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New Cellular iPads Include 'Apple SIM' in U.S. and U.K. for Multi-Carrier Compatibility
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Please explain to me how this works
I am going from US to UK for a few weeks. Before I go I get a data plan from EE for something like 30 pounds a month. Use my new ATT iPad mini 3 for all communication there. Cancel it when I leave.
Is it that simple?
I am going from US to UK for a few weeks. Before I go I get a data plan from EE for something like 30 pounds a month. Use my new ATT iPad mini 3 for all communication there. Cancel it when I leave.
Is it that simple?
I'd be curious to see the data plan options for a la carte data from the different carriers. Also, can you create a hotspot on pre-paid data plans?
A struggle for control between Verizon and Apple is not unheard of!
Remember how long it took Verizon to sell iPhones at all.
I think that in the long run what Apple is doing is consumer oriented and of benefit, and Verizon is going to have to go along.
Apple are trying to push these SIM as a new standard, and Apple wants them in the iPhones as well as the iPads, sooner or later. They want you to be able to switch service (*all* service) very simply instead of having to get on a voice call with a carrier with a reputation for bad customer service, and having to buy a new SIM when it is over.
You can see why Verizon would resist, but it's really about the carrier wanting control over something that it's illogical for the customer to support.
The coordination with Apple Pay should make a switch in service the customer's choice, at will and more or less instantly. If you've inadvertently travelled to a place with bad native service for voice and data on your iPhone, this will be of great service.
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In its first iteration it will be removable. Eventually Apple will want all carriers to accept this new type of SIM.
They're calling it Apple SIM now, but the idea is that everybody will use it and you'll eventually not even have to design a device with the SIM tray.
Been a while since I posted, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about the "Apple SIM".
Yes, they are removable, no, they will not work with users on contract plans.
These only work with PayGo type data plans. No voice network support. So it cannot be used in a phone.
It can be reprogrammed over and over again. AKA a "soft SIM" that is controlled by a combination of software and the SIM card itself. It needs the software component on the device to function, so you cannot "program it" and then put it in another device.
OFCOM did a write up on these types of SIMS a couple of years ago. No, they are not new. Their legality is still an issue in some countries.
But currently they are limited to use in data only devices.
Yes, they are removable, no, they will not work with users on contract plans.
These only work with PayGo type data plans. No voice network support. So it cannot be used in a phone.
It can be reprogrammed over and over again. AKA a "soft SIM" that is controlled by a combination of software and the SIM card itself. It needs the software component on the device to function, so you cannot "program it" and then put it in another device.
OFCOM did a write up on these types of SIMS a couple of years ago. No, they are not new. Their legality is still an issue in some countries.
But currently they are limited to use in data only devices.
It is like we have gone full circle, most CDMA devices didn't have removeable SIM cards, the UIM was stored on the device. Folks lambasted that as poor, old tech, GSM with SIMs were superior. Now we are talking about going back to that way...
It is likely the Verizon iPad users have to go to Verizon to activate, because this technologyv(Apple SIM) currently doesn't play well with CMDA (you know that thing you fall back to when there is no LTE service available) on Verizon). FWIR Verizon never supported CSIM
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Ummm All Verizon SIMs are CSIMs since LTE. And yes I switch SIMs between all VZW devices all the time. The problem is that Verizon SIMs only work with Verizon issued devices because their network is programmed to reject any device that isn't in Verizon's system. But if you have a VZW device you can switch to another VZW device by moving the SIM card. You can also use other carriers SIM cards in Verizon phones because the phones also have GSM built in, but you can't use other carriers phones on Verizon because VZW is CDMA.
But yes Verizon had and still does use CSIM. Verizon SIMS cards have both the CSIM for CDMA in the US USIM applications on them for both using it in the U.S., and global roaming. (And LTE).
Like any other phone, the phone will not work if you don't have your SIM inserted.
there is nothing to "set up online" you just remove the sim card from the iPad mini and pop it into the iPad mini 2 and it just works.
there is nothing else you have to do.
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i put my verizon sim card from my iPhone 5 and stick it in my t-mobile iPhone 6+ that i bought from the apple store on 9/19/2014 and verizon works perfectly fine. thank you
they do not block my meid.
they only care about your meid when you sign up for service or if you use the website to transfer the service to a new meid. if you stick the sim card in a non verizon iPhone 6 or 6 plus and do not tell them. the iPhone works as a verizon device
Exactly this, just move the SIM card, there is nothing else to set up. If you want Verizon on your Apple-SIM iPad, just go to Verizon and ask for a SIM card, they'll give you one for free, or at the most $10.
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I believe they used to do this, It seems they have lightened up a lot. Sprint is now the new bad guy, blocking it when you try to place the Sprint SIM in the same T-Mobile phone, judging by a YouTube video I found.
It also works because I guess all the iPhone 6/6+ has CDMA capabilities, so it is just the matter of putting in the SIM card of a carrier you want to use. Hopefully when LTE becomes more ubiquitous we won't even have to bother with GSM/CDMA differences anymore.
the only difference i can figure out between t-mobile and verizon iPhones is the list of serial numbers that the carrier likes.
as long as your sim card is activated and the cdma radio is turned on, verizon does not care about you having a real verizon device...
but.. i wouldn't put any money on it!!! i got 6 more days on my contact!!! if they bust me with my t-mobile iPhone 6 they might ETF me!! so i only been using the sim card to test various things once in a while, like cdma calling, VoLTE, visual voice mail, and i found they all work
Sorry I meant before LTE. In this case Verizon is just being difficult because they can.
I am scared that one day Apple may decide to seal in the SIM card. I hope that isn't ever the case. There was a rumor of something like this back in the iPhone 3G days, of Apple wanting to create a "Software SIM"
If they do that it would make it impossible to buy cheap promo sims (plenty on eBay) and stick them in your phone. On the other hand, if you could deliver the same promo deals in software that would be more convenient.
Sounds like it come with a universal SIM, and you just login to the carrier you want.
I wonder if that will work in an iPhone...
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I remember reading rumours that Apple was close to doing that, but couldn't get the foreign carriers interested.
I'm wondering if we will ever get to the point where we have unlocked phones and can choose the carrier on a month by month basis, or quarter by quarter, year by year. Nah... That'll never happen.
This definitely isn't rocket science. Think of it this way: Your regular SIM card contains data for all sorts of things not just on your home network but for roaming. When GSM was first introduced the idea of the SIM card and what it could do was revolutionary. All that is needed for an Apple SIM card is agreements with the carriers and settings on the card.
As for a "sealed in" SIM card, I don't think I could buy a product like that. Coming from Verizon for years CDMA was always a pain in that aspect, I always wished they would have used the CDMA version of the SIM card like CHina and Japan.
Hmm I wonder if they could ETF you.....it seams like something that should be banned, or at the very least frowned on so much so by the FCC that they don't do it. I can't imagine why they would care so much. My iPhone 5c reported as a non-Verizon device and I remember some of the reps in those authorized resellers freaked out and called tech support and were like "This is going to mess with your billing", it didn't, they were just morons^9. Regardless I wouldn't share it with VZW unless you want to deal with some giant BS train.
As for a "sealed in" SIM card, I don't think I could buy a product like that. Coming from Verizon for years CDMA was always a pain in that aspect, I always wished they would have used the CDMA version of the SIM card like CHina and Japan.
Hmm I wonder if they could ETF you.....it seams like something that should be banned, or at the very least frowned on so much so by the FCC that they don't do it. I can't imagine why they would care so much. My iPhone 5c reported as a non-Verizon device and I remember some of the reps in those authorized resellers freaked out and called tech support and were like "This is going to mess with your billing", it didn't, they were just morons^9. Regardless I wouldn't share it with VZW unless you want to deal with some giant BS train.
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Closing the loop on this...
Yes, the fact that you can use a Verizon SIM card in place of the "Apple SIM" card says its removable.
Confirmed, BTW, in Brad Molen's cellular iPad Air 2 review at Engadget:
Verizon does not support universal Apple SIM
According to A conversation with Apple, you have two options: buy your iPad Air 2 from them then take it to Verizon to swap out the SIM or buy directly from Verizon.
I ask, other than getting people to buy from them, why wouldn't Verizon come on board with the Apple SIM?
According to A conversation with Apple, you have two options: buy your iPad Air 2 from them then take it to Verizon to swap out the SIM or buy directly from Verizon.
I ask, other than getting people to buy from them, why wouldn't Verizon come on board with the Apple SIM?
Long story short, it seems that activating service on the new iPads with the Apple SIM on AT&T's network locks the SIM card to the AT&T network. Which defeats the purpose of the Apple SIM card in the first place.
Soon-to-be-epic-thread on the subject here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1808666/
Soon-to-be-epic-thread on the subject here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1808666/
What?! That's crazy! Is there special circumstances where they do it like in contract or on NEXT or whatever its called? Wasn't this advertised as quick and easy changing between carriers?!
Yes, but don't activate an AT&T plan on the Apple SIM (just keep using your existing SIM for now) because AT&T has decided that if you sign up for one of its plans on the Apple SIM that it will lock that SIM to AT&T.