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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

#251

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 really do hate purist visions like that.

So use an Android. You have hundreds of manufacturers to choose from. People love Apple precisely because of their purist vision, and that's what made them the most valuable public company on earth.

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

#252
post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have literally never had to worry about my phone not taking the SIM out of the box. Put the SIM in, maybe reboot, and I'm off to the races. Is this a USA carrier thing??

Not with any carrier I've ever used in the US. Maybe it's a Canada thing.

Don't think so, I'm Canadian and used 3 different carrier. Never heard of this.

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

#253

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…

>> For instance, if I'm traveling I can just buy a SIM card at a kiosk and pop it in

That is exactly what apple doesn't want you to do. They don't want users making deals with local ISPs for service. They want in on that transaction. Virtual SIMs, controlled by phone manufacturers, will allow them to exercise a degree of control over wandering users. If you are a local ISP, you better be part of the program if you want to sell your services to apple's devices. And most users will be OK with this. They will probably appreciated not having to buy a local SIM cars. They will enjoy how easily their virtual SIM connected to the local ISP and hooked them into a the prearranged roaming deal for apple devices. They won't question the price because they will have no input into a negotiation that happened years before they arrived in the country. All that is left for them is to blindly pay the bills.

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

#254

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…

It’s not like that kind of control isn’t possible with the ports installed today.

The Bluetooth can ask what devices it’s connected to, the SIM card reader can read which SIM card is inserted and the lightning port can ask what’s at the other end of the cable.

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

#255
post #209

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 one of them

Plenty of countries don't allow no-locals to buy a sim or don't allow them to by a "good" sim so you get a local to buy a sim and then they give you the sim. Not going to work for eSim.

I also used to keep an extra sim for friends visiting. Can't do that with an eSim

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

#256
post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a physical object the embodies your phone's identity A SIM is not a embodiment of an iPhone’s identity. Maybe it was in the 90s, but today it’s so much more. The SIM is more like your iPhone’s credentials for accessing one network. You can change SIMs, change your access token for one network, but you are making no bigger impact on your phone’s “identity” than if you were to change Wi-Fi networks. List of Id…

>> Having a physical object the embodies your phone's identity > The SIM is more like your iPhone’s credentials for accessing one network. That's what I meant. Anyone with any familiarity with SIM cards knows it's no personality chip that brings everything over with it, and if it were such a thing it would probably be pretty annoying.

Actually, the SIM card use to be a “personality chip” in the 1990s. It stored your phone number and your contacts. There’s a scene in The Wire where a drug dealer confuses the police by changing the sim card of his phone when talking about criminal activity, which evades electronic surveillance (changing the phone’s ID on the network) and physical surveillance (sims are very small and concealable). I was specifically calling out how the use of a cell has grown in the last 30 years specifically as it related to identity.

I’ve spent a lot of time engineering login pages and thinking about questions of user identity.

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

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine a world where you just a bring a phone anywhere and it you open your network settings, go to your cellular data menu, and then automatically it detects the mobile network providers that support the towers it can see. Then you tap on the one you want, select the package you want, pay for it from that menu and then bam you are connected. All without having an existing Wi-Fi or Cellular data plan. There needs…

> Then you tap on the one you want, select the package you want, pay for it from that menu and then bam you are connected. And what if those menus are in some foreign language I don't understand? And how would that work with cash? I'd have to fork over my credit card (assuming that's even an acceptable form of payment) and may end up with a recurring charge for a cell plan in a country I'll visit for a week. Visions…

This feature is already implemented in many areas. As an English speaker your going to have few issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_SIM

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

#258

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?

Every time I've transferred my eSIM to a different phone, I had to get a QR code regenerated.

Physical SIMs can be swapped in seconds.

Was your experience of transfer simpler?

Have you ever switched SIMs continuously, in an ad-hoc way, because you had more SIMs than phones? This isn't that unusual if you're on a road trip or, especially, if you're relocating.

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

#259
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 one of them Plenty of countries don't allow no-locals to buy a sim or don't allow them to by a "good" sim so you get a local to buy a sim and then they give you the sim. Not going to work for eSim. I also used to keep an extra sim for friends visiting. Can't do that with an eSim

airalo sells eSIMs for most countries in the world, no locals needed.

It also sells one for my country, so my friends visiting can buy it from them, so I don't need to keep an extra SIM.

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

#260

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…

It’s not like that kind of control isn’t possible with the ports installed today. The Bluetooth can ask what devices it’s connected to, the SIM card reader can read which SIM card is inserted and the lightning port can ask what’s at the other end of the cable.

My android phone still has a USB port on it that comports with USB standards. Google cannot limit which devices can charge my phone, which USB cables I use to tether my devices.
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