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Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

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Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#81

I can't understand why anyone would want this. Being able to physically swap sims so I don't ever have to deal with carrier customer service is a /good/ thing, especially when it's in the carrier's interest to make this as difficult as possible.

Maybe to avoid sim swapping? Although i am not sure if there would be an alternative attack.

SIM Swapping attacks are not performed by physically stealing a SIM from someone’s phone. They usually involve having someone who works at the carrier making changes in the system to route calls/data to a different IMEI. Physical or eSIM would be irrelevant in that case.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#83

Can anyone discuss the privacy implications here please? I assume to use eSim you'll be required to have a working internet connection - there are still many dark spots in the world. What data does eSim need? Can anyone outline the data structures being sent from my device? It's still possible to access the network pesudo-anonomously with a physical sim, I can only assume a "selfie to activate eSim" is going to happe…

I think it's a reasonable assumption that if you own an iPhone, you have access to the internet.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#84
post #66

I am very worried about this. While I love (and sometimes use) eSIMs, the physical SIM has a huge advantage in that it gives me freedom. It's the revolution that GSM brought: just take your SIM and move it to a different phone. No permission required. Arguably we've become slaves to ecosystems of either Apple or Google at this point, as pretty much nobody uses a phone as "just a phone", you need to have an account wi…

I am sorry, but what? You can just remove the association of the eSIM with the telephone and activate it in another. There is no lock in here.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#85
post #66

I am very worried about this. While I love (and sometimes use) eSIMs, the physical SIM has a huge advantage in that it gives me freedom. It's the revolution that GSM brought: just take your SIM and move it to a different phone. No permission required. Arguably we've become slaves to ecosystems of either Apple or Google at this point, as pretty much nobody uses a phone as "just a phone", you need to have an account wi…

This was my thoughts as well. It seems like we just drove around in a circle and ended up back where we have to contact the provider when we change phones.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#86
post #66

I am very worried about this. While I love (and sometimes use) eSIMs, the physical SIM has a huge advantage in that it gives me freedom. It's the revolution that GSM brought: just take your SIM and move it to a different phone. No permission required. Arguably we've become slaves to ecosystems of either Apple or Google at this point, as pretty much nobody uses a phone as "just a phone", you need to have an account wi…

I am sorry, but what? You can just remove the association of the eSIM with the telephone and activate it in another. There is no lock in here.

Yet.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#87

I can't understand why anyone would want this. Being able to physically swap sims so I don't ever have to deal with carrier customer service is a /good/ thing, especially when it's in the carrier's interest to make this as difficult as possible.

I don’t have a physical sim in my phone, but I have 8 esims.

As far as I can tell the physical sim slot is just a complete waste of space, I can’t use it anyway without toggling one of my esims off.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#88
post #4

Esim is a mature and excellent technology. This is overdue.

so, anything one can do if one wants to work with this technology on their own. I suppose an Asterisk extension or something, I tried searching for eSim on github but seems it's a pretty generic acronym for people to pick.

Nope, nothing you can do on your own. It still requires being a carrier and operating physical infrastructure. It's not VoIP.

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#89
post #60
post #4

Esim is a mature and excellent technology. This is overdue.

Not everywhere, as others in this thread have mentioned. As a frequent traveler I'll be probably holding onto the last physical sim iPhone for many years until everywhere I travel to has it all ironed out.

As a frequent traveler I can’t imagine going back to physical SIMs, now I can carry all my data plans on my phone and don’t have to waste time looking for a place to buy a prepaid plan.

There are a ton of websites where you can immediately get esims for almost every country, why bother with physical sims?

Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sorry, but what? You can just remove the association of the eSIM with the telephone and activate it in another. There is no lock in here.

Yet.

The SIM vendor lock in does exist with the physical SIM card already, with the vendor sold phones.
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