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iPhone 16/Plus What's occupying the space where the SIM tray would be in the US market iPhone 16?
- Thread starter Faize
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U.S. iPhone 16 Pro models get a plastic spacer once again.
Everywhere else in the world, the space is populated with a SIM slot.
It's just dumb because Apple eventually wants a cut of the cellular serivce revenue from providers, similar to the 30% cut they get from Apple Store. There's actually a procedure now to add the electronics back to the U.S. model which involves CNCing a cutout in the chassis.
Everywhere else in the world, the space is populated with a SIM slot.
It's just dumb because Apple eventually wants a cut of the cellular serivce revenue from providers, similar to the 30% cut they get from Apple Store. There's actually a procedure now to add the electronics back to the U.S. model which involves CNCing a cutout in the chassis.
also adds stickiness to the ecosystem as they will not be developing something that makes transferring eSIM to Android easier
Back in 2022 I thought it was Apple pushing for an eSIM transition, but given that it's been 2 years and there's been absolutely no movement in any other country I'm starting to suspect that it's actually US carriers who wanted eSIM only and they somehow talked Apple into going along with it.
I mean, if Apple had the power to force Verizon, AT&T, *and* T-Mobile to transition to eSIM, then they should've also been able to force Docomo, EE, Vodafone, and many others to make the transition by now.
The entire world will move to eSIM as Carriers modify their systems for eSIM support. Getting a nanoSIM is just an extra step that required a physical transfer to a Customer.
More and more EU countries now support eSIM. Carriers did not drive eSIM or they would be using the simple eSIM transfer process built by Apple. Each of the Major US Carriers have a slight different method to move eSIM between devices. It is not Universal here in the US. Even the smaller MVNO operators are embracing eSIM.
Note: the real advantage to eSIM is your device can support multiple and does not require a physical exchange.
Dave
What's more likely, Apple dictating the terms, or carriers dictating terms to Apple?
Carriers don't want to transition to eSIM. Look at the number of MVNO competitors that popped up since eSIM was launched. Having an eSIM iPhone grants Apple gatekeeper authority over which networks are approved on iPhone. If Apple can charge developers 30% to sell on the App Store, there's no reason why Apple can't ask carriers for 30% to sell phone plans on iPhone.
Consumers in Japan and UK travel internationally far more than Americans. Those consumers need physical SIM so it's no surprise the SIM tray remains.
Well, historically both have happened. Off the top of my head, AT&T had an exclusive 4G icon for their HSPA+ network while on the other hand Apple practically invented Nano SIM.
Of course, Apple does it more often so as I previously said I initially suspected them to be behind the eSIM transition, but given the lack of effort here compared to the previous Nano SIM transition which happened worldwide before most carriers were ready for it, it seems very out of character for Apple.
Uh, not sure where you got that info from, but a quick Google search puts the US behind only Germany in number of international departures. Japan is way down the list (after Zimbabwe, actually) ... Japanese people (in general) prefer domestic travel to international travel. So leaving the physical SIM slot in phones over here has nothing to do with the needs of travelers. Just saying ... 😉
eSIM doesn't magically give Apple the chance to do that. They need the providers just as much and don't really provide them any service. The iPhone is pretty useless without any network. And many iPhones are sold in the providers stores. It is in their best interest to have a good relationship, both ways. Also to get them to adopt new technologies.
And regulations in most countries would prevent this from happening as well.
It is nothing like the AppStore, where are Apple got to dictate the terms from the start.
The biggest reason for providers not to support it is the cost of implementing it. But once they have it in place, it is easier for them as well, as long as they make it easy enough for the customer to manage a device switch themselves in the customer portal or through automatic transfer from iPhone to iPhone. (so far it has worked perfectly for me here in Switzerland).
Consider the rate and destination of travel, not just the nominal data.
UK residents made about 90 million international trips in 2023. That compares to about 100 million for Americans. But UK has only 1/5 the population of the U.S. Germans who travel within the 27 EU countries do not get logged as outbound travel.
Japan has far fewer international trips at about 20 million per year. But all of them are true international destinations to SE Asia, for example. That’s means longer trips requiring more data and local phone plans. For Americans, nearly 50% of those 100 million international trips each year are to Canada and Mexico. Those are short day trips that can be handled by roaming.
These factors have a huge impact on the need for a SIM slot.
Americans are far more restricted in choice of smartphone brands than anywhere else in the world due to the dominance of Apple and geopolitics.
In the U.S, consumers are basically limited to four choices: Apple, Samsung, and Motorola as a distant third. Then finally Google as a tiny sliver.
This means Apple can dictate eSIM in the U.S. like nowhere else in the world.