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iPhone 14 Pro Max Teardown Provides Closer Look at Unused SIM Tray Area on U.S. Model and More

QuarterSwede said:
They don’t have to produce and ship the SIMs anymore. There really isn’t a downside for the carrier’s. Once everyone supports them we’ll wonder why we ever had them in the first place. People really don’t like change. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Yeah, it’s stupid for the plastic spacer to be included instead of extra battery capacity but it really is a good thing in the long run to force carriers to support something that’s been out for years now. I’ve been using an eSIM on a US MVNO for over a year now and never had an issue. It’s only going to be a possible issue for those US travelers traveling to places that don’t support them yet. Everyone else has SIM models since their carriers don’t support them yet.
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I wouldn't be surprised if that plastic spacer weighed the exact same as the SIM card + assembly. Can see it maintaining the excellent weight distribution and balanced Apple has achieved with these handhelds. I know that aspect doesn't get much air time, but its ne of there remarkable aspects fo their engineering. Maybe it also works to structurally support the device.
 
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zorinlynx said:
I think Apple just wants to drag carriers kicking and screaming into the eSIM era, and this is a good way to do it.

The various carriers have had issues with activating eSIM; making them mandatory for the most popular phones and getting rid of their "Oh well, this doesn't work, here's a physical SIM" path will force them to smooth the process and make eSIMs work well for everyone.
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As much as I don't like where this is going, I have to agree.

I think in 2 - 3 years most iphones sell in many markets will not have a SIM tray.
 
So wait... is there actually still an opening for the sim card tray on the side of the iPhone 14 even though there's no sim card functionality? What a joke!

Apple shows no pictures of the right side of the phone, so I guess that's where it is.
 
lazyrighteye said:
I wouldn't be surprised if that plastic spacer weighed the exact same as the SIM card + assembly. Can see it maintaining the excellent weight distribution and balanced Apple has achieved with these handhelds. I know that aspect doesn't get much air time, but its ne of there remarkable aspects fo their engineering. Maybe it also works to structurally support the device.
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That and physical support I’m sure.
 
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jaytv111 said:
Every iPhone 14 has the satellite SOS feature, except for Chinese market versions (including Hong Kong and Macau).

Use Emergency SOS via satellite on your iPhone - Apple Support

With iPhone 14 or later, you can use Emergency SOS via satellite to text emergency services when you're off the grid with no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
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But initial service will only be availabe in November for USA + Canada, making this feature not functional for the rest of the world.
 
jaytv111 said:
Well that's up to Apple to fix their bugs. Which they usually do. But if you don't like that there are bugs you're welcome to move to Android where there are no bugs.
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I think it‘s perfectly fine to hold Apple to higher standards than Android.
 
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Kiwamu said:
But initial service will only be availabe in November for USA + Canada, making this feature not functional for the rest of the world.
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Right, I was just saying it's still in non-USA non-China iPhones. Obviously the coverage area is still USA and Canada (depends on Globalstar's n53 coverage).
 
dysamoria said:
It mentions security about twelve times, but how is it not vulnerable to software attacks like everything else that’s software?
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ESIM is still a separate chip with the same electrical interface as a traditional SIM. The only difference is that different profiles can be installed on that chip by the host device. ESIMs can be configured (and presumably usually are configured) such that installing a new profile requires approval from the previous operator (i.e. via the mobile network the eSIM is currently connected to, IIUC).
 
Wasn’t the plastic spacer meant to be called the static island..?

As a Canadian with a home in the US & Canada using an AT&T account in North America I have always purchased my iPhones (since the 1) in the US. Better customer service was the main reason for years. Now it seems weird to think I may want to buy my next iPhone North of the border.

Oddly I’m still on an AT&T sim (will it still work) and an eSim from the UAE because AT&T are often difficult about migrating my paygo plan. o_O

Are there any legitimate reasons why I shouldn’t buy an unlocked Canadian 14Pro with a physical sim tray? Other than a different customer service experience?

Bizaaro world.
 
Apple missed the opportunity to sell spacers in different colors, and also a leather version.
 
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As is often the case, it seems that many people on here don't realise that there are other countries in the world besides the US, hard to believe I guess, and in those countries Apple sells iPhones, quite alot actually, and in most of those countries, its carriers are not eSIM exclusive.
 
looks like the pro version need soldering to add a sim tray, but the normal version SIM card tray component is seperated. Wonder if it’s possible to buy a SIM card module and make it an internal physical sim, even the connector seems to be there
 
CraigJDuffy said:
Courage. Courage to put a bit of plastic in it?

Dumb removing the sim but not using the space.
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Not dumb when you consider they likely only have one or two different baseboards that are populated with different components depending on the market they are for. Coming up with a special base board for a 'US version' wouldn't likely be worth it. It is only one country after all, and only one component left off. Being that steve isn't running Apple any longer, the chunk of plastic probably costs Apple a scant fraction of US penny.
 
frou said:
The spacer should be more true to itself and elemental in form

View attachment 2073273
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We all know that if steve were here, he'd likely do something weird with the block. Like put names on it, or the Mac flag design, or something equally outrageous. Like the special screws in the Next cube, and names in many models of early Macs. My IIcx had names in the bottom case. Who would have thought to look there.
 
JosephAW said:
I'm surprised there's not a special antenna for the satellite, that would be nice if I could use directional Wi-Fi to reach distant connectivity. :rolleyes:
On the right side below the side button you can see there's a slug on the metal where the sim tray goes. Ugh they should've just put the sim tray in or micro sd or usb 4 slot.
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That leads me to believe it's not going to be very reliable, and likely only suited for 'burst mode' data and short audio, although I haven't heard the specifics yet. Look at an Iridium phone, and you see a rather thick stalk, almost like a handle sticking up. Sure, different frequencies will dictate the size and shape of the antenna, but they can't be using that different of a frequency band to reach things in orbit.

What could you get, or actually not get? Not working in rain/fog, spotty coverage in tree lined streets, just all around not too good audio, and forget streaming anything at all.
 
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"Oh...one more thing."

*hands everyone chunk of plastic*

"It's something we like to call 'Dynamic HDPE Retina.' NEVER been done before in any phone (not counting Nokias)....until now."

Everyone:

clapping-hands.gif
 
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I would also wonder if there is a chip that interfaces with the SIM, and would expect that to be missing as well. It would be interesting not to mention expensive to put a Canadian and US iPhone 14 Pro Max board side by side and see what else is missing. :oops:
 
sw1tcher said:
So much for all the people who said getting rid of the SIM tray is a good thing as it would mean extra space for Apple to give us something extra (e.g. features, battery capacity, etc.).

We got something extra alright... a chunk of plastic 🤣
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Just because they did not do it for iPhone 14 does not mean they will not utilize it. In fact, it's close to sure thing they will.

Since they are still producing iPhones with Sim trays it makes very good business sense that they will not fill that space until all phones they make they eliminate the Sim tray from ALL iPhones. They are not going to engineer and manufacture phones of the same model with different internals other than storage capacity.

It would not make any sense to add manufactured features that would not be available globally.

When taking potshots at Apple, people ought to think it through more carefully.
 
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