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Nano-SIM Card Standard to be Decided This Month

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,886



Apple has been pushing its own nano-SIM design as a replacement for the current micro-SIM for a year. As of a couple months ago, however, Apple was fighting with rival phone makers who were pushing their own SIM designs. Apple has even offered a royalty-free patent license to its design in order to convince other companies to sign on.

nanosim.jpg



The Verge reports that the votes on the next SIM card standard are finally being taken and should be concluded by mid-May. Apple has attempted to counter Nokia's concerns by slightly reworking its design.
We just spoke with SIM card maker (and pioneer) Giesecke & Devrient here at CTIA about progress on the creation of the 4FF standard -- the so-called nano-SIM -- over which Apple and Nokia have been warring in recent months.

[...]

The company tells us that the ETSI vote on the 4FF standard that had been delayed back in March is actually now underway. Voting began for ETSI members in mid-April and wraps up in mid-May, mere days away. G&D is a voting member, though it wouldn't tell us which way it's leaning -- needless to say, the presence of Apple's design here signals that they'll almost certainly put their votes in that direction and away from Nokia's more radical design that limits backward compatibility with micro-SIM and mini-SIM slots on older phones.
Click to expand...
G&D also noted that since the nano-SIM design is being "driven by a supplier" -- in this case, Apple -- there wouldn't be a long lag before the new design was implemented. The current standard, the micro-SIM, took five years from ratification as a standard to appearing in the iPhone 4.

Recently, a purported micro-SIM tray for the next iPhone leaked from a part supplier, suggesting that Apple will continue to use that standard in the forthcoming device. Being that the new nano-SIM standard hasn't been ratified, and the fact that Apple would need some lead-time to incorporate the design into the iPhone, it seems likely that the nano-SIM standard would not be ready in time for the next iPhone.

Article Link: Nano-SIM Card Standard to be Decided This Month
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/09/nano-sim-card-standard-to-be-decided-this-month/
macbook pro i5

macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
This should pave way to make the new iPhone thinner,But I don't want it thinner I want a better processor and more RAM.


Personally if they make the new iPhone thinner it will be to uncomfortable to hold!
 
AppleGuesser

AppleGuesser

macrumors regular
May 1, 2012
240
102
Macon, GA
macbook pro i5 said:
This should pave way to make the new iPhone thinner,But I don't want it thinner I want a better processor and more RAM.


Personally if they make the new iPhone thinner it will be to uncomfortable to hold!
Click to expand...

I think thinner would be ok, but the iPhone for me would have to be much larger, closer to 4 inches really. But more RAM and a better processor are always welcomed upgrades :):apple:
 
davester

davester

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2001
263
202
Perth, Australia
Even blind Freddy can't see the point of stalling

That said, blind Freddy can't see stuff, but that's another story.

I don't understand the indecision on this one. The choice is obvious - make the smaller one. Less plastic is used, it's a smaller footprint, which will result in smaller devices. What needs to be decided on?
 
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BvizioN

BvizioN

macrumors 603
Mar 16, 2012
5,701
4,819
Manchester, UK
I can't wait for the new iPhone to arrive, so the naming problem can finaly be solved once and forerver.

Btw, nano sim doesn't just mean thinner iPhone. In general it means more room for other phone components.
 
x-evil-x

x-evil-x

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,576
3,234
i don't see why it would be hard to get this passed. They just took out the plastic around the sim. Looks cleaner and smaller.
 
inkswamp

inkswamp

macrumors 68030
Jan 26, 2003
2,953
1,278
Am I the only one who finds it vaguely amusing that so many big companies would be quarreling over such a minor thing? I guess I just don't see what the "big picture" is with this and why it matters so much to any of them, beyond what has already been pointed out about Apple's design concerns.
 
AppleGuesser

AppleGuesser

macrumors regular
May 1, 2012
240
102
Macon, GA
electronics1201 said:
Im sorta getting sick of this numbering thing anyway

its not like they say "iMac 4" or "macbook pro 5s"...

the new iPhone sounds......simple.
Click to expand...

I guess so, Apple isnt one for changing too much on tradition. Yes, the iPad name changed from numbers to the simple phrase, but the iPhone has been around much longer. Changing that tradition "almost" seems un-Apple like :)
 
J

jlnr

macrumors regular
Sep 27, 2010
199
96
It is frustrating enough to have two SIM card standards co-exist in 2012, why three? This is going to be a PITA for travellers.
 
coolbreeze

coolbreeze

macrumors 68000
Jan 20, 2003
1,809
1,554
UT
jlnr said:
It is frustrating enough to have two SIM card standards co-exist in 2012, why three? This is going to be a PITA for travellers.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have a GNEX now and am getting the Nokia 808. I travel a lot and can't be bothered with hauling around SIM cutters and adapter trays.

I say just cut the cord and go with the tiny design and be done with it. In a few years, all GSM phones will use this design and the world will be happy.

Until then, having three sizes is ridiculous.
 
Drunken Master

Drunken Master

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2011
1,060
0
macbook pro i5 said:
This should pave way to make the new iPhone thinner,But I don't want it thinner I want a better processor and more RAM.


Personally if they make the new iPhone thinner it will be to uncomfortable to hold!
Click to expand...

Waaah, is the current iPod Touch uncomfortable to hold? No, it feels awesome in your hands.

BvizioN said:
I can't wait for the new iPhone to arrive, so the naming problem can finaly be solved once and forerver
Click to expand...

There is no problem. Don't make problem and non-problem.
 
BvizioN

BvizioN

macrumors 603
Mar 16, 2012
5,701
4,819
Manchester, UK
AppleGuesser said:
I guess so, Apple isnt one for changing too much on tradition. Yes, the iPad name changed from numbers to the simple phrase, but the iPhone has been around much longer. Changing that tradition "almost" seems un-Apple like :)
Click to expand...

Well, lately they have.
And i believe this is exactly what is going to happen with iPhone.
No more numbers or numbers combined with S's.
 
J

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
124
Mpls, MN
davester said:
That said, blind Freddy can't see stuff, but that's another story.

I don't understand the indecision on this one. The choice is obvious - make the smaller one. Less plastic is used, it's a smaller footprint, which will result in smaller devices. What needs to be decided on?
Click to expand...

Damn! You've been here longer than me. Not much to say, though.



So, nano sims....we really have run out of useful things to talk about.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
O

omenatarhuri

macrumors 6502a
Feb 9, 2010
902
844
BvizioN said:
Well, lately they have.
And i believe this is exactly what is going to happen with iPhone.
No more numbers or numbers combined with S's.
Click to expand...
This.

On the subject tho, could someone please explain what the big deal is with this SIM standards? Is one of them technically superior to the other, they can't be that different from a size aspect that it would matter, SIM's are already like 0,5mm thin or something like that.
 
Tea-Aholic

Tea-Aholic

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2011
438
155
Melbourne, Australia
TBH, when I got my first micro SIM device (iPad 2) I've always wondered why SIM's weren't that small from the start. It's the same as a regular SIM and a mini SIM, just less plastic. Heck, I even cut mine up before I got a micro SIM for my iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. They are the same thing. Just less plastic. Should have started with less plastic anyway.
 
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