Apple Removes SIM Card Tray on All iPhone 14 Models in U.S.

[Krispykrme]

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.

You obviously haven’t traveled outside US.

Take the 3 countries I visit most often for example

1. Singapore- no esim from local carrier for tourists unless it’s ****** M1. For eSIM, I will have to sign up a contract- with much worse pricing. Right now $40SGD gets me 5000 minutes and 180GB 5G data for 3 months.

And I am not sure I can even get a local plan.

2. Taiwan on the other hand has 0 tourist ESIM. Only direct store can activate esim for local plan. You can’t even activate at airport.

3. Japan- same as top 2.

Esim isn’t like you said can be activated easily. Unless you pay 3rd party esim provider. But why I would pay $100 to airalo to get worse data and voice plan.

Apple greed is clear. They will probably jump into providing cellular service line airalo.

This basically is a long term money grab.

Esim is not easy to use and activate especially for people for travel a lot.

 

[Carrotcruncher]

Stop panicking people, its all part of the plan, eventually there will be no network, the phones will all use Musks sat network, the carriers will be defunct and Apple and Elon will have total global control and then the planet will free from the bane of capitalism (Cough cough)

 

[Krispykrme]

eSIM is already everywhere. Download apps like airalo. They offer prepaid eSIMS from places all over the world.

The only problem Airalo is far more expensive then local tourist physical sim.

It’s like being robbed.

 

[Krispykrme]

The only eSIM I know of is the M1 Prepaid Tourist SIM, which is good for 7 days. My problem is that I go to Singapore for 6 weeks at a time and have always purchased a physical prepaid SIM. Now I don't know what to do. I don't even think you can top up the tourist SIM, so I would have to go to the store every week to buy a new one.

M1 coverage sucks.

Singtel and StarHub offer top up for tourist sim. But they don’t offer esim.

Esim is just stupid idea

 

[Krispykrme]

Oh jeez, I just found out how to get a SIM card and use it while traveling to Singapore. Anybody know if I can get a eSIM from Singtel as a traveler?

Simple- the answer is NO. You can’t get esim for traveler. Unless you want to suffer poor reception with M1

 

[Pilot Jones]

This is many magnitudes more unnecessary than any of the other feature "removals" Apple has done in the past, except probably the MacBook ports, which we all know were finally brought right back because of how inane that decision was.

This just simply isn't feasible for frequent travellers. Thankfully the non-US phones do have the SIM trays but knowing Apple, that probably won't stay the the case next year.

I have 7-8 SIM cards from various countries in my travel wallet and almost none of these countries provide an easily accessible way to adopt eSIM, especially for tourists who are on the move.

Currently it takes me 30 seconds to swap out the SIM card in my phone and I have no interest in complicating this process by needing to call carrier phone services in foreign countries, for which in any case, I would need a phone signal to begin with.

 

[AppliedMicro]

iPhone 13 continues to be available for frequent travellers for the time being.

Let’s see if and how eSIM support picks up. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple‘s newest iPhone is going to be a catalyst for that. Neither would I be surprised if Google with their Pixel or Samsung soon followed suit on at least some models.

If no one had the courage to make products that require a certain (less „convenient“) transition period, we‘d be stuck with no technological progress forever.

(Though honestly, given their small size, I don’t feel like something was „wrong“ with physical SIMs either)

 

[doobydoooby]

That's so funny. So American iphone owners can have an accident in the desert and be able to call a satellite, but they can't travel outside the country and pick up a local sim card. Pffft somebody in Apple is having a laugh. Anyway, hopefully this will gradually get all the network providers to travel towards esim and in the meantime, the rest of the world doesn't need to suffer

 

[laptech]

Maybe it's Apples way of preventing criminals from using iphones, make them eSim only because you have to register your personal details to use eSim. Or there is going to be a huge increase in identify theft so criminals can use stolen identities to register for eSim which means more hacks will take place so criminals can still our personal info.

 

[M.Rizk]

Maybe it's Apples way of preventing criminals from using iphones, make them eSim only because you have to register your personal details to use eSim. Or there is going to be a huge increase in identify theft so criminals can use stolen identities to register for eSim which means more hacks will take place so criminals can still our personal info.

If your country/carrier requires you to register your details for eSIM then they likely also do for physical SIMs. eSIMs don’t make the process any different.

In fact, in countries with much tourism eSIM may accelerate moving to doing online document verification when before it used to require visiting a branch sometimes at an airport or required you to take a ride to it.

 

[ingambe]

If your country/carrier requires you to register your details for eSIM then they likely also do for physical SIMs. eSIMs don’t make the process any different.

In fact, in countries with much tourism eSIM may accelerate moving to doing online document verification when before it used to require visiting a branch sometimes at an airport or required you to take a ride to it.

My experience with eSIM while traveling from Europe to the US was very positive, to be honest
After a 10h flight and 1 hour of waiting in line at customs, the last thing I wanted was to go shopping for a SIM
I jumped into a cab, went to my hotel for a nice shower, and rest
The next morning, I manage to activate a prepaid eSIM while taking breakfast

 

[incoherent_1]

I am not arguing that. In fact, I would believe the same. My point there is that while they have the okay to do this in the US, they more than likely do not for anywhere outside the US (India, and China I believe were the examples as why), but in the places that do support eSIMs, the sim card slot is actually redundant if the user can use an eSIM. That also would be wasted redundant space. When all of that space is reclaimed for everywhere that an iPhone can be used, Apple can use that space to add more features as well as reduce the number of different models that they have to make. That streamlines their manufacturing, and could make the phones cheaper.

BL.

The problem with this logic is that planes exist. I frequently travel abroad and need to make use of SIM cards when visiting other countries for business or pleasure.

(And yes, before anyone jumps in — I have a US plan with free international roaming. The service I get there is terrible compared to buying a local SIM)

 

[laptech]

If your country/carrier requires you to register your details for eSIM then they likely also do for physical SIMs. eSIMs don’t make the process any different.

In fact, in countries with much tourism eSIM may accelerate moving to doing online document verification when before it used to require visiting a branch sometimes at an airport or required you to take a ride to it.

Not every physical sim needs to be registered. Maybe your country does not have them but you can purchase pay as you go sim cards from many retail stores, they usually cost a $1 or cheaper and come preloaded with credit. The sim comes with a number that you can ring to top up the card with credit using a debit/credit card, no other personal details are required. I've got a couple of O2 pay as you go sim cards. When I want to top up the sim I ring a numnber and go through an automated process, there is no human interaction. All I do is give the phone number the credit is going to, credit card number, expiry date, security number and that's it. Within a few mins the credit is added to my O2 card.

Pay as you go cards is also something that consumer groups recommend to travellers because roaming costs can be very very expensive and thus if your only going to spend a few days in the foreign country it is much easier to purchase a pay as you go sim card in the country and use that.

eSim is a governments and network providers dream because just think of it, every traveller having to use eSim has to register for an eSim which means the countries government and network provider will know the name, phone number, credit card number, name and address (address is linked to credit card number) of ever single traveller going to and from their country. If people are worried about harvesting of their personal information, eSim is going to be a nightmare for them because eSim will be a data harvesters dream.

 

[M.Rizk]

Not every physical sim needs to be registered. Maybe your country does not have them but you can purchase pay as you go sim cards from many retail stores, they usually cost a $1 or cheaper and come preloaded with credit. The sim comes with a number that you can ring to top up the card with credit using a debit/credit card, no other personal details are required. I've got a couple of O2 pay as you go sim cards. When I want to top up the sim I ring a numnber and go through an automated process, there is no human interaction. All I do is give the phone number the credit is going to, credit card number, expiry date, security number and that's it. Within a few mins the credit is added to my O2 card.

Pay as you go cards is also something that consumer groups recommend to travellers because roaming costs can be very very expensive and thus if your only going to spend a few days in the foreign country it is much easier to purchase a pay as you go sim card in the country and use that.

eSim is a governments and network providers dream because just think of it, every traveller having to use eSim has to register for an eSim which means the countries government and network provider will know the name, phone number, credit card number, name and address (address is linked to credit card number) of ever single traveller going to and from their country. If people are worried about harvesting of their personal information, eSim is going to be a nightmare for them because eSim will be a data harvesters dream.

If a carrier already offers physical SIMs for cheap and without document registration then there is nothing stopping them from doing the same with eSIMs.

They can even print a QR code on a piece of plastic and stick it in the same physical SIM packaging if they want to.

It is not like someone sneaks into a carrier warehouse, steals a bunch of physical SIMs and puts them for sale in a grocery store. The carrier put it there itself.

I do get your point though. This is going to be tough initially but carriers will adapt if they want to carry future iPhone models, and if Android makers follow then these low budget carriers will also adapt and will innovate in ways to sell eSIMs too to get your business.

 

[Fred Zed]

Does anyone know of any avenues available for US consumers to purchase a Canadian iPhone ? Flying or driving to Canada from Florida ain’t an option for me.
Just trying to get some ideas. ESim is only on postpaid plans in the UK where I travel to.
The omission of the pSim on USA iPhones has really dampened my joy this year. 😭
In the past I’d normally get a pay as a go SIM card in the UK , it gave me 5G speeds ( even hit 800mbps) unlimited , talk, text and a 20GB data bundle for around 15£.

 

[brgjoe]

This. Was wondering if you can get one from a friendly (out of) neighborhood Canadian Apple Store or not.

(perhaps planning on taking a road trip from rural IL to Canadian-land).

 

[M.Rizk]

This. Was wondering if you can get one from a friendly (out of) neighborhood Canadian Apple Store or not.

(perhaps planning on taking a road trip from rural IL to Canadian-land).

Apple Canada wont ship to or even charge a credit card with no Canadian billing address. You will have to go get it in person, find a reseller online or ask a Canadian friend to ship you one.

Compare bands with your carriers first though. https://www.apple.com/iphone/cellular

 

[Fred Zed]

Android phones will be following shortly, mark my words.

I hope so. If Apple really wanted to “force” carriers to go eSim they wouldn’t have just targeted the USA market by omitting the physical sim tray capabilities. This way they just alienated USA frequent travelers.

 

[Septembersrain]

Yay! Well I am sad others will follow. People who go from iPhone to Android are going to have a blast. After ditching the 13 Pro Max, I still have no 5G on that line. It's AT&T. This e-SIM move is not ready.

 

[Fred Zed]

Exactly. So many jump on here on bang on about the global eSIM provides. They are great, but really not practical for many travel situations.... e.g. need a local number to actually talk to people, high data usage etc.

I just went to the UK for 3 weeks. Bought a 15 pound EE pre-paid sim card. Unlimited talk, text and 25GB of data. Only option was to use a physical SIM.

Yep. That’s what i was doing in the Uk also. Even got 5G at 800mbps in some areas.

 

[Fred Zed]

They're building three versions. Apple had always made two versions, dual nano for China and Hong Kong, nano+eSIM for the rest of the world. Now it's three, dual nano for China and Hong Kong, eSIM only for US, nano+eSIM for the rest of the world.

There was always three version before the iPhone 14. USA model, Western European and Chinese Macau version. AFAIK.

 

[mikhaelj]

Here’s the feedback link if anyone is interested. Don’t expect a reply but we sure can make noise:

Feedback - iPhone

Apple wants to hear from you. Send us your comments and feedback about iPhone.

www.apple.com

 

[Fred Zed]

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.

In the UK there are no eSim pay as you go last I checked. Maybe you can advise me. I can get a pay monthly eSim no issues on the UK when traveling their from the USA ?

 

[Fred Zed]

While carriers have an incentive to offer e-sim, they have no incentive to do it well. I have posted this a couple of times but it’s worth noting that in Australia, for Optus (and possibly others) one must visit a store in-person during business hours to provision an e-sim, which also comes on a piece of cardboard and depends on physical stock. It is absolutely absurd and orders of magnitude less convenient than a physical sim. But there is zero incentive for them to improve the process. As long as they offer e-sim, that’s enough. No one is going to swap telcos because of a more convenient e-sim process. Instead, thousands of users per day have to simply accept that when they require a replacement e-sim it’s going to be a massive ordeal and they are going to be without service for days.

I also travel a lot to the UK. I think Three has just brought out e-sim, but I’m not confident they’re going to have a good self-service process either. To log into your Three account, you must receive an SMS OTP (no option for TOTP or hardware authentication). So if they end up offering self-service, it will only be possible to provision a new e-sim if your current phone is working and able to receive SMS. Just like Optus, a broken phone will require a physical in-store visit. Good luck if this happens overseas!

I’m glad the iPhone 14 in Australia and UK will still have a physical sim slot, but its days are obviously numbered, and that is a day I wholeheartedly dread.

Three UK had an eSim trial which ended.

 

[loybond]

Is this ONLY in the US? What about Canada getting the SIM card version?

The Canadian version has the sim slot, according to the website. The US version of the 13 series was different too, it had mmwave bands and an antenna where our version did not.