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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

#241

Post by coldtea »

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?

>Advocating for a far less convenient physical solution over a digital solution - on HN?

Maybe HN readers don't applaud knee-jerkλυ something just because it's digital.

As for which is "more convenient" that is what should be proved, not taken for granted. And this includes a lot of cases (travelling, using 2 phones, and so on).

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

#242

Post by aranelsurion »

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…

It's not a major problem for many people visiting Germany since roaming charges no longer apply within EU and you can carry your operator's plan to other EU countries, which IMO eliminates the need to buy a new SIM card altogether for many people.

It only sucks if you come from somewhere else not in EU. Even then operators (iirc at least Vodafone) offer remote verification of documents over a video call, so it's not as painful as it might seem to be. I don't see how eSIM would make this easier, since the main pain point of verifying your identity will remain.

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

#243

Post by oversocialized »

amelius wrote: post #109

One of the nice things about the internet is that IP addresses can't be (legally) tied to the person using it. Smartphones are personal devices, and without SIM cards a network connection can be tied to the person using it. This is a fundamental change and we should think hard if we want that to happen.

>One of the nice things about the internet is that IP addresses can't be (legally) tied to the person using it.

FBI does it all the time. They send in an IP, then we track the MAC to the device. Seen a few arrested based on this.

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

#244

Post by maratc »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #231
maratc wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 force…

I was traveling to Germany a month ago and read that "By law, all SIM cards in Germany now need to be registered on your name verified by your ID document (and an address) to be activated"[0] and "many more places sell SIM cards, than are allowed to register" and "newly purchased SIM card... doesn't work as you still need to register."

I then installed Airalo app and bought an eSim in five minutes, still at home. Once I landed, I had 4G service for a week.

On my trip, I was never asked for my (German?) phone number but had received multiple SMS verification codes to my regular line.

Your experience may naturally be different.

[0] https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Germany

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

#245

Post by sandworm101 »

No headphone jack. No SD slot. Soon no charging port (wireless). Now no sim car. How soon before there are no plugs whatsoever? Once everything is wireless then apple, through software, can finally take absolute control over how and what is connected to their phones. Want to communicate with or even charge an iPhone? You better be running approved and licensed software. Then the phone can be physically locked like a seamless vault, defeating any potential for repair: the ideal consumer product.

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

#246

Post by comboy »

rajasimon wrote: post #31
comboy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One I can think of is operator providing you a software package to make use of his special services (and whatnot). Did you know your simcard contains Java Runtime Environment?

Where can I find those details?

There was one really good talk about from black hat or defcon [1] but there's also this [2] which seems more thorough so I'm gonna watch it too later. I happen to have a friend who writes software for simcards so that's what really was my main source.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scArc93XXWw

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31D94QOo2gY

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

#247

Post by manojlds »

apozem wrote: post #232
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...

Because the iPhone 12 were mindlessly thinner and had such bad battery life that they had to make the battery bigger?

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

#248

Post by maratc »

aranelsurion wrote: post #242
maratc wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

It's not a major problem for many people visiting Germany since roaming charges no longer apply within EU and you can carry your operator's plan to other EU countries, which IMO eliminates the need to buy a new SIM card altogether for many people. It only sucks if you come from somewhere else not in EU. Even then operators (iirc at least Vodafone) offer remote verification of documents over a video call, so it's not…

I don't think eSIM has a number, and so no verification is needed. I bought a German eSIM a month ago and it worked without any need to register. I never had to do any video call in a language I don't understand. eSIM just worked.

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

#249

Post by aidenn0 »

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?

I can't use devices with eSIMs on my MVNO, so nope, I've never actually dealt with eSIMs.

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

#250

Post by UseStrict »

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?

Maybe once the carriers are forced to adapt, but in Canada they don't support them on most eSIM capable devices. Swapping an eSIM requires an app, entering values, waiting for the swapping process. Whereas a physical SIM I can just pop out and pop into another phone.
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