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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

#301

Post by smoovb »

tjpnz wrote: post #147
arthur_sav wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically when was the last time you switched your SIM card? I only change it when i change phones.

Last time I was in SE Asia it wasn't uncommon to see people carrying multiple SIM cards. They were sold cheap and providers were constantly undercutting each other on mobile data. This was almost a decade ago now, but given how Asian variants of phones still have dual SIM slots I'm guessing it's still common.

Asian eSIMs are common now. For example the Thai travel sim you would get at the BKK airport can be purchased online as an eSIM - so you can skip that local queuing and currency exchange experience.

Discloser: I sell eSIMs.

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

#302

Post by mrcode007 »

schwartzworld wrote: post #282
lajamerr wrote: post #208

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…

How is that simpler than sliding in a prepaid sim card?

Scanning a carrier provided QR code… this is how it’s currently done with iPhones

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

#303

Post by seemaze »

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 switched to using an eSIM with the iPhone 11. I was frequently traveling internationally and wanted the convenience of quickly purchasing a local SIM at my destination for easy cheap data, while retaining my US eSIM for important communication back home.

It took [large US mobile operator] THREE days and multiple conversations to get the eSIM working. Multiple support techs either told me eSIM's did not exist or were not compatible with [large US mobile operator]. I sure hope this has improved in the US since my experience.

What is the eSIM experience in other countries?

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

#304

Post by lotsofpulp »

zackmorris wrote: post #283
lotsofpulp wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

So you're really saying that if you wanted to sell a phone that could have iOS installed on it for customers to run, there's nothing stopping you from doing that?

I am not saying that. I am saying iPhones are “propped up” by people walking into a store (or browsing online), looking at the selection, and choosing an iPhone.

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

#305

Post by smoovb »

boondaburrah wrote: post #65

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.

You are aware you can have 10 or more eSIMs plans on an iPhone, right? You are free to swap between them as you wish? You are only locked into a single carrier if you purchase the iPhone thru that carrier. Always purchasing and unlocked phone is what solves this.

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

#306

Post by takeda »

deep-root wrote: post #266
Nbox9 wrote: 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…

They were correct. They're saying your phone service identity (I am X number on Y network plan). Not your personal identity (pictures of your kids and passwords). Today if your phone fails, you can pop a sim in another phone and regain your phone service identity within minutes. No SIM, it could take days or even weeks.

Yes, I don't understand how this could be welcomed by anyone else than Apple. It gives flashback from time when Verizon had CDMA network and their devices did not have SIM.

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

#307

Post by amelius »

technothrasher wrote: post #237
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.

That would make more sense if people were neutral about Smart TVs. But people hate them, which means they should hate their Smartphones too.

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

#308

Post by seti0Cha »

Nextgrid wrote: post #144
thirdlamp wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it doesn't make sense to allow multiple devices per number anyway Why not? This is a useful behavior that is currently emulated by forwarding calls to laptops and tablets with the same account when the devices are on the same Wi-Fi. You could get rid of the Wi-Fi requirement if those devices all simply had an eSIM with the same number.

Number assignment is handled at the network level. I have the exact functionality you speak of (single number to multiple devices) on my company's good old physical SIMs. Phones & SIMs don't even know nor care about their own number. The SIM has a field for that but in fact it's often left empty (iOS devices discover their own number by texting a known Apple number and getting the response via the Internet, they'll t…

Nextgrid, you're all over this topic providing high quality answers. Just wanted to say thanks for helping justify my still reading HN comments.

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

#309

Post by truculent »

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...

Other features like battery life are clearly more important to people than thinness and that seems to be catching on with manufacturers (although weight still matters).

I would speculate that removal of the physical SIM card is more likely to be about one (or a combination) of:

* Apple taking even more control over the device

* Making it marginally more difficult to switch to another brand's ecosystem

* Resilience (e.g. water/dust proofing).

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

#310

Post by takeda »

bellyfullofbac wrote: post #270
Nbox9 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

But the phone hardware also has an IMEI, which it also tells the network: https://weartotrack.com/imei-number-blocked/ So it might be you're basing your knowledge from some fictional show where the writers got it wrong.

I don't know the story, but I'm wondering if IMEI wasn't introduced because of that. If SIM offered an identity in the network, why would phone need to have an unique number?
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