Carrier-locked phones (mostly?) disappeared in Australia after it became mandatory for all carriers to unlock free-of-charge on request once contract periods had ended, or if the user was going somewhere the carrier didn't have coverage. If you enter into a contract that subsidises the phone price, it's enforceable anyway so there's no need to lock the phone from the outset.
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Apple Removes SIM Card Tray on All iPhone 14 Models in U.S.
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We were on AT&T precisely for GSM support. Never even considered Verizon until the FCC mandate for unlocked devices due to their spectrum purchase.
But.... my point is that there are no features in the USA models that aren't present in other models, which would suggest the reclaimed space is going unused? Or did I miss something?
Well, if you're Indonesian, you better buy the officially local release of iPhone in Indonesia unless you want to deal with paying import taxes and the IMEI whitelisting registration.
Hong Kong iPhone only have 2 physical nano SIM slot, no eSIM support at all.
Singapore (and Indonesia) will have the standard nano + eSIM configuration.
Except for Indonesia. The local conglomerates that got a deal with Apple in securing the local iPhone authorized distribution channel managed to also monopolized the warranty service. So foreign bought iPhones warranty won't be honored by these bozos. Luckily, a separate company (QCD from Singapore) opened up shop in Jakarta to service non-local iPhones.
My company-issued iPhone just got bricked by a carrier APN update, how do I transfer my eSIM over to a new handset? Authorisation on the account with the carrier is held by our finance department, and it's 5.30pm on a Friday. And I can't call the carrier anyway because did I mention my phone is broken? And I just tested positive for Covid so I can't go to a retail location.
This ludicrous sounding situation is basically what happened to me earlier this year, except I had a physical SIM I could swap into an old phone.
This ludicrous sounding situation is basically what happened to me earlier this year, except I had a physical SIM I could swap into an old phone.
We never had satellite connectivity on our phones for... decades, and we survived. So I don't think that's a crucial feature for many. The lack of mmWave might be more concerning for those that have coverage for it.
Short answer? Because Apple just doesn't like that slot hole...
It ruins Apple's aesthetics.Long speculative answer? It might be a prequel to Apple's providing their own cellular service in the future. Everything end to end is controlled via one single Apple One subscription. Even the phone itself might be included, as we have had rumors about iPhone subscription program already.
I am glad our Hong Kong, China models have 2 Nano SIMs instead of 0.
support.apple.com
Using Dual SIM with two nano-SIM cards - Apple Support (HK)
In China mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao, certain iPhone models feature Dual SIM with two nano-SIM cards. This gives you two phone numbers to make and receive calls and text messages.
Correct, except that if you buy one of the iphones that come with a carrier SIM instead of an unlocked sim free iphone it won’t be unlocked out of the box, you’ll have to request the unlock from the carrier, which they will do immediately if you did pay full price for the phone.
At least you guys don't have your government restricting foreign phones, soyou can just buy the Hong Kong version and enjoy dual nano SIM.
Us in Indonesia, we're stuck with the locally released version as the government imposed IMEI whitelisting so foreign bough phones cannot be used with the local carriers (unless you pay import tax and register the IMEI).
It's been like that since the XR/Xs days.I am glad our Hong Kong, China models have 2 Nano SIMs instead of 0.
Using Dual SIM with two nano-SIM cards - Apple Support (HK)
In China mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao, certain iPhone models feature Dual SIM with two nano-SIM cards. This gives you two phone numbers to make and receive calls and text messages.
The first Moto RAZR foldable didn't come with a SIM slot either, it was eSIM only (and worse it's Verizon only), yet nobody blinked.
Who said it wasn't a problem back then? People just aren't complaining about it on this thread because we got over it a decade ago when CDMA went away and we were finally all able to just swap SIM cards...
Sucks now, but better in the future. Let's just hope carriers around the world, especially developing countries, keep up to date and actually update their eSIMs.
When I lost my phone in the ocean, it was such a hassle to get a new sim card. Have to physically drive to the store, give a lot of IDs and stuff, then get approval, then get the SIM card. But wait, it needs to "communicate with the servers" and I have to wait 24 hours for it.
With eSIM, I don't have to travel to get a physical SIM. I just need to place a call - or even just use an app, and it'll all be sorted out easier.
Supporting Apple's move on this. Pain point will be travelling, but only for a year, then most probably everyone would've followed suit.
When I lost my phone in the ocean, it was such a hassle to get a new sim card. Have to physically drive to the store, give a lot of IDs and stuff, then get approval, then get the SIM card. But wait, it needs to "communicate with the servers" and I have to wait 24 hours for it.
With eSIM, I don't have to travel to get a physical SIM. I just need to place a call - or even just use an app, and it'll all be sorted out easier.
Supporting Apple's move on this. Pain point will be travelling, but only for a year, then most probably everyone would've followed suit.
It's worse with CDMA, as it's carrier specific and not portable. At least with eSIM, the technology itself actually allows portability, and even converting back to physical SIM.
eSIM has a lot of potential to be even more user friendly than physical SIM. It's the carriers that are just plain lazy, and put a lot of hassles that actually is not part of the tech. It as if these carriers have their own agenda on profiting from physical SIM, to the point that they made people's life harder on eSIM.
Excellent shot in the foot. Apple foot. The anti pro foot. Now upon landing in Chad, Chile and anywhere for that matter, we first go online while paying those “great” US providers fees now to find a local e-sim deal. Yeah, right. Cook cooked all of us an embarrassing surprise. Thank you! So immediately rushed to the Apple site to go ahead and order a 13 pro, and guess what? They all vanished, no more. In Europe one will have to pay roughly another $500 (14pro 6.1, 1TB) for the slot.
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that’s what i am saying but i got disliked for that comment