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Apple Removes SIM Card Tray on All iPhone 14 Models in U.S.
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If history is any guide, Samsung will do this soon, too. My guess is that Apple is trying to "encourage" carriers to adopt eSIM globally.
Ditto. When it comes time for a new phone I'll be switching to Android too. I wanted to try the Android operating system for a while but never could justify it due to having a phone that works fine already.
Well the good thing is flagship Androids are poop and not worth the money. The majority of Androids still have headphone jacks so I think we'll be fine when the time comes when we'll need new phones.
My quick thoughts...
1. This is the start to the end of agent and retail stores. This group of brick and mortar stores will not longer be logistically part of long term planning by the big 3.
2. We will start seeing more and more "free first month service" as a teaser to get customers to churn their current wireless company.
3. MVNO's that jump on board will really benefit and grow into the more profitable higher revenue customer.
4. Apple will start taking a percentage of all esim activations.
5. Apple will sell an international version of the 14 in the US if they start losing upgrades and new customer sales.
6. Wireless companies will not longer be able to blame their crappy service on the SIM cards.
1. This is the start to the end of agent and retail stores. This group of brick and mortar stores will not longer be logistically part of long term planning by the big 3.
2. We will start seeing more and more "free first month service" as a teaser to get customers to churn their current wireless company.
3. MVNO's that jump on board will really benefit and grow into the more profitable higher revenue customer.
4. Apple will start taking a percentage of all esim activations.
5. Apple will sell an international version of the 14 in the US if they start losing upgrades and new customer sales.
6. Wireless companies will not longer be able to blame their crappy service on the SIM cards.
US reviewers, maybe. Non US reviewers are unaffected since non US iPhones still have the SIM slot.
The unlocked model used to be added a little after launch but that hasn't been the case for a few years. Unlocked avail same time as carriers versions.
The outrage in this thread is hilarious. This is a big step forward, the SIM card slot was the biggest waste of space inside the phone. The few carriers that don’t support eSIM will now be forced to or they’ll lose business. You guys will get over it. Similar outrage when Apple got rid of the floppy disk drive, or the archaic USB ports, both genius moves in hindsight.
Samsung will definitely do this for their Z flip. Even outside the US, the Z flip only has one single nano SIM slot + eSIM, which is a rarity as pretty much all other Samsung/Android phones have dual nano SIM slot. So that tells me that the internal space for the Z flip is very limited.
Chicke and egg. We will see. I do hope this will nudge the lazy carriers to adopt eSIM. However, there are big telcos that are simply too fat and lazy, that they probably wouldn't be bothered until the likes of Samsung do it as well.The outrage in this thread is hilarious. This is a big step forward, the SIM card slot was the biggest waste of space inside the phone. The few carriers that don’t support eSIM will now be forced to or they’ll lose business. You guys will get over it. Similar outrage when Apple got rid of the floppy disk drive, or the archaic USB ports, both genius moves in hindsight.
What I have seen is that the esim rates are MUCH higher than buy a sim card. Maybe it is because of competition, who knows. I hope this forces everyone to move to esim, but the change will be painful (for those of use who buy cheap local cards)
The outrage in this thread is hilarious. This is a big step forward, the SIM card slot was the biggest waste of space inside the phone. The few carriers that don’t support eSIM will now be forced to or they’ll lose business. You guys will get over it. Similar outrage when Apple got rid of the floppy disk drive, or the archaic USB ports, both genius moves in hindsight.
Swapping physical sims are easy. Just put it in and go
Swapping eSIMS, gotta call the carrier, sometimes pay a fee, then go through several verification steps, then you can use the eSIM.
The majority of the world still uses physical sims, and prefer physical sims. For most eSIMs makes things more complicated.
Also I wanna touch on this bit: "archaic USB ports." Bro...the majority of machines still use USB-A, and has since 2016 when Apple went full USB-C on the Macbook. Hell their desktop Macs still have USB-A ports!
A small company which doesn’t control the hardware has no leverage over mobile networks.
Very different if a major phone manufacturer was to implement a store for eSIMs while removing physical sim slots and having full control of which eSIMs can be activated. It would give them massive leverage over mobile networks to force them into some sort of revenue sharing agreement if they want go have access Apple customers.
Apple will take a percentage of all eSIM activations? What are you talking about. A carrier doesn’t even need to be an Apple partner to support eSIM. They can just follow the GSMA standard and issue QR codes.
Also my carrier, an Apple partner, doesn’t charge anything for eSIM no matter how many times I change devices.
Imagine the border agents' facial expression when I tell them the reason for visit is just to buy an iPhone with a SIM tray. 🤣
Welp, I was already rejecting the iPhone 14 for its bloated size. This thing is obviously only viable for women or anyone else who carries a purse. Now it's only for women who don't travel.
But this is a deal-breaker. The "E-SIM" is another offensive, anti-customer disgrace from Apple. This should be the top headline about the entire event, but the fawning press gives Apple another free pass on screwing consumers.
But this is a deal-breaker. The "E-SIM" is another offensive, anti-customer disgrace from Apple. This should be the top headline about the entire event, but the fawning press gives Apple another free pass on screwing consumers.
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So how would this work if I have T-Mobile now on an iPhone 13 Pro with a physical SIM?
Do I buy the T-Mobile version fo the 14 Pro or the generic one? I am post-paid and no contract so I have always bought the "no carrier" model in the past and just swapped SIMs
Can I move from the physical SIM to an eSIM in the new phone without having to go through the nightmare of direct T-Mobile involvement (i.e. call them or go to a store)?
It used to be so simple to just swap SIMs into the new phone, this seems like a real step back.
Do I buy the T-Mobile version fo the 14 Pro or the generic one? I am post-paid and no contract so I have always bought the "no carrier" model in the past and just swapped SIMs
Can I move from the physical SIM to an eSIM in the new phone without having to go through the nightmare of direct T-Mobile involvement (i.e. call them or go to a store)?
It used to be so simple to just swap SIMs into the new phone, this seems like a real step back.
Where are you seeing that? I just got off the phone with someone at Xfinity Mobile and she said that she knows eSIM is coming and sees an article from yesterday about it becoming available but no info on her end on how to switch to eSIM.
This is where you have to do the research on the carriers you may use to see if they support eSIM and the coverage they have. For example, I know I'm covered in Australia with Telstra and Optus. I'm covered with DoCoMo in Japan. I'm covered by by Orange in the UK and France, as well as Vodafone in the UK. All I'd have to do is buy the eSIM from those carriers, put the data into my phone, which would give me a local number to that country, and I'm good to go.
So you need to check your country and don't rely on keeping your current domestic phone number. The purpose isn't to keep your number working while you are international, but to keep your phone without having to physically pull anything out while you are international.
BL.
eSIMs are more expensive because you are comparing resellers usually based in other countries to the local carrier.
Airalo in Germany isn’t cheap for example and doesn’t offer unlimited so when I went Germany this past month I just went to a Telekom Deutschland store and got myself an unlimited everything eSIM (well, physical then switched it to eSIM). Seamless process.
I just looked around and there are very few counries that do not offer esims so what's the beef. Can you name a country that does not support esim technology???
Yes, Verizon did for "ESN swaps" and Metro by T-Mobile did (and I believe may still even now in some cases where dealers are used) for "IMEI changes". SIM swapping was a key selling point for GSM-based technologies when those fees were still common.
I just checked . Apple Iphone 14/14 pro will have physical sim card support in India. Check here - https://www.apple.com/in/iphone/compare/ . So basically , apple want us to buy different phone to use in US and another , when travel outside. This is ******** , crappy move by APPLE.
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This is going to differ so bad between carriers so we will have to wait to see how each carrier adapts but T-Mobile being a launcher partner, if your current SIM is eSIM then when you setup your new iPhone even if not bought from T-Mobile/unlocked, it will ask if you would like to transfer your number to this device and it will handle the process for you. It may ask for your T-Mobile account details though.