At least in the U.S., the MVNOs quickly fell in line and adopted eSIMs. I suspect it will be the same if the physical SIM goes away in the UK.
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Apple Reportedly Plans to Remove iPhone's SIM Card Tray in More Countries Next Year
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There are some consumer benefits to consumers to removing the SIM slot.
The physical SIM card slot occupies a lot of physical space, and adds to the manufacturing cost, complexity, and part count of device. Particularly important in a thin & light device like the rumoured iPhone Air. The physical SIM card is also a common point of failure and unreliability in my experience, especially if you're swapping it in and out of devices frequently.
What carrier are you with? If you're moving an eSIM between Apple devices, most of the major US carriers support the "eSIM quick transfer" feature which does not require any contact with the carrier.
In any case, this is easily solved by just making a rule that carriers must make moving eSIMs between devices quick and free. The UK frequently makes rules to keep phone carriers in line, such as mandates on number portability and the ban on carrier-locked phones. Any carrier charging a fee to swap an eSIM to a new device would not go down well at all there!
I'm kind of surprised they didn't take it out already in Canada as all the carriers here have supported eSIM for a few years now. Probably just has to do with mmwave as they haven't made a version that omits both mmwave and the physical sim tray yet but sounds like that is coming.
Be careful Apple. EU may sue you for discriminating against SIM loving Europeans. haha
Apple wanted remove the physical SIM in -2017 but carriers wanted a kickback from Apple to adopt eSIMs.
Makes sense for Apple. Eliminate a water intrusion point, reduce device cost, reduce the number of SKUs in inventory, etc.
Makes sense for Apple. Eliminate a water intrusion point, reduce device cost, reduce the number of SKUs in inventory, etc.
There’s absolutely NO advantages for the consumer if they do this, eSIMs are already an option on IPhones and removing physical sims doesn’t give any benefit, instead it kills flexibility.
Is not even a good idea from an engineering point of view, because the IPhone models sold in china will still need 2 physical sims so they will have to take that into account when developing new IPhones (there’s no way the IPhone becomes pure eSIM in china, that would be suicidal for that market, Chinese love the flexibility of having 2 physical sims).
This is the dumbest idea ever, it benefits no one, not even apple.
Is not even a good idea from an engineering point of view, because the IPhone models sold in china will still need 2 physical sims so they will have to take that into account when developing new IPhones (there’s no way the IPhone becomes pure eSIM in china, that would be suicidal for that market, Chinese love the flexibility of having 2 physical sims).
This is the dumbest idea ever, it benefits no one, not even apple.
Although this thread refers to the iPhone, I have noted that Apple have removed the SIM tray for the iPad in all countries, as far as I can tell, although I am not sure about China. This stopped me updating to the latest iPads as I use a single SIM with my 12.9" and 11" M1 iPad Pros which have a SIM tray. I switch the SIM to the iPad (11" or 12.9") I am taking out with me since I use WiFi while home.
Using eSIMS this process becomes a major pain if not impossible. I would be forced to have 2 accounts at some cost in order to be able to use the iPad I have with me on cellular services while traveling. It is simp[ly easier to retain the M1 iPad Pros I have. I know this is only a problem for someone like me that it is lucky enough to have both, but it is really irritating and I am, for the foreseeable future, not going to even consider an upgrade.
If some one has experience of switching eSIMS from one device to another and back on a regular basis I would be happy to hear from them.
Using eSIMS this process becomes a major pain if not impossible. I would be forced to have 2 accounts at some cost in order to be able to use the iPad I have with me on cellular services while traveling. It is simp[ly easier to retain the M1 iPad Pros I have. I know this is only a problem for someone like me that it is lucky enough to have both, but it is really irritating and I am, for the foreseeable future, not going to even consider an upgrade.
If some one has experience of switching eSIMS from one device to another and back on a regular basis I would be happy to hear from them.
Benefits for Apple of removing SIM card tray:
- Reduced part count and complexity
- Lower device manufacturing cost
- Improved reliability: Physical SIM cards are a common point of failure, SIM tray opening is a potential point of water ingress, etc
- Device can be made thinner and lighter, with more physical space for larger batteries etc
Being in the US I’ve lived with eSIM only for a while now but it does provide a sort of ecosystem lock in, at least for Verizon customers who have to call to transfer an eSIM between an iPhone and Android. It’s kind of annoying because I used to like to switch between different phones occasionally but I don’t like the hassle you have to go through anymore to do that.
I've only done it a couple of times, but in my experience if both devices are signed in to the same Apple ID, and your carrier supports Apple's "eSIM quick transfer" feature, then it's very quick and easy. Faster than a physical SIM transfer.
What countries? That's certainly not my experience in Europe, South East Asia, and Australia/New Zealand.
Point 1 and 4 don’t apply because the IPhone engineering will still need to plan space for 2 physical sims for Chinese models (unless they want to create a fully customized build for china basically increasing the engineering effort by a high amount, that has never happened and I doubt it will ever happen) models for china will never get rid of sims, EVER.
Point 3 is moot, the physical sims card slot almost never fails, and its completely possible to create a water resistant phone with SIM card tray as apple has been doing and also the Xperia phones.
Only point 2 remains as an advantage (for apple) and considering how many countries outside US/Europe still rely only on physical sims its a very bad idea to alienate your customers this way because of something so dumb, I assume that a lot of people would switch to android just because of that.
True, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with the iPhone Air. Will this model simply not be sold in China?
I wouldn't say that. It's due to govt regulations and "security concerns" in China: they want to make sure real names are tied to physical SIM cards for surveillance purposes. But eventually they'll probably figure out that it's just as easy to do this with an eSIM as a physical SIM.
I've had SIM cards fail completely, or become unreliable, on several occasions. I've also had SIM cards shipped out from the carrier which were DOA and required a new one to be sent - a slow and annoying process!
I've also had an iPhone where actual SIM tray did fail: the rubber gasket/seal started peeling away from the metal so the tray couldn't be inserted and removed properly. Admittedly, it was a cheap fix to get a new SIM tray part from the Apple store, but it would be a big problem if this happened while travelling.
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I've actually found travelling internationally with eSIM a lot easier and more convenient.
eSIMs are not perfect; some, especially travel SIMs, do not allow the transfer to another phone.
Here is what happened to me less than a month ago
1) I have my Iphone
2) Planned a Trip to Japan
3) Got a Travel eSIM
4) Got a new Iphone at the Apple Store in Japan
5) Traded up mine
6) Transfer initiated from old to new Phone
7) eSIM not showing up in the New Phone
Result: "eSIM was not migrated and the eSIM could be activated only once" thankfully was leaving the day after so did not waste it entirely, still quite annoying.
Here is what happened to me less than a month ago
1) I have my Iphone
2) Planned a Trip to Japan
3) Got a Travel eSIM
4) Got a new Iphone at the Apple Store in Japan
5) Traded up mine
6) Transfer initiated from old to new Phone
7) eSIM not showing up in the New Phone
Result: "eSIM was not migrated and the eSIM could be activated only once" thankfully was leaving the day after so did not waste it entirely, still quite annoying.
Last time I tried it (on an iPad: not mine), the eSim transfer took 15 minutes or more and we had some issues with connecting for another 1 hour or so: T Mobile). I can switch the SIM in 2 to 5 minutes and it is generally quite reliable and works immediately you power the device up after swapping the SIM. The Phone transfers seem to be faster, but iPads are data only and I wonder whether that is as well sorted by ISPs. Bottom line is my experience is not that good.
You know, if someone have already stolen your phone, fairly sure the SIM is pretty much the last of your worries.
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Water intrusion point is not a valid reason though.
My multiple Sony Xperia phones had that for years and have the same water resistant rating.
There was a case where a victim was being impersonated in a call to the carrier CS and had their physical sim swapped to an eSIM to the scammer. Now, all eSIM activation and swapping has to be done in person by the number owner in Hong Kong. A major pain in the ass.
True, but the phone can be wiped remotely, and it's going to be locked so accessing my data wouldn't be that much of a concern plus I have Apple theft protection so it would be far cheaper to replace. A physical SIM is much more of a problem if it's not pin protected, which I'd bet probably extremely few make use of that feature. With some companies still providing 2FA over SMS as the only option for now, a physical stolen SIM that can be inserted into any phone is a serious problem.
I can call my carrier and request a new SIM which should block the old one, but it's still a risk until that is blocked.
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