Apple Developing Custom Built-In SIM Card for iPhone?

[y3k]

Look, I understand the temptation to hate Apple because of their desire for control. But they are still a business, they're still in this to make a profit, and assuming that they will do all they can to screw you when it's not in their best interests to do so? Don't you think that's just a bit much?
-fred

Fred, I don't want to hate Apple and I strongly hope this thread is just their public opinion testing. Plus I am shareholder and I'm interested in Apple success. The only point is, what is bringing them more revenue? Sales to "unauthorized countries" or telephone traffic of those using iPhones on non-Apple-approved providers in "authorized" countries. If they lose more money on having people connecting to alternative operators then earn or selling phones to the third world, they may screw me with my problems and get SIM-less phone being handled by their operators exclusively.

It's not about love or hate. It's just about excellent products and money.

 

[MacKeeper-fan]

This is dumb. I think it would create much more of a hassle if you travel and want to use a SIM of the country you’re in… also, as someone said, what would happen if you need to send the device in for service? You lose your number and then they got to program into the refurb device they send back to you?

Here’s another important question… what happens when you want to sell the device?! I see this creating more headaches if anything… what the hell is Apple’s problem? They just love less control for the user…

 

[iSIMmy]

What is in a SIM card?

Basically much, much more than just a worldwide unique reference number and some memory space to store your contact names and telephone numbers.

A SIM is the physically secured module which contains the IMSI, a secret authentication algorithm, the secret authentication key and other security related information and functions. The basic function of the SIM is to authenticate the subscriber identity in order to prevent misuse of the MS (Mobile Station) and the network.

I do not believe the major mobile network operator groups would easily accept their proprietary and secure authentication algorithm and their secret keys to be distributed to the iPhone via iTunes...

 

[ccdan]

People who seem to approve of this, probably are not very familiar with the GSM carriers, especially when there are many of them and have many offers.

Such a move would be a terrific abuse! However, I don't think it's even possible to come with such thing to Europe and other countries where GSM is prevalent. The GSM standard doesn't allow "fixed" sim's or related technologies that would make the phones similar to CDMA phones. Besides, there would be legal problems, because apple would likely only approve of certain carriers and most EU countries have laws that make it mandatory for carriers/sellers to unlock the phones after a certain period so that they can be used in any GSM network!
There are 27 countries in the EU and some have 4-5 carriers, plus a number of so-called virtual carriers that have their own sims, numbers and plans! Besides, many carriers have a number of pre-paid plans in addition to monthly plans, each with their own sim.
Further, the offers differ all the time and depend on when you buy the pre paid card(this kind of offers cannot exist for CDMA or other non-sim technologies), and sometimes it's more convenient to buy a new pre-paid sim than to recharge an existing one. Or you can have several sim's.
Sim cards are also used in other devices, for example mobile fax machine or mobile broadband modems (some are even integrated in certain laptops)

There are also some other advantages: you can store a certain number of contacts, text messages and other data, so you can easily copy them from the sim when you buy a new phone... also, if you damage your phone, you only have to take out the sim an put it into another phone and you'll have the same number and the same plan/options/etc. ...

 

[vampyren]

Usually Apple comes up with smart solutions but this is not one of them.
I doubt this solution will fly worldwide (asia in mind) so what about the countries/operators which dont sign on? Will my iPhone be a dead weight ?

I hope they dont go through with this or i will be forced to move on to something else even if i love my iPhone.

 

[Mj2sL]

I do think it's ugly to have a compartment for the simcard on a iPhone. But built-in sim sounds like they're trying to control things a little more than before. I think it's pretty likely they will come up with something like this.

 

[ericschmerick]

When I lived in the US, I don't think I even knew what a sim card was. Whatever, walk into Cingular (at the time), but a package, get a phone, turn it on, use it for the contract period. Rinse and repeat.

But basically in at least most of asia (the parts I've visited) the norm is that buying service (and the sim card) is essentially a separate event from buying the phone. Probably at least 30% of the people in Singapore, for example, are on pre-paid plans. You walk into 7-11, buy a sim card, by a recharge card, and you're good to to. Those SIM cards, by Singapore law, have an expiration date (!). In other words, after some point (I think 6 mos) you must buy a new sim card anyway.

In China, I'd venture to say that about 80% of subscribers are on pre-paid plans, and it works basically the same way as above (though as far as I know, no sim expiration). You buy whatever service you want, and pop in the sim card. I can't imagine having to go to Apple and/or a carriers and begging them to figure out how to setup my iPhone.

And of course the issue of traveling from one country to another and popping in SIM cards to get cheap local rates would evaporate. As soon as you called the carrier and said "hey I'm a foreigner, could you please authenticate my phone" they'd say - "great, by the way let us tell you about our fabulous $3 per minute roaming rates".

The idea of a "built-in" sim card is ridiculous, and it actually shifts the balance of power far away from the consumer, and toward apple and the carriers. Anyone that thinks this would improve choice is, in my opinion, sorely mistaken. It was essentially make the iPhone a non-asia phone, and probably very unpopular in most of the world.

I would not buy a phone like this.

 

[zap2]

Not sure I could deal with just being able to use my iPhone. I love it to death, but right now I got a full sim card because Nokia says not to use a micro sim adaptor with the N8, plus I left the adapter in my dorm room when I went home for winterbreak.