s 4G network.
Once the credit card payment goes through, the app displays a black-and-white QR code. If you only have one phone and cannot scan it, go to the details page and copy the SM-DP+ address rsp.truphone.com together with the 32-letter activation code. In iOS settings, choose manual entry, paste it in, and the eSIM installation bar finishes in 40 seconds.
Buyers who do not want to keep checking their remaining data often prefer Holafly. It charges $27 for 5 days of unlimited data and $47 for 15 days. Holafly rents tower access from both Movistar and Entel, so if one signal is weak, the phone automatically switches to the network with the strongest bars.
That dual-network switching is especially useful on a two-day hike through Colca Canyon near Arequipa, where mountain terrain can easily block a single carrier. The backend of the unlimited plan applies a Fair Use Policy, and once usage reaches 90GB in a month, speeds are throttled hard to below 256 kbps.
Nomad, which only sells data packages, charges $7 for 1GB valid for 7 days and $22 for 5GB valid for 30 days, all on Claro’s network. Travelers continuing on to Chile often buy Maya Mobile’s South America pass, paying $24 for 3GB that works across 16 countries without losing service.
| Plate-forme | Network Used | Price (USD) | How to Buy More Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | Movistar | $6 / 1GB / 7 days | Tap Top-up in the app |
| Holafly | Movistar + Entel | $27 / Unlimited / 5 days | Buy a new activation code after expiry |
| Nomade | Claro | $7 / 1GB / 7 days | Buy an Add-on package |
| Maya Mobile | Movistar + Claro | $24 / 3GB / 30 days | Link a card on the website for automatic billing |
None of these providers gives you a 9-digit local number with a Peru area code. You cannot receive standard carrier SMS verification texts. When booking a private car and local guide in Cusco, you have to rely on WhatsApp. Around 10MB of data is enough for 15 minutes of HD voice calling.
Billing starts the moment you first connect after landing. A plan purchased in San Francisco stays dormant until activation. When the plane touches down in Lima and you turn off airplane mode on your iPhone 15, the moment it first connects to a local tower is when the 7-day or 30-day validity period begins counting down by the hour.
If the signal bars in the top-left corner are full but webpages will not load, check the APN spelling in iOS settings. Airalo requires données globales in the APN field. Holafly uses internet.org. One wrong letter is enough to break the connection.
Low-data warnings come through app notifications. Once Airalo detects that you have less than 100MB left, it pushes an alert with a red dot to your lock screen. Tap Top-up, choose the $15 3GB refill, and once your Visa card is charged, the new data is added to the existing balance within 3 seconds.
Buying Guide
International eSIM platforms online
Most travelers prefer Airalo. Search for Peru in the app and you can buy 1GB for $6, valid for 7 days, running on Claro’s 4G network. People staying about two weeks usually go for the 3GB plan at $15, which is enough for maps and restaurant searches.
Heavy phone users tend to prefer Holafly. For $47, you get 15 days of unlimited use. It runs on Movistar, and in Lima’s historic center or around Plaza de Armas in Cusco, speeds can reach 30 Mbps. The unlimited plan does not allow hotspot sharing.
Nomad sells 10GB for $26 with a 30-day validity period. Its servers are in Miami or Europe, so data takes a long route before returning to Peru. Latency usually stays between 130 and 160 milliseconds. Instagram images may lag for a second or two, but text messaging is unaffected.
The US iPhone 15 has no SIM slot and relies entirely on its dual eSIM hardware. In “Settings – Cellular,” you can store up to 8 country profiles. Buy the plan before departure, and once you arrive, you can go online with a single tap.
After payment, you receive a QR code and an activation code by email. Do not scan it too early at home for no reason. The countdown for the eSIM starts only the moment the phone lands in Peru and connects to a local tower. Scanning it in advance only wastes valid days.
- Check that your iPhone 15 is running iOS 17.0 or later
- Save a screenshot of the 32-digit manual activation code
- Pay for the plan in the app before boarding
- Turn off roaming on your old line before landing
As soon as the wheels touch down, go into settings and make the installed eSIM your primary line. If the screen shows LTE but webpages still will not open, manually enter données globales as the APN. Toggle airplane mode once so the phone gets a new IP address.
Once you leave Lima, network speeds drop. On the four-hour PeruRail journey to Machu Picchu, the screen shows 3G or no service about half the time. In Cusco at 3,400 meters, the old city’s stone-paved alleys often have only two bars.
For travelers continuing on to Chile or Colombia, buying Peru-only data is not very cost-effective. Ubigi sells a Latin America package with 3GB for $29. You do not need to scan a new code at the border, and it switches automatically across networks in 14 countries.
- Ubigi Latin America 3GB: $29 across 14 countries
- Airalo regional package 5GB: $39 for 30 days
- Holafly South America plan: 15 days for $47, no hotspot allowed
- Nomad Latin America 5GB: $22 across 16 countries
If you are running low on data midway through the trip, there is no need to look for a street-side phone shop. Airalo has a top-up button in the app, and for $15 you can add 3GB without dealing with a new QR code. The new package takes over the moment the old data runs out.
3GB disappears quickly if you watch short videos. Watching 10 minutes of HD clips on Instagram uses 250MB. Before going out, switch on Low Data Mode on your iPhone, stop iCloud uploads in the background, and save your remaining data for ride-hailing apps.
If you lose connection, do not count on getting help over the phone. Customer support is handled entirely through in-app text chat. On New York business hours, Nomad support takes about 15 minutes to reply on average. Send a screenshot on a weekend, and you may wait 6 hours for an email response.
Maya Mobile mainly promotes a 30-day 10GB plan for $24. It advertises unrestricted 5G in Peru. On a US iPhone 15 in the streets of Miraflores, Lima, the 5G icon appears occasionally and speed tests can reach 120 Mbps.
Without a local number beginning with +51, ordering food requires a workaround. Download Skype and add $5 in credit. Use data to call landlines in Lima. The rate is only $0.02 per minute, so it costs just a few cents to call Central restaurant and confirm a booking, with voice quality as clear as a normal phone call.
- Airalo: home-screen widget shows remaining MB at a glance
- Holafly: no data progress bar on the home page
- Nomad: pop-up warning when data falls below 10%
- Ubigi: you can still buy data in the app even without service
If you use data only, your old number can still receive texts. Keep your original line as the “Default Voice Line” in iPhone settings. Just do not turn on data roaming. You can receive a $10 bank alert text or check the Uber driver’s plate number at no cost.
Refunds are difficult if you buy the wrong package. If the eSIM has not used even 1KB of Peruvian data, you can send customer support a screenshot showing the phone locked to the network and get your money back within 30 days. The moment there is even a few seconds of usage on record, the refund option disappears.
Buy locally
Inside Jorge Chávez International Airport, bright telecom kiosks line the terminal hall. Sales staff quote tourist packages at $50 for only 5GB of data. Take an Uber into Miraflores for about $15 instead, and the prices at the street-side stores reflect the real local market.
Walk around Avenida José Pardo or the commercial streets of San Isidro. Claro and Movistar both have large two-story stores there. Their glass doors clearly show the opening hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
At a Claro store, the ticket machine gives you a slip marked “A-42.” On a Tuesday afternoon, you can expect to wait 25 to 40 minutes on the bench in the lobby. Most of the uniformed store staff speak little or no English, so nearly everything is handled with gestures.
Pass your original passport through the glass window. The staff type in the long passport number and use the HD camera on the desk to take a face photo for verification. Say “eSIM prepago” in Spanish and place 30 Peruvian soles on the counter.
That 30 soles, roughly $8, gets you a prepaid plan valid for 30 days. Your account is immediately loaded with 15GB of 4G data. Movistar charges 29.90 soles and gives you 12GB plus zero-rated WhatsApp messaging.
- Bring your original passport to the store
- Check that your iPhone 15 is not region-locked
- Carry 10- or 20-sol notes for small change
- Keep your Lima hotel address saved in English in your notes app
After payment, the staff print a receipt with a black-and-white QR code. Open the iPhone 15 camera and scan it, and a prompt appears on the screen saying “Add Cellular Plan.” Connected to the store’s free Wi-Fi, the download bar finishes in 45 seconds.
Your phone now has a 9-digit local Peru number beginning with 9. You can use it for taxis, food delivery, or leave it with your guide for a Colca Canyon hike. It completely avoids the hassle of using a foreign number and getting the international dialing code wrong.
There is also a green-sign carrier called Entel on the street. Its eSIM costs 25 soles and includes 10GB of data. In Barranco, one of Lima’s wealthier districts, speed tests can reach 80 Mbps. But a few kilometers outside the city, its signal drops much faster than Claro’s.
- Central Lima: Entel download speeds of 85 Mbps
- Cusco Plaza: Claro holds steady at 25 Mbps
- Sacred Valley towns: Movistar measures 10-15 Mbps
- Lake Titicaca region: Claro can barely refresh 3G webpages
On quieter streets, there is also a smaller operator called Bitel. For 20 soles, you can get 15GB, which is very cheap. Its base stations still run on older bands. In a Sacred Valley restaurant, trying to load a 2MB PDF menu over Bitel can take forever.
The 15GB allowance disappears quickly, and the official app cannot link a US Visa or Mastercard. Walk into an Inkafarma or Mifarma pharmacy, hand the cashier 10 soles in cash, and give them your 9-digit phone number. Your account is instantly credited with 3GB.
Corner grocery stores called Bodegas also sell top-ups. Their windows display red-and-blue service stickers. Hand the owner some cash and say “Recarga Claro.” Wait 10 seconds, and your phone receives a Spanish SMS confirming the recharge.
Prepaid plans come with zero-rated WhatsApp. Even if the full 15GB data bucket is completely exhausted, WhatsApp can still send 5MB HD photos and handle 20-minute voice calls smoothly. Open YouTube to watch a 3-minute clip, though, and not even the thumbnail will load.
Local data plans allow hotspot sharing. Turn on “Personal Hotspot” on the iPhone 15. A MacBook Air connected in a Cusco café can hold a one-hour Zoom meeting at 12 Mbps, using 800MB in the background.
- One hour of Zoom over hotspot: 800MB
- 15 minutes of Google Maps while driving: 15MB
- Upload 10 high-resolution landscape photos to Instagram: 40MB
- One hour of Spotify in high quality: 115MB
On the bus from Puno to Arequipa, the route climbs to 4,000 meters. Outside the windows is empty highland terrain, and the top-right corner of the screen can show “No Service” for as long as 3 hours. Across the hundreds of kilometers of no-man’s-land between the two cities, none of the three carriers has built towers.
If you have full signal but still cannot load webpages, open “Settings – Cellular – Cellular Data Network” and check whether the APN field is blank. Enter claro.pe, and the 4G icon appears immediately at the top of the screen.
Once you leave Peru, the prepaid number goes dormant. If the balance stays at zero for 180 days, Claro reclaims the 9-digit number into its pool. The QR-code receipt, once scanned, becomes nothing more than a useless piece of paper.
Must-read before departure
Before going to Peru, pick up your iPhone 15 and go to “Settings – General – About – Carrier Lock.” There is a line of understated gray text there. Only if the screen shows Aucune restriction SIM is the phone actually able to work with foreign networks.
Phones bought on contract from AT&T or Verizon often come locked. Scan a Holafly QR code and the screen will throw up an error, while the $47 plan fee is completely non-refundable. Verizon unlocks devices automatically after 60 days, while T-Mobile users usually have to spend 20 minutes chatting with customer service online to request an unlock.
On the slow PeruRail ride to Machu Picchu, there is often no signal for long stretches over the four-hour trip. Some people panic when they see the empty signal bars and start tapping around in settings, only to hit the red option at the bottom of the screen: Supprimer l'eSIM.
The moment you tap that red line, the digital profile stored on the motherboard is gone for good. The 3GB plan you bought from Airalo for $15 is immediately ruined. An accidentally deleted eSIM cannot be recovered, and getting back online means paying full price all over again.
If the network refuses to connect, keep your fingers away from the red “Delete eSIM” option. Pull down Control Center, turn on airplane mode for 10 seconds, then turn it off, and the phone will quietly reconnect to a base station on its own.
An outdated system version can interfere with installation. Phones still running iOS 16.0 are more likely to freeze or throw errors when switching between networks in South America. Before leaving home, take advantage of your 300 Mbps broadband and spend 10 minutes downloading and installing the 1.5GB iOS 17 update.
When the wheels touch down at Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima, the screen may show full 4G bars, but opening Safari brings up the message “You are offline.” Go into Cellular Data settings and check the APN field. Enter données globales in the blank box, and within seconds webpages start loading normally.
- Update the phone to iOS 17.0 or later
- Check in settings that the device is not carrier-locked
- Copy the 32-digit manual activation code into Notes
- Save screenshots of the purchase receipt and the 12-digit order number
Keeping your home number active for SMS is convenient, but watch out for expensive roaming charges. Slide the green “Data Roaming” switch all the way off. If AT&T quietly uses just 10KB in the background, next month’s bill may include a $10 international day pass.
Leave your original number enabled under “Turn On This Line.” Receiving a 6-digit purchase verification code from Chase New York or checking the Uber driver’s Spanish message with the plate number costs nothing.
The blue iMessage bubbles stay linked to your old number by default. After switching data lines, the notification sound may keep going off. Go to “Settings – Messages – Send & Receive” and check the selected items. Remove the blue check mark next to the temporary 9-digit Peru number.
In Cusco’s old town at 3,400 meters, thick stone walls often force the phone back to 3G or no service at all. The device keeps searching for a tower and can burn through 40% of the battery in just two hours.
If you are hiking the Inca Trail for four days and three nights to Machu Picchu, you will not find power outlets in the wilderness. Pack a 10,000mAh Anker power bank. Turn on Low Power Mode on your iPhone and disable background refresh so you still have battery left for the flashlight at night.
Scroll to the bottom of the Cellular settings page and turn off “Wi-Fi Assist.” Hotel Wi-Fi in Aguas Calientes often runs at only 2 Mbps. Your phone may quietly switch to mobile data to load Netflix in the background, burning through 300MB before you even notice.
The built-in data statistics do not reset automatically each month. While waiting for your luggage at the airport carousel, scroll down and tap “Reset Statistics.” Then you can see exactly how many HD landscape photos on Instagram you loaded and how many MB they used.
- Turn off “Wi-Fi Assist” at the bottom of the screen
- Stop App Store auto-updates over 100MB in the background
- Set iCloud photo uploads to work on Wi-Fi only
- Reset cellular statistics as soon as you land at the airport
Buy your plan in the app 24 hours before departure. If you wait until you reach the arrivals hall in Lima, you will be competing with 200 other newly landed passengers for the free 1 Mbps Wi-Fi, and downloading a 5MB configuration file can take several minutes.
It also helps to carry a backup phone or print the confirmation email with the QR code on A4 paper. The iPhone camera cannot scan an image displayed on its own screen. Let a travel companion scan the printed page, and the setup is done in under a minute.