Apple Allegedly Preparing for iPhones Without SIM Card Slot by September 2022 [Updated]

[Syk]

It will be interesting to see how FirstNet handles this. They are SIM only at this time.

FirstNet has eSim. I finally switched my AT&T sim to the BlackSim. When I called to get a free Sim the lady I spoke with asked if I wanted a physical or eSim

I still prefer physical. I can switch my Sim when I want. Seems like eSim only you're going to wind up paying that carrier activation fee. Apple sure likes taking away options.

 

[apparatchik]

Maybe their hermanos in Ecuador will get on the ball. They did postpaid the last time I was there but not prepaid.

Hopefully Telcel/Claro does as well, they clearly do not for reasons beyond technical, they don't want people to have Telcel with eSim and use the standard sim when traveling... I just got billed around 250 USD for roaming data charges on a recent trip abroad.... bastards!!

 

[name99]

Interesting. I have yet to find a country that offers eSims for prepaid

Jesus dude, it too me like 5 seconds:

‎T-Mobile Prepaid eSIM

‎Discover the easiest way to activate the Un-carrier on your phone with T-Mobile Prepaid eSIM. Unlock the potential of your iPhone with eSIM functionality and join the T-Mobile nationwide network effortlessly. Download the app, select a prepaid plan, and you're ready. With eSIM, you can...

apps.apple.com

 

[ksec]

Apple should have forced the eSIM support with every iPhone supporting MNO. Like similarly done in 4G and other earlier iPhone. ( May be they have less bargain power now ).

But supporting eSIM isn't cheap or easy from an MNO perspective. That is why there isn't any incentive for them to do so.

 

[name99]

Until you travel to places like Sudan, Iran, and Uzbekistan where eSIMs are unlikely to exist.

Seriously? Do you just make this stuff up?

eSIM Iran - no ID required - incl. neighboring countries

<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">eSIM Iran</span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en"><strong>compatible with </strong>(SIM-free/unlokced) <strong>cell phones</strong> including embedded eSIM technology (called...

prepaid-global.com

eSIM Sudan - no ID required

<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">eSIM Sudan</span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en"><strong>compatible with </strong>(SIM-free/unlokced) <strong>cell phones</strong> including embedded eSIM technology (called...

prepaid-global.com

Uzbekistan International eSIM with MobilityPass

Connecting with <li>UZBEKISTAN BEELINE Unitel (Beeline) </li><li>UZBEKISTAN MTS MTS (Uzdunrobita) </li><li>UZBEKISTAN UCELL U-Cell (Coscom) </li> -.

www.mobilitypass.com

 

[Mr Todhunter]

Interesting. I have yet to find a country that offers eSims for prepaid

Cosmote in Greece

 

[mrow]

Interesting. I have yet to find a country that offers eSims for prepaid

esimdb.com

 

[jaytv111]

Apple would have to make it WAYY easier to activate/switch eSIMs if this is the case. I've had Verizon since 2015 and for the past 2 or 3 years it's always a bit of a hassle to get the eSIM activated.

Removing the headphone jack makes more sense than this because there was an instant/easy solution. This? Nope.

Apple did. Verizon just has to support it. You click on transfer eSIM, couple options, bam it’s on a new iPhone. Slight problem is Verizon doesn’t support it, and many others don’t, even if they support eSIM.

 

[Fatboy71]

What a pain in the arse this will be when changing phones. Currently, you pop the sim card out of your old phone and put it in your new one, and you are then up and running.

I can imagine doing the same with eSIM is going to involve telephoning your carrier to arrange an eSIM swap. Hope there will be some automated procedure where you can do it without needing to wait in a queue for your call to be answered.

 

[Fatboy71]

This would be stupid. It's nice to buy a new phone and just be able to swap SIMs to have the number on the new phone without having to call support. Or being able to swap SIMs between two phones.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[MrMojo1]

I’m in the US and have been using my eSim for prepaid (AT&T) since the day my iPhone 13 released.

Do you have to ask for the eSim option?

At ATTs website for the Prepaid plans...

"Bring Your Own Device

• Universal SIM card
• No annual contract
• The same device you love
• AT&T PREPAID SIM Card (Phone)"

No other information available for the eSim option.

 

[DesertNomad]

Seriously? Do you just make this stuff up?

eSIM Iran - no ID required - incl. neighboring countries

<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">eSIM Iran</span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en"><strong>compatible with </strong>(SIM-free/unlokced) <strong>cell phones</strong> including embedded eSIM technology (called...

prepaid-global.com

eSIM Sudan - no ID required

<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">eSIM Sudan</span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en"><strong>compatible with </strong>(SIM-free/unlokced) <strong>cell phones</strong> including embedded eSIM technology (called...

prepaid-global.com

Uzbekistan International eSIM with MobilityPass

Connecting with <li>UZBEKISTAN BEELINE Unitel (Beeline) </li><li>UZBEKISTAN MTS MTS (Uzdunrobita) </li><li>UZBEKISTAN UCELL U-Cell (Coscom) </li> -.

www.mobilitypass.com

These all appear to be an international SIM that works in Sudan via ZAIN Sudan, but it doesn't look like you get a Sudan phone number (with a Sudan country code).

"no sudanese mobile number available"

That means that locals in Sudan can't call you on this SIM without incurring international charges. I bought my Sudan SIM at the Khartoum airport when I arrived and just popped it in. I therefore had a local Sudan number and locals could call me like any other number in Sudan. Having a local number is critical as nobody in Sudan is going to call a UK, German or other foreign number to talk to me when I am already in Sudan.

and for the Iranian one: "eSIM Data only - no mobile Number". So with this SIM Iranian friends in Iran can't call you. That's useless.

My Czech SIM worked in Sudan, but again, I needed a local Sudan mobile number. The only way to get that is with a local Sudan mobile operator and it's going to be a SIM card (not an eSIM) just like the vast majority of the developing world.

 

[Arislan]

This would be stupid. It's nice to buy a new phone and just be able to swap SIMs to have the number on the new phone without having to call support. Or being able to swap SIMs between two phones.

Can't speak to if Verizon and ATT have finally managed to streamline the process, but T-Mobile doesn't require a call to support anymore. Just log into your T-Mobile account and swap the eSIM to a new phone. Did it this year when got my iPhone 13 models. Mint Mobile and T-Mobile prepaid do it too through their app.

 

[OldReefer]

Thank God Apple is getting rid of this absurd, insecure, 30-year-old-tech. eSIMs work great. I had T-Mobile transfer mine to eSIM and throw the chip in the trash. I travel internationally extensively ( at lest before the pandemic). I am sure Apple will push the world to this 21st Century standard. I will not have a physical SIM in a phone ever again. It is just too risky.

Pre-pandemic, I was trying to eat the entire breakfast buffet in a hotel in Jakarta while trying to recover from a really expensive hangover. Somebody snatched my phone off the table. I wiped it with my iPad in about a minute and they threw it in the hallway where I found it. If I had been seconds slower here is what would have happened.

They would have called up Medical ID and taken a picture of the screen. That would have given them the names and phone numbers of my three emergency contacts along with my name and birthdate. Then they would have pulled my SIM and dropped it in a burner phone. At that point I could not have called my family to tell them what was going on. They would go to the dark net for anything related to my name or phone number and then done password resets on various accounts. If that failed they would call my emergency contacts from “my number” pretending to be the police or hospital to see what they could get out of them.

Physical SIMs are absurd outdated tech that need to go. A pick-pocket should not to be able to blow up your life with a paper clip in 2022.

 

[mikegoldnj]

And that includes the US. Without the physical SIM I won't be able to upgrade with my cheap T-Mobile $15/mo plan.

I had a prepaid T-Mobile number via eSIM (as a second line) on my iPhone 12 Pro.

 

[pianostar9]

create a SIM card slot in the 2022 iPhones

Chinese model

 

[mikegoldnj]

Right back in the 90s on CDMA. Just update the ESN on the carrier's website and dial *228 (or, *ACT) to activate.

Worked then, no problem, no idea why it wouldn't work now. Truthfully, I could do an ESN change even quicker than it took me to find the damn paperclip to eject a SIM card. Always felt like going to a SIM card for 4G was a step backwards in some ways.

And yeah, my StarTAC was a dual-NAM phone. None of this is new.

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

First phone I had with a SIM was a Nokia on VoiceStream.

 

[Username: Required]

"Until you travel to places like Sudan, Iran, and Uzbekistan where eSIMs are unlikely to exist."

Don't know why people are laughing or thumb down with this, but I traveled to Iran a few years ago and unable to find a nano-sim, so I cut the micro-sim with scissors and a local guy grind the edge of it with a rifle (which has file like texture). Good luck finding eSIM there.

I can get eSIM in my city, maybe I can get travel eSIM in very well developed countries (poor availability than physical travel sim), but no way I'd pick a phone (at least within 5 years) that would not allow me to simply get a physical sim and use whatever network.

 

[DesertNomad]

Thank God Apple is getting rid of this absurd, insecure, 30-year-old-tech. eSIMs work great. I had T-Mobile transfer mine to eSIM and throw the chip in the trash. I travel internationally extensively ( at lest before the pandemic). I am sure Apple will push the world to this 21st Century standard. I will not have a physical SIM in a phone ever again. It is just too risky.

Do you get a local number in the countries you visit? If not, do you expect locals to call you on your US number which would be very expensive from most places?

I have had local SIMs (with a local number) in countless countries. Just having my phone work is not a solution. I need a LOCAL NUMBER so that people in the country can call me as a local call. When I was in Morocco, I hired a taxi driver to take me to the Ceuta border and I crossed to the Spanish side for a few hours. He had to call me later in the day (when I was back in Morocco) and since I had a local number it was easy. I would not expect him to call me on a foreign number. Most countries do not offer eSIMs yet. Sure you can get them in Germany and Singapore, but not so much in Rwanda or similarly developed countries.

 

[Shirasaki]

They need to remove the sim card and the port to bring that 50m WR.

Just make iPhone literally a sheet of glass, strong glass. Absolutely waterproof, and figure out how to put internals into it later.

 

[TheMountainLife]

My 60 day sim lock with Verizon ended today for my 13PM since trading in my 11PM. It took 2 visits to T-Mobile and 3 calls to their customer service to get my eSIM line added back as a 2nd line on my 13. During that time I missed out on business calls/texts. (We we’re having issues with the QR code. Kept registering as “No Service” and not provisioning)

Basic everyday users like my parents, peers etc would have been less patient and understanding. Carriers implementation of eSIM needs a ton of work.

 

[Shirasaki]

Waiting to see those “you travel to the wrong country” comments to support their “eSIM superior in every way over SIM” narrative.

 

[BurgDog]

I had a prepaid T-Mobile number via eSIM (as a second line) on my iPhone 12 Pro.

Easy to set up a new prepaid T-Mobile account with their app, very hard to transfer an existing prepaid account to eSIM without a lot of hassle and strong possibility you'll lose your old number in the process. Create a new account with the app and then try to port the old number and abandon the old account and whatever balance was on it. Too many horror stories of those who tried, sometimes people get lucky with CSR roulette and might get it to work.

 

[nouvejetzt]

I remember pretty much before the smartphones this was a thing, I was wondering when they will bring this "technology" back.

 

[xpaulso]

So, suppose they removed the SIM slot and also the connection port at the bottom of the device. Will they start including wireless chargers in the box, or will they keep on selling those separately? I mean, they won't be able to claim they are not including chargers for the benefit of the environment then.

Magsafe cable but without the charger.