Back in the day it was called iPod idk if Apple still makes them. I always wondered why phone numbers still exist when majority of people use IM apps over the internet. Obstacles can be not all people(friends and family) having the internet or not all people having the internet access atm so you need phone number to reach someone.
Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
431–440 of 531 posts
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#432Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 serviceab…
Technically, I do not see why eSIM cannot be even easier than SIM swapping.
I go to a conference or hotel, and they can figure out how to have me login to the wifi and pay them. Or not pay them if I am a certain level member of their rewards program or part of a certain group of people attending the conference.
Other than legacy business contracts or lack of will by mobile networks to allow easy switching, it seems it should be just as easy to change which mobile network you are using.
As a side note, I love the cash grab by ATT/Verizon/Tmobile right now where changing your device entitles them to collect an extra $30 "activation" fee from you. Zero labor cost, almost zero compute cost other than changing IMEI in their database, and you still have to part with $30.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#433I 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…
This hasn't been my experience. I use only eSIMs now on an iPhone 13. I buy eSIMs via Airalo's iOS app (not affiliated, not an ad but love it). It takes me 30 seconds from buying an eSIM in any country worldwide from their app, paying with Apple Pay, to having it active and working with data and voice line. I travel a lot and before it'd take 15 minutes to sometimes an hour of driving to a phone shop or finding it at…
Airalo sounds interesting. I'm a bit suspicious of the offering though after studying their website. No business address, no mention where it's based, privacy policy is not GDRP compliant. Not sure if this is a serious business.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#434I 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.
I feel like this is a "cars can't replace horses" kind of debate.
I mean, cars are a great example of a technological advancement that absolutely ruined lots of places around the world:
- city centers, rendered noisy, rotted out of businesses, and replaced with parking lots - rural areas rendered completely car-dependent since roads are no longer walking-friendly - small towns who lost their entire downtown strip because people would rather drive their car to wal-mart - millions of pedestrian deaths worldwide per year because cars make it very easy to "accidentally" kill people
So... I guess the lesson is that it is exactly that kind of debate, and that there are pros and cons on both sides?
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
I imported my Pixel 5 to Switzerland which is technically not supported. Had to switch my esim to a physician because the esim didn't want to activate and also didn't get regonized by the phone. So much about support and independence.
That's more to do with the carrier than the eSIM standard or phone, though. My iPhone supports eSIM but my carrier (and the others, apparently) refuses to provision eSIMs for anything that isn't a smartwatch.
The eSIM worked just fine on the iPhone before.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#436Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a lot of less technically inclined folks I think eSIMs would introduce a lot of complexity. Swapping a SIM card is rather straight forward, and I know that for example my mother could easily do it by herself and has done so in the past. I don't think she would be able to swap an eSIM using the customer portal of her operator if it was necessary. I could see this causing a lot of headache for customer support or n…
This is typical of Apple to force a technology change. That said, eSIM technology is ready and eSIM swapping is quite easy, and could become easier with some interface improvements. The issues with eSIM re-issuance are the biggest hurdle, but those fall on the carriers.
Switching between eSIMs on the same phone is very easy. But migrating the profile to another phone is somewhat complicated in my experience. Nothing you would want to do regularily in my opinion. Essentially you have to disable your old eSIM and create and then provision a new one. Some plans allow you to have multiple SIMs activated at the same time. But usually you have to pay extra for that.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#437Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's more to do with the carrier than the eSIM standard or phone, though. My iPhone supports eSIM but my carrier (and the others, apparently) refuses to provision eSIMs for anything that isn't a smartwatch.
The eSIM worked just fine on the iPhone before.
Like I said -- more to do with carrier restrictions. Your carrier doesn't have Pixel 5 on the "allowed devices" whitelist, so when it sends a registration request via that eSIM the network rejects it. (Your carrier knows which phone model is attempting to activate a SIM, even a physical one, and can reject it for whatever reason. It's just less common)
My Pixel 2 supported WiFi Calling but my carrier didn't acknowledge it as "supported" and the carrier's servers refused to send it a settings file.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#438I 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 I don't understand this comment. Pre-COVID I used to travel a lot for business, with an iPhone. iPhone has physical SIM + virtual SIM. My "home" SIM would stay in my iPhone. Meanwhile I would have one of the many eSIM apps (Truephone, GigSky etc.) on my phone, which I would activate for international data for X days which would enable me to continu…
The difference is the price. Any international eSim plan is many times more expensive per GB than a local sim card. Especially if you need a lot of GBs.
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apples eSIM is not the same as that open eSIM standard. eSIMs that work with iPhones have to be supplied via a direct agreement with Apple as far as I understand.
What are you basing that assertion on? All the eSIMs I’ve ever used have come direct from the carrier, and in some cases those carriers have very small presence and aren’t know for being at the front of Apple queue for services. Then there’s the dozens of companies in the App Store like https://www.dentwireless.com/ who all provide eSIMs for international travel. I find it hard to believe they all have agreements wit…
There are various threads on their developer forums alluding to it, eg. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/109874 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/110829 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/109797
Re: Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022
#440I 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…
There’s already an app called Airalo that lets you buy eSIMs in different countries. You don’t have to visit a shop to get a SIM which is better because in many countries the SIM shops will rip tourists off and/or there will be a language barrier issue.
Still, they will not rip you as much as Airalo.