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

[cocky jeremy]

One step closer to an actual waterproof iPhone. Get rid of Lightning next. Magsafe FTW.

 

[macmediausa]

Major pain in the A$$. So every time I need to switch a phone number for one reason or another (which is every few weeks), I need to call the particular provider to switch over (and be placed on hold forever). Plus as people have mentioned, you lose ALL privacy as soon as you switch to eSIM. With a physical card, you don't need to give any info to the provider in most cases - just install and activate without talking to anyone.

 

[Feyl]

So glad I'm not an American.

 

[Breaking Good]

This is a major deal breaker.

My company issues SIM cards for employees who travel for business. Most of us enter 8 to 12 countries on each trip. We usually get 2 or more SIM cards serviced by foreign mobile carriers that the company has agreements with.(through our overseas subsidiaries) It will be impossible to try to swap our existing service agreement to eSIM.

Does Apple want me to downgrade to iPhone 13 or earlier models? Or worse, switch to Android phones?

So now you will be issued 8 to 12 eSIM's The iPhone has the capability to store multiple eSIM profiles.

This is such a non-issue.

 

[The1Biz]

I was glad when carriers ditched the subsidized phone model. You could just buy a phone and swap your SIM without having to go through them, and of course, get charged an "activation" fee. I don't even want anyone touching my data or migrating it with a new phone either.

I bet every time you change phones on your account now you will have to pay someone now for "administration".

 

[WaxedJacket]

So traveling now sucks.

My initial thought is what would I do no when getting a prepaid sim card while traveling. 🤔

 

[specious]

Same question here (for my wife and I). I'm hoping I can just do it over the phone or something, I don't want to have to go into the store for that.

T-Mobile, unlike every other US carrier, can successfully transfer *some* numbers from one iPhone to the next. It works, okay. Not all the time, but sometimes.

 

[ian87w]

So glad I'm not an American.

Well, they do get the best pricing though.

 

[remotethrower91]

Absolute dick move by apple, especially if you are on a prepaid network. Visible is pretty much the only prepaid that supports e-sim and it's a giant cluster. My cousins use it and its a giant headache trying to swap phones or troubleshoot stuff.

Visible is terrible at everything they do. But to be fair, AT&T prepaid supports eSim, as do T-Mobile prepaid, and most the tracfone brands. I know there are more too.

 

[Jerusm]

So I can no longer purchase an unlocked iPhone when visiting the US and pop in my SIM? Crazy! Imagine all the lost sales for them from international visitors to the US retail stores! I live in a country where the none of the mobile providers use eSIM, only physical SIM cards.

Terrible move on Apple's part.

 

[B4U]

Your phone will have multiple eSIMS. Just get a prepaid eSIM when you travel.

It is heavily dependent on whether the carrier at the destination supports eSIM.
And fairly sure the price would be different that buying a SIM at the local vendors with a discount.

 

[falkon-engine]

Wow so what if you travel with your SIM-less iPhone to a country that doesn’t use e-SIM.

 

[remotethrower91]

Or just ditch iPhone and go Android only lmao

Android phones will be following shortly, mark my words.

 

[bob24]

Who said you couldn't buy a local eSIM in the country you're visiting?

BL.

Sure, but customers and phone companies will be at Apple‘s mercy: if Apple has a commercial dispute with the local carriers you want to use or for whatever reason they don’t support eSIMs you’ll be out of luck.

Pretty clear what the next step is IMO: Apple will eventually setup some sort of store for mobile plans which will automatically populate an eSIM when purchase a plan, but it will only support mobile networks who agree to share 15 or 30% of their revenue with Apple for the pleasure of being listed on that store. And eventually it might become the only way to add a plan giving Apple a massive revenue stream for doing very little.

 

[Coleman2010]

This is bad for me. The country I work in most, outside the US, requires physical sims still. No SIM card tray makes this a no go for me. Bummer.

I'm curious which country?

 

[tfresquezdxs]

It would have been nice to still offer an international model in the US store for people who still need a physical slot.

 

[macrumors3000]

I'm a Global Traveller and I demand SIM Card Tray!!!

 

[ian87w]

Mmmm, it has. Most of the big markets and countries have esim, and available to buy online.

Indonesia only has 1 carrier supporting eSIM, and it's the carrier with the least coverage, not the one you want when you're partying at Bali beaches.

 

[vrflyer]

Right now, more than 70 countries have mobile operators with eSIM support – up from around 50 in 2020. And more than 100 mobile operators in those 70 countries allow their customers to use eSIM.

 

[thederby]

Using the example you replied to. What would my local Indonesian phone number be when I sign up for an eSIM option with Ubigi, gigsky, truphone?

They’re data-only plans.

 

[ShufromChina]

Just checked, all Canadian models still have SIM tray. Dodged a bullet. It could also provide an alternative buying option for those in the U.S.

 

[Paddle1]

Even the Canadian model still has physical SIM, interesting.

 

[definitive]

I think the best solution here would be to sell third party esims, where you can scan them in using a qr code (finally some use for qr codes), and add them to a "sim" wallet, since you can use multiple esims. This might require an unlocked iPhone.

 

[mthomas184]

dual eSIM was introduced with the iPhone 13 models

Yeah but you can only have 1 active eSim line on the 13. Can you now have 2 active ones on the 14 line?

Disregard. I realized you can have 2 active eSims or 1 physical and eSim active.

 

[ShufromChina]

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

Just checked. U.S only. Canada version still has SIM tray.