Agreed, but I think many people (including me) are disappointed about the wasted potential in the iPad. It would have been very convenient to be able to simply activate a one-time data pass on any supported carrier without having to obtain a SIM, especially when traveling abroad where finding and activating a suitable SIM can be a big hassle. If you sign up for AT&T, that option is gone (unless you happen to have another Apple SIM).
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Apple SIM Included With iPad for Customer Convenience, but iPhone Not Likely to Join In
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Sionara Verizon
By eliminating choice, you've made the choice easy.
Definitely going to try out T-Mobile next time around.
That is because they are headlines; the comma in all of these are used for emphasizing contrast.
Unless I'm misunderstanding this, couldn't you just carry SIM cards for AT&T and Verizon and swap those out as needed? Maybe I'm missing something.
If you want to use the iPad on at&t, go to their store and get a sim from them, don't use the one Apple gave you. Tell them you won't pay for it. Then save the original for other carriers.
Joswiak is dead wrong!
..."Joswiak noted most consumers go directly to their carriers to buy iPhones, while the iPad more often is sold through Apple's retail channels."
Where did Joswiak get such a ridiculous idea? When a new iPhone is released, there are lines around the block at every Apple Store. Has anyone ever seen such a line at even one AT&T or Verizon store? NO!
..."Joswiak noted most consumers go directly to their carriers to buy iPhones, while the iPad more often is sold through Apple's retail channels."
Where did Joswiak get such a ridiculous idea? When a new iPhone is released, there are lines around the block at every Apple Store. Has anyone ever seen such a line at even one AT&T or Verizon store? NO!
Wat. They just made that hardware do less than it could be for. In what way is not being damaged?
The SIM is most definitely locked!
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Why?
You already signed a contract. The hardware is completely irrelevant as your bill does not stop even if you break or sell the hardware! The two are completely unrelated.
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Why does the price of the item matter? What right does AT&T have to my hardware that I bought at full price directly from Apple?
iPhones and iPads are different animals. With a phone, you're pretty much always required to have cellular service. On an ipad, you can add a prepaid plan when needed, then stop it again. Maybe use a different carrier the next time. That would make a reprogrammable SIM more useful.
Yes, but how is that not significantly worse? Those things are crazy easy to lose and software change is a simple few taps.
Apple might provide an Apple SIM for iPhones but they're not going to make it so that you can't use a regular SIM. They tried that idea once and it was smacked down.
Doing a multi-carrier SIM for iPad is a bit easier than for phones because the data plans are fairly simple, the devices aren't locked and there's no long-term contract. The situation for phones and their plans is much more complex.
It is not limiting the hardware whatsoever, there's clearly a misunderstanding of what this is.
The thing is an actual, physical Nano SIM card. It has nothing to do with the hardware or software. When you get an Air/Mini 2, you can open it up and immediately pop the Apple SIM out and put in any other SIM card. You can also get another Apple SIM to replace the one that comes inside it. You can lock the Apple SIM to AT&T, and immediately remove it and put a T-Mobile SIM inside. The device is not locked. It's a programmable SIM card, that gets made static.
This is as opposed to the original Air, and generations previous that had cellular connectivity -- they all came with a carrier-specific SIM, with the device SIM unlocked. Don't want the carrier the device had the SIM for when you bought it? Take the SIM out, put a new SIM in. It's, quite literally, the exact same process as before -- Apple merely eliminated the need to put a specific SIM in the box and can instead ship 1 SKU per storage option. It's much better for their ability to provide stock... they don't need to worry about selling through X iPads that had AT&T SIMs pre-loaded, while Y iPads sit on the shelf onsold because they had Sprint SIMs pre-loaded.
Yeah, the carriers are clearly putting up an inconvenice barrier as they always do. They suck, always have, and probably always will.
But the amount of complaining about this seems way out of proportion to the simplicity of just sucking it up and swapping SIMs every once in a while.
I dont understand what is so hard to understand with all of this. I signed a 2-yr contract with att with my Air 2 because of the $100 promotion. The apple sim now only lets me choose att instead of the original 3. I took out the apple sim and put a spare verizon one in and it still connects to verizon with no issues. This really isn't that big of a deal. If you want the flexibility of the apple sim then just keep it as a spare for when you want to use a different carrier. At&t gives out nano sims for free anyways.
Apple's warm and fuzzy stories about how they care so much about the customer experience has served them well. The hoards of people who believe that worn out statement simply amaze me. The Supreme Master of marketing Apple never misses an opportunity to maximize profits without the customers even noticing. Apple is indeed incredibly adept at their game.
Verizon has had the least restrictions of any US carrier since the iPhone 5. Unlocked out the door, even when subsidized/on contact.
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They will unlock a 4S no questions asked for customers in good standing. Even if the Apple SIM did work in phones, I think it's a nanoSIM while the 4S uses microSIM. Anyways, why would you want an Apple SIM instead of just picking one up from a local carrier in whatever country when:
That is because they are headlines; the comma in all of these are used for emphasizing contrast.
Headline Writing 101: Sell the story, not the sidebar.
oh no.... little brother can't join in the games...
Why the hell not ?
users are more likely to probably travel with their phones could maybe be one reason.
I don't buy the whole. "making it as easier as possible" because its not easy if customers want to do the same thing with their phones... Something they travel with more. so doing it only to the larger iPad only doesn't really make it all that much sense..
While it's useful, users arn't getting the max out of this.
Why the hell not ?
users are more likely to probably travel with their phones could maybe be one reason.
I don't buy the whole. "making it as easier as possible" because its not easy if customers want to do the same thing with their phones... Something they travel with more. so doing it only to the larger iPad only doesn't really make it all that much sense..
While it's useful, users arn't getting the max out of this.
First off it is hardware that belongs to me. It is clear that Apples intent was to make a universal sim and the two other carriers are NOT doing this.
Second what if you live 50 miles from the closest store?
Warning or no warning they are damaging something that isn't theirs to lock after my service is over with them.
People are saying it is just the sim and it is not a big deal. However this IS a big deal. A corporation should not be allowed to damage something that you own just because there is a warning and then say, well if you don't like it go out and buy another sim.
What if this was the whole iPad or lets say after 30 days they sent a some type of code to the GSM/LTE modem that permanently disabled the wireless forever?
No big deal, right? They did warn you, right? You did click agree on the two sentence warning, right?
Sounds like this could work, and a workaround, however i think probably the real reason why customers are having an issue with something they could just say "no" to, maybe no one has tried this ?
Has anyone actually tried this out ? All are users just worrying over nothing.
SIMs are cheap anyway...
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Because CDMA didn't take off outside the US. SIMs are wonderful for consumers as they let you switch carriers easily. If they weren't there then likely it would be like it is with CDMA carriers where they don't allow phones that were originally for other carriers onto their network. At best you'd have two or 3 carriers available for any particular model, and you couldn't switch to an unsupported carrier like you can with a sim card.
They did make a universal SIM... for themselves, and for the simplification of their supply chain. Just because tech bloggers got on it and made it out to be something it is not, does not change that. It allows them to ship a SIM in the box so that service can be activated right away without a worry as to which SIM is in that box. They've consolidated 4 SKUs into 1, and forced the player not accepting it to have their customers make an extra trip to their store for a SIM.
The hardware is unaffected by the SIM. You can replace a SIM. It is not the hardware. It isn't being damaged. It's working as intended, which happens to be how you think it shouldn't. You could alternatively activate it on "one of the others" that doesn't add the SIM number to their database permanently... such as T-Mobile. But enjoy the fact you're going to have to call in to activate it, instead of how "it was intended" to be activated directly on the device.
And what if you live 50 miles from a store? You mean like I do? You hop in your car and drive 35 minutes... you order it online and never leave your house... you know, like you'd do *today* to accomplish the same thing.
This isn't the whole iPad... and it doesn't disable things after 30 days. It's a SIM card. It has nothing to do with the iPad. It's a SIM. Quit blowing things out of proportion and overreacting. It's a SIM. I can't stress this point enough. It's a real, tangible, physical Nano SIM. This isn't this hard to understand. It's a SIM card. It's accepted at a total of 4 carriers worldwide, 3 residing in the same country. You probably have a SIM card already if having data on your iPad is important. You don't even need to activate this thing. You could save it for when you travel... I don't know where... since it seems 50 miles is such a long distance for you.
Why should anyone "suck up" and deal with another company damaging hardware (the SIM card) they own?
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There is no misunderstanding. We are talking about the SIM card, not the iPad. Apple created a SIM card that can be reprogrammed and AT&T "damages" it by removing that ability.
AT&T does not have the right to damage my physical property. It is owned by me, not AT&T!