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.
Maybe they should because of how easy it is to brick phones with crappy USB cables/chargers these days.
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'm actually more worried about a different problem - I don't care about removing the physical SIM slot but I'm really concerned about halving the amount of numbers someone can have on a single device. Phone numbers are an utterly terrible system. Having to give a single number out to everyone is a stupid beyond belief design that we just tolerate year after year. That SIM-based 2FA exists makes this even worse. Appl…
FYI, iPhone 13 generation devices already have 2 eSIMs, as in you can have dual standby without a physical SIM. I'm not a fan of this direction but I don't think we're going to lose dual SIM support.
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…
Realistically when was the last time you switched your SIM card? I only change it when i change phones.
Need to send my phone to repair soon, if they say it will take more than a day then I will rent a phone from them. I can put my current sim in their replacement phone in a few seconds. Can't imagine how long it would take with the eSim.
"You don't do it so often" is not an argument for eSims
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.
When I wanted to get new phone service, I could so instantly without getting the physical SIM, i.e. waiting for it to be shipped to me, or going to a store.
Realistically when was the last time you switched your SIM card? I only change it when i change phones.
I have 4 SIM cards from 4 different countries that I need to keep. Mostly because I have bank accounts in those countries and banks either dislike foreign mobile phone numbers or accept them but then are unable to send any 2fa tokens quickly enough to those foreign phone numbers for the 2fa tokens to still be valid. So, I actually wish I had a quadruple sim phone, as it is I have two dual sim phones to handle this (w…
Presumably this will be an inflection point for eSIM availability and you'll be able to add all 4 plans to your phone and switch to any 2 of them on the fly.
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). Afte…
That’s down to your network. I was able to buy an e-sim over the internet in a few minutes from Vodafone UK, while not even being in the UK, and set it up by scanning a QR code that got emailed to me.
Your problem isn’t the e-sim, it’s a shitty network.
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).
I share your concerns but at the same time I think, why would we even need a SIM? Isn't it simply a device for accessing account on someones system? We don't have SIMs for ADSL or Fiber internet? We don't have SIMs for Reddit ot Twitter? Why would we have SIMs accessing GSM networks? There's no fundamental reason why we simply don't sign in into these networks like signing in to HN. Surely, it adds a layer of anonymi…
Because SIMs require the physical card. You cannot forge a SIM without the SIM itself. There's a physical second factor. Usernames and passwords get leaked all the time, and since Reddit et al are meant to be accessed by multiple devices, device-locking them would be antithetical and anti-consumer. A phone service is implicitly device-locked (well, doesn't have to be, but it doesn't make sense to allow multiple devic…
> Because SIMs require the physical card. You cannot forge a SIM without the SIM itself
Your SIM provider certainly can issue a duplicate. Also, SIMs can be spoofed.
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…
> And my money is that they'll use whatever volume they free up to mindlessly make the phone thinner.
Thinner is absolutely better. The ergonomics and lightness of the iPhones 6 through 8 are far superior to the thick and heavy iPhones Pro of today. Without Jony Ive at the design helm to push the "single slab of glass" vision, the thickness and weight has been gradually creeping upward for years now to cram in more batteries and hardware. A return to thin iPhones would be a good thing.
Is there a way to send a strong signal that we don't want this? Companies seem to think that they can make infinite money by denying customers what they want. But in this case, the only thing propping up the iPhone is the dominant market position of Apple and whatever intellectual property protections and lobbying allow Apple to keep bundling their hardware and software. Maybe it's time to remind them of their legal…
> But in this case, the only thing propping up the iPhone is the dominant market position of Apple and whatever intellectual property protections and lobbying allow Apple to keep bundling their hardware and software. I think it might have something to do with selling a product that customers prefer over the alternatives.