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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

#231

Post by Godel_unicode »

maratc wrote: post #209
tablespoon wrote: post #193

I don't like it. Having a physical object the embodies your phone's identity is a lot easier to deal with in many ways than an ethereal emulation of said object. For instance, if I'm traveling I can just buy a SIM card at a kiosk and pop it in, even if I can only communicate through little more than pointing and grunting. Another example: I got a new phone recently, but since all my stuff was still on my old phone, a…

> if I'm traveling I can just buy a SIM card at a kiosk and pop it in If you're traveling you sometimes need to show your passport and fill out forms in a foreign language (looking at you, Germany). Adding eSIM is a lot easier, and will let you keep your regular phone connected when someone rings you (which is not happening a lot lately) or sends you a code via SMS. There are many reasons to keep SIM cards but travel…

Traveling is absolutely one of them! You're making getting a local SIM sound much more difficult than it is; even in places like Germany the process is pretty quick and most places aren't anything more than give-currency-get-card. It's also very convenient to have a local phone number as many people are not excited about making an international call to tell you your table is ready (the alternative here is being forced into the panopticon of WhatsApp). It also encapsulates the trip nicely, nobody I give my number to while I'm there can call me when I get home unless I give them my real number.

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

#232

Post by apozem »

tablespoon wrote: post #193

I don't like it. Having a physical object the embodies your phone's identity is a lot easier to deal with in many ways than an ethereal emulation of said object. For instance, if I'm traveling I can just buy a SIM card at a kiosk and pop it in, even if I can only communicate through little more than pointing and grunting. Another example: I got a new phone recently, but since all my stuff was still on my old phone, a…

> they'll use whatever volume they free up to mindlessly make the phone thinner.

It's funny this commenter accuses Apple of mindlessness when they did not look up that the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro are thicker than their respective counterparts from last year.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone13,iph...

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

#234

Post by timcederman »

jwr wrote: 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…

But it's so easy to move an eSIM to a different phone - if this suddenly stopped you'd get a lot of public backlash, much like if moving a physical SIM stopped working. In the meantime, this works just fine switching eSIMs between devices, so your concern is just hypothetical, or have I missed something?

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

#235

Post by dr-detroit »

threeseed wrote: post #142
keraf wrote: post #57

Hopefully by removing the SIM tray, they have now enough space to put the headphone jack back. (bit of sarcasm but I really miss headphone jacks in mobile phones)

> but I really miss headphone jacks in mobile phones Buy a USB-C/Lightning to 3.5mm dongle and leave it permanently attached. Not ideal I know. But one benefit is that the DAC Apple designed in that dongle is so good that the sound quality far exceeds any phone with a built-in 3.5mm jack.

No post body was provided.

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

#236

Post by rosndo »

Aardwolf wrote: post #156
rosndo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you buy a new phone to upgrade your current one, how easy will it be to get the 8 esims in the new one?

Much easier than 8 physical sims for sure!

The long term SIM cards (Virgin UAE, Three HK, Lifecell Ukraine) with phone numbers I can easily transfer by going on the carrier apps or websites.

But we’re rapidly headed towards a data-only world where the SIMs are essentially disposable, there’s nothing you’d care about transferring except perhaps some prepaid data you have left.

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

#237

Post by technothrasher »

amelius wrote: post #211

Why do people love Smartphones, but hate Smart TVs?

Because despite both being privacy invasive and full of ads, the smart phones fill a need of having a mobile digital connection, whereas the smart TVs do not actually fill a need for the people who dislike them? Replacing my smart phone with a dumb phone would limit my use of it severely. Replacing my smart TV with a dumb TV would be welcome, if I could find one.

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

#238

Post by CubsFan1060 »

culturestate wrote: post #214
CubsFan1060 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure about all your use cases, but I had great success with Airalo when traveling. It was data only, but my normal Verizon number was routed through that data connection. The biggest negative was not really being able to make local calls. There's a few other companies that do the same thing (GigSky and a few others that I can't remember). It was my first time traveling internationally that I felt like it was…

The problem with those roaming SIM packages is that they're usually dramatically more expensive than just buying a local SIM. It's fine if you only travel sporadically, but if you travel often it really adds up. Example: I have a SIM from Free (French carrier) that gives me 150GB data in France and 25GB of roaming data throughout the EU and a few other countries for €20/month. It would cost more than double that to m…

Hm. I may be getting the discussion a little confused. I also don't read French. It seems like Free Mobile offers eSims, at least looking at a translation of https://assistance.free.fr/articles/telecharger-et-activer-m... and https://alertify.eu/free-mobile-introduces-esim-for-new-cust...

I think the problem is less eSim vs Sim, and more market forces. I think the hope would be that if eSims are the only option for iPhones, it'll force more and more carriers to support eSim.

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

#240

Post by kop316 »

timcederman wrote: post #229
tablespoon wrote: post #193

I don't like it. Having a physical object the embodies your phone's identity is a lot easier to deal with in many ways than an ethereal emulation of said object. For instance, if I'm traveling I can just buy a SIM card at a kiosk and pop it in, even if I can only communicate through little more than pointing and grunting. Another example: I got a new phone recently, but since all my stuff was still on my old phone, a…

I don't understand the comments here at all. Advocating for a far less convenient physical solution over a digital solution - on HN? Has anyone here actually dealt with eSIMs vs regular SIMs? I've been using phones since SIM cards were the size of a credit card, and eSIMs are amazing in every way compared to physical SIMs. What am I missing?

When I helped my dad get a new iPhone at an Apple store without my mom (who is the primary holder of the phone account), my dad had to give all sorts of information to the employee and had to jump through a bunch of hoops that involved my mom being on the phone to give to the employee (things like giving my mom's SSN to the employee, sending a text to my mom's phone, and some other things I cannot remember now).

After about 30 minutes of frustration, I saw that there was a physical SIM slot. We restarted the whole process to buy an unlocked iPhone and swapped the SIM card. That process took 3 minutes.

I also have no problems swapping my SIM between an Android, Pinephone, Pinepine Pro, and Librem 5 to test out various things. Or buying a used/new phone and not having to visit my carrier's store to switch the eSIM. Or permentantly swapping my SIM to a Pinephone. Every time I have had to visit my carrier's store, I have to dedicate an hour to it. I also REALLY don't want Best Buy or some other thir party handling my PII to swap an eSIM.

I will keep my physical SIM, thank you.

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