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

macrumors.com

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

#411

Post by conradev »

Tijdreiziger wrote: post #358
conradev wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, there is nothing to indicate this is a power grab by Apple. Google supports eSIM. Google can sell you cell service for your iPhone from the couch. If any phone manufacturer is trying to compete with the carriers, it would look a lot like Google, which made a global MVNO. Yes, there is usually a business motive behind every business decision. The GSMA makes it sound like the carriers want it, as well as the pho…

> [...] Google, which made a global MVNO. > Google Fi is a service for US residents only, as of late 2019. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Fi

I meant this (from the same article):

> When outside the United States, cellular phone calls cost $0.20 per minute, data costs the same $10 per gigabyte (i.e. there are no extra data charges outside of the US), and texting is free

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

#412

Post by curiousllama »

sandworm101 wrote: post #389
saltminer wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, they can, and do. The Pixel 6 will not charge with cables and chargers Google deems "low quality", which seems to be anything that doesn't meet the USB-C spec. https://9to5google.com/2021/11/29/pixel-6-reject-charging-ca...

The phone rejects non-spec cables, cables that might actually harm the phone. It doesnt reject cables based on manufacturer. Google doesnt own the spec.

Can't and don't are different. There's no reason google couldn't just change what they consider to be on-spec.

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

#413

Post by rosndo »

PebblesHD wrote: post #158

I (before COVID…) travel somewhat regularly and have a collection of SIM cards from my most frequently travelled destinations making just arriving and going about my life a nice straightforward process. I haven’t seen anything to indicate eSIMs have anything close to this experience and I feel like losing the option to do so for some perceived modernness is a bit disappointing.

I have a collection of international eSIMs, they certainly make my life much easier.

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

#414

Post by ecf »

arepublicadoceu wrote: post #398

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I feel that this is a first step to a complete power grab over telecoms from the phone manufactures. 1. Step one: Force everyone to use eSim 2. Step two: Bundle a internet plan through Apple One or whatever Google offers. 3. Step three: Move further to a world where all our entertainment and access to services goes through two players: Apple and Google. I'm pretty sure in 10 years t…

I, for one, would ditch telecoms in a heartbeat if this were a thing.

Why?

> VZ Msg: Introducing Verizon Custom Experience. VZ content & offers are more relevant using web browsing & app usage info. For info or to opt-out: m.vzw.com/CE

Received this earlier this month. Verizon and others can go fuck themselves.

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

#415

Post by jackson1442 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #389
saltminer wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, they can, and do. The Pixel 6 will not charge with cables and chargers Google deems "low quality", which seems to be anything that doesn't meet the USB-C spec. https://9to5google.com/2021/11/29/pixel-6-reject-charging-ca...

The phone rejects non-spec cables, cables that might actually harm the phone. It doesnt reject cables based on manufacturer. Google doesnt own the spec.

I'm curious how this is different from the terrible dystopia you described in your root comment. Google is telling you which cables you can and cannot use.

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

#416

Post by mrcode007 »

NullPrefix wrote: post #371
rosndo wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

>working on my own eSIM implementation Please tell me you are serious about this. Tried looking into this earlier and found out that eSIM is extra proprietary, which means no hobby devices, like those 3G/4G/GSM connectivity Arduino modules.

I don’t know where you’re pulling these claims out from but here are the specs:

https://www.gsma.com/esim/esim-specification/

In addition you can get ST micro data sheets for full blown electrical and mechanical data sheets for free

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

#417

Post by xxpor »

andreareina wrote: post #101
yosito wrote: post #91

People are saying this is bad because you won't be able to swap phones without relying on the carrier to provision a new eSIM for you. I have the same gut reaction, but with my current physical SIM, I have to install the carrier's app, and there are many phones which don't work with my carrier, despite being unlocked phones and unlocked SIMs. And let's not forget that locking phones and SIMs has been common practice…

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??

It's an AT&T thing in the US. They don't allow non-AT&T locked phones (except for iPhones...) to access VoLTE/wifi calling. It's complete bullshit.

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

#418

Post by 908B64B197 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #253
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…

>> 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 wa…

> If you are a local ISP, you better be part of the program if you want to sell your services to apple's devices

I wonder if Apple won't just bulk-buy bandwidth and take care of the customer experience.

Imagine your phone just... working globally.

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

#419

Post by truculent »

takeda wrote: post #315
truculent wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> * Resilience (e.g. water/dust proofing). Phones already were water proof when they had sim cards and phone jack. While I never owned an iPhone, those changes annoy me immensely. The reason for it is that Android manufacturers are copying all of that. I'm currently want to update phone, and want one with sd card and phone jack. Those two things make my selection much smaller. And looking at trends looks like very so…

> Phones already were water proof when they had sim cards and phone jack.

As an individual, I agree with you. The industry consensus (initiated by Apple) that the headphone jack ought to go is a great shame for a few reasons and I would happily trade-off some water resistance for its inclusion.

However, when you want to use phones to pull customers into the lucrative world of subscriptions (and the big corps, especially Apple, seem to be heading this way), having a device that is more reliable and less likely to break is very helpful. The longer you can make the device last, the less reason you give the customer to try another, competing brand, and the more you increase the chance that they get pulled into your ecosystem.

We could talk about the ethics and attitude that leads them to locking down the device more and more to increase one-shot longevity instead of making devices repairable. But this is outside of the scope of my original comment.

The original argument I was making was that SIM card removal does seem plausible to me. It fits into a number of trends in Apple devices over the last couple of years, and arbitrarily increasing thinness isn't one of them.

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

#420

Post by saratogacx »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #388
deep-root wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the CDMA days your non-carrier locked phone had trouble handling travel across the US, and forget about service in another country. Carriers (Verizon and Sprint?) tried to improve it, but never really worked and the expense was high.

ATT/Tmobile users did not have a problem with service in another country, as they were not CDMA.

CDMA phones (early 2000's) had to be manually configured to attach to a network, I did support for Verizon at the time and I talked many people through the steps of reprogramming their phones onto the network. If you wanted to use your CDMA phone on another network you had to program it and re-program back when you were done. The steps were not public nor easy to navigate as it was not intended to be a user serviceable feature.

Compared to AT&T's "take the card out and put it in the new phone" reprogramming it was night and day.

You can say that eSIM is easier than the old CDMA days but it still isn't as easy as SIM swapping.

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