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Apple SIM

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Re: Apple SIM

#71

Post by smnrchrds »

Cyph0n wrote: post #13
electricslpnsld wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iPhones are generally sold through carriers This used to be true but it doesn't save you money now to buy an iPhone attached to a carrier plan. Apple will even sell you a carrier-free iPhone [1]. I would love an Apple SIM for travel to Canada, etc. [1] https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-x#00

Can you pay for an unlocked iPhone in installments? I'm not prepared to throw down the price upfront honestly.

Not sure about the US, but here in Canada, all phones come unlocked by law [1]. iPhones sold through carriers still come with 2-year contracts and installments, similar to how they were before the unlocking regulation went into effect.

[1] https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/mobile/code.htm

Re: Apple SIM

#72

Post by cosmie »

scrollaway wrote: post #58
mvid wrote: post #31

I'm surprised Apple has created a proper Fi competitor yet. It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". They wouldn't have their UX tied to cell providers, who are some of the most unpleasant entities to interact with. They would probably be able to lean further into their personal security stance, by fully obfuscating th…

> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…

I have T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan, and while I haven't flown too much internationally, the few times I have, my service has worked seamlessly.

My plan includes 4G coverage in Mexico and Canada, and 2G coverage in 100+ other markets (with the option to upgrade for 3G and 4G rates in those markets). Looking at [1] it appears the current plans may not offer this for free anymore, but it's still available.

[1] https://www.t-mobile.com/travel-abroad-with-simple-global

Re: Apple SIM

#73

Post by Faaak »

mvid wrote: post #31

I'm surprised Apple has created a proper Fi competitor yet. It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". They wouldn't have their UX tied to cell providers, who are some of the most unpleasant entities to interact with. They would probably be able to lean further into their personal security stance, by fully obfuscating th…

In the EU, you don't even need that. Roaming is included in all of EU's countries. My operator (Free) also includes the USA.

Re: Apple SIM

#74

Post by philg_jr »

swiley wrote: post #57
blhack wrote: post #53

I've always wished that apple would offer this in the macbook pros. A laptop that doesn't have to tether, but just carries its own internet connection with it would be really nice.

I know many thinkpads have an empty bay with a minipci connector that you can put modems in which do just that. I don't know why things like that aren't popular, I guess it looks "ugly?"

I have an X270 with an LTE card.

I've also helped set up a 3rd and 4th-gen X1 Carbon with an LTE card for a friend.

I know Dell also offers LTE antennas in some of their higher-end Latitude laptops.

Re: Apple SIM

#75

Post by ericabiz »

untog wrote: post #41
oarsinsync wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My slightly expensive hack-around is to have a second travel iPhone, and tether my primary phone to that when I travel. I used to swap SIM cards around so that my primary SIM ended up in my travel phone, and my region-specific SIM ended up in my primary phone, but ultimately that became more hassle than it was worth, and tethering was a less painful solution with the prevalence of wifi everywhere in most places I vis…

I wonder if anyone on HN can recommend a cheap-ish tethering device? That had occurred to me before - some little hotspot thing I can throw a SIM card into. Maybe annoying to keep charged, though.

Assuming you’re talking “phone with hotspot”, I use an iPhone 5S on Tmo for this purpose. They are cheap and tethering works decently from them.

I also have a mobile hotspot, but the 5S works better. Our use case is a food truck type of setup.

Re: Apple SIM

#76

Post by rootsudo »

Nullabillity wrote: post #60
kodablah wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would they want to be in the messy business of running a carrier Does Fi run the carrier? I thought it used existing carriers and just supported seamless transition between them (and wifi). Regardless, the motivation would be to get that market they're missing that doesn't use one of the big 4. Granted Apple has never catered to that market, so not sure why they would now (it'd actually be detrimental to them I…

Fi's "included" roaming sounds great, until you realize how pathetically expensive even their domestic prices are. Fi's base price[0] is $20/mo + tax. Hallon (my current provider) will sell you 8GB/mo of data for $18/mo, tax included.[1] With Fi that would cost you.. $80/mo + tax. Hallon doesn't actually have anything comparable to that, price-wise; their most expensive plan is 100GB/mo at ~$40. And no, population de…

Same argument in Asia.

1gb in Philippines is not even 50 peso. it's $10 USD with fi. 50 peso is $1. Prepaid.

in Japan 6GB pocket wifi is about 1500JPY, prepaid. With Fi, 1gb is $10.

In Malaysia, unlimited unthrottled LTE is $14 USD.

They're profiting like bandits.

I just run up the support and get what I want usually.

Fi created their own arbitrage opportunity out of convenience and brand image.

Re: Apple SIM

#77

Post by ivanstojic »

cosmie wrote: post #72
scrollaway wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…

I have T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan, and while I haven't flown too much internationally, the few times I have, my service has worked seamlessly. My plan includes 4G coverage in Mexico and Canada, and 2G coverage in 100+ other markets (with the option to upgrade for 3G and 4G rates in those markets). Looking at [1] it appears the current plans may not offer this for free anymore, but it's still available. [1] https:/…

I believe the above commenter talks about the ease/pricing of Fi as much as the experience. I'm using Fi on my iPhone (and have for a while) - and it works worldwide for $10 / 1Gb. It's actually downright magical compared to other offers (even the Apple SIM powered ones).

Re: Apple SIM

#78

Post by scrollaway »

garmaine wrote: post #69
scrollaway wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…

There are T-Mobile plans that work this way.

... available to american customers.

Wake me up when it's the other way around :/

Re: Apple SIM

#79

Post by codq »

Thriptic wrote: post #45

Is it possible to purchase a dongle for ipad which will let you pop in a sim and support this function?

A 'cellular dongle' would be a dream come true.

Re: Apple SIM

#80

Post by shkkmo »

Nullabillity wrote: post #60
kodablah wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would they want to be in the messy business of running a carrier Does Fi run the carrier? I thought it used existing carriers and just supported seamless transition between them (and wifi). Regardless, the motivation would be to get that market they're missing that doesn't use one of the big 4. Granted Apple has never catered to that market, so not sure why they would now (it'd actually be detrimental to them I…

Fi's "included" roaming sounds great, until you realize how pathetically expensive even their domestic prices are. Fi's base price[0] is $20/mo + tax. Hallon (my current provider) will sell you 8GB/mo of data for $18/mo, tax included.[1] With Fi that would cost you.. $80/mo + tax. Hallon doesn't actually have anything comparable to that, price-wise; their most expensive plan is 100GB/mo at ~$40. And no, population de…

As a digital nomad with Fi, its roaming and service is amazing.

What you are complaining about is the US Cell market, which is awful and has horrible prices compared to the rest of the world.

I usually buy a local sim card for data because it's usually cheaper than Fi per GB. However, I pick a different carrier than what I can access through Fi so I have more reliable access for work (and can use both using Speedify).

Having immediate data on arrival, a backup cell network, up to 10 data sim cards for free and access to my US phone number and it's incoming/outgoing calls via data on Hangouts is a godsend when traveling and working remotely.

And while you can end up paying $80/mo if you use >6GB, you won't pay any more than that even if you use more (though they will start throttling you at 15GB).

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