The Next iPhone Won't Be Using Traditional SIM Cards

Megalith

Megalith

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Reports are coming in that the iPhone 7 will utilize an "e-SIM" instead of a physical SIM card. The e-SIM is an embedded, rewritable SIM card that won't need to be swapped.

The plans would mean a standardised version of an 'e-Sim' being built into handsets, instead of a physical Sim card that needs to be inserted by the user. This would allow users to easily change carrier, without going through the rigmarole of switching-out sim cards and potentially having to unlock the device.
 
That sounds like it is going to end up more complicated than just swapping SIM cards...
 
the e-sim will also be able to software lock out a phone from switching until the carrier decides it's done with you?.
 
I wonder how they prevent having two or more e-SIMs for the same phone # being active in multiple phones at the same time.
 
I think this will be good in the future. It would be nice to step into a foreign country and be able to just choose a carrier right there on your phone instead of having to run around finding someone who sells a sim card for the carrier you prefer.That said, this will probably be quite limited at first since I don't think all the prepaid carriers are gonna be jumping on this.
 
xIronCrossx said:
I think this will be good in the future. It would be nice to step into a foreign country and be able to just choose a carrier right there on your phone instead of having to run around finding someone who sells a sim card for the carrier you prefer.That said, this will probably be quite limited at first since I don't think all the prepaid carriers are gonna be jumping on this.
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So where does the phone pull a list of current carriers, plans, and billing information from when it doesn't have any data plan since there is no active SIM?
 
ocellaris said:
So where does the phone pull a list of current carriers, plans, and billing information from when it doesn't have any data plan since there is no active SIM?
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WiFi? Most airports have it these days, plus it could always roam on some network real quick. When you get a new phone, from Verizon anyways, it isn't activated yet it has 3G/LTE you can use during activation. I said it has a possibility to work better in the future, what you mentioned is one of those things that will need to be figured out.
 
but i like to buy different phones all the time, and just swap the sim, its super easy. now i going to have to call the provider and they are probably going to charge an arm and a leg
 
xIronCrossx said:
I think this will be good in the future. It would be nice to step into a foreign country and be able to just choose a carrier right there on your phone instead of having to run around finding someone who sells a sim card for the carrier you prefer.That said, this will probably be quite limited at first since I don't think all the prepaid carriers are gonna be jumping on this.
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Well Samsung is jumping on it along with Apple, and they're the two juggernauts right now so I have a feeling it'll materialize sooner than later.
 
I'm all for this, I can switch a carrier without worrying about the sim card now.
 
Can you have more than 1 e-SIM per iphone 7?
Have 3-4 stored and switch betwixt them at will.
Have a business and a personal number work on the same device.
 
Skripka said:
Unless your carrier blocks it from working....which knowing USA carrier is exactly what they will do.
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Who is this carrier you keep talking about? There is a reason why a GSM (Tmobile/AT&T) phone doesn't work on Verizon or Sprint...If you get a Verizon or Sprint phone it will work on any carrier and I haven't heard of anyone having issues swapping.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Who is this carrier you keep talking about? There is a reason why a GSM (Tmobile/AT&T) phone doesn't work on Verizon or Sprint...If you get a Verizon or Sprint phone it will work on any carrier and I haven't heard of anyone having issues swapping.
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Uh?

Sprint and I believe VZW phones have had built-in sims forever (such as the Samsung Galaxy line to name a big one)

...guess what? They only ever work on Sprint. Guess what? They have their own unique SKU even...and even their own unique firmware...which is why you go on XDA and there's a separate sub forum each for ATT/TMo and VZW and Sprint and USCellular.


Pretty much the only non carrier-locked handset you can get that you can carry to another carrier (any, be it CDMA or GSM) is the Google Nexus line,.
 
Skripka said:
Uh?

Sprint and I believe VZW phones have had built-in sims forever (such as the Samsung Galaxy line to name a big one)

...guess what? They only ever work on Sprint. Guess what? They have their own unique SKU even...and even their own unique firmware...which is why you go on XDA and there's a separate sub forum each for ATT/TMo and VZW and Sprint and USCellular.


Pretty much the only non carrier-locked handset you can get that you can carry to another carrier (any, be it CDMA or GSM) is the Google Nexus line,.
Click to expand...

You should complain to the ones making those phones. Since LTE started on Verizon, they have come with sim cards since LTE is a GSM technology and requires a sim card. My Galaxy S3 had a sim card, although that phone wouldn't work on other carriers LTE. My iPhone 5S and 6 would both have worked on other carriers with full LTE except for maybe 1 band. If you pay your phone fully on any carrier you should be able to take it to another, except Verizon and Sprint since they still use CDMA for parts of their network.
 
ocellaris said:
That sounds like it is going to end up more complicated than just swapping SIM cards...
Click to expand...

Yea buying a sim from a vending machine or shop seems easier.

xIronCrossx said:
WiFi? Most airports have it these days, plus it could always roam on some network real quick. When you get a new phone, from Verizon anyways, it isn't activated yet it has 3G/LTE you can use during activation. I said it has a possibility to work better in the future, what you mentioned is one of those things that will need to be figured out.
Click to expand...

The thing with verizon is that the phone is already on their CDMA network. With GSM phones it pulls the data off the sim. I'm kinda wondering how it would work other than the phone already having network info in it(which is what the apple sim does now if I'm not mistaken). WiFI might be an option. I'm kinda interested in how this is supposed to work as well.

Most of this I would think comes from apple wanting to make their phones thinner. I wonder if it has anything to do with the apple sim not really taking off.

The other thing I wonder about is what the cell providers will have to do to support this. IE is it going to be a pain in the ass to manually get this e sim to work with a carrier not already in the phones list of possible ones? This comes down to how you activate it but I could see this being a way to make it harder or limit the use of random gsm carriers. In the US this wouldn't matter much as we really only have 2(t-mobile and att) and everyone else that uses gsm backs off one of them.
 
Trimlock said:
Unless you are still paying your carrier for your phone you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

My L900 Note 2 has long since been paid off. It was and is and will forever be only a Sprint phone. Same goes for the Sprint Note 3 and 4 and the coming 5.

That is what internal SIM cards have been used for for years. Permalocking a phone to a carrier, and selling it with a carrier-distinct SKU. I'll bet money the USA carriers will do the same...I'll bet said money by refusing to buy said devices.
 
I don't like this idea. Right now I gave multiple phones that I can just swap he SIM card into.

This reminds me of the old CDMA days where you had to contact your provider to change your device... at a cost to you. Usually $35-$50.

I hope this isn't true... it wold be a big step back for costumers IMHO.
 
BAAAADDDD IDEAL....

So Sure it will make the phone like 1/10th of a gram lighter, but then its going to rely on the carrier to update the sim.. Which also means that a consumer cant easily switch phones like they can now. Instead they will be paying the carrier a fee to do it..
 
Skripka said:
My L900 Note 2 has long since been paid off. It was and is and will forever be only a Sprint phone. Same goes for the Sprint Note 3 and 4 and the coming 5.

That is what internal SIM cards have been used for for years. Permalocking a phone to a carrier, and selling it with a carrier-distinct SKU. I'll bet money the USA carriers will do the same...I'll bet said money by refusing to buy said devices.
Click to expand...

So you are on the shittiest carrier in the US with the worst service and your phones don't work on other carriers? Every single one of my Verizon phones from the past 3 years work on any carrier, except sprint, in the US.
 
xIronCrossx said:
So you are on the shittiest carrier in the US with the worst service and your phones don't work on other carriers? Every single one of my Verizon phones from the past 3 years work on any carrier, except sprint, in the US.
Click to expand...

Plus it sounds like these Sims are rewritable.
 
xIronCrossx said:
So you are on the shittiest carrier in the US with the worst service and your phones don't work on other carriers? Every single one of my Verizon phones from the past 3 years work on any carrier, except sprint, in the US.
Click to expand...

Trimlock said:
Plus it sounds like these Sims are rewritable.
Click to expand...

They *can* be rewriteable. Carriers don't want to give up control. Customers buying devices elsewhere costs carriers revenue, and they don't like that

Example: Verizon has been in hot water in the past 6 months as they have refused to authorize Nexus 6 handhelds not purchased from VZW stores on their network. Irate already-on-contract customers who wanted to change devices were told off by Verizon giving variously lame and pathetic excuses. Finally after lots of people yelled to the FCC about it, they seem to have backed down.
 
Canon said:
I hope this isn't true... it wold be a big step back for costumers IMHO.
Click to expand...

Since this is Apple, you have to assume this is just another way to lock down the phone, and to make it more difficult to switch/try other phones (not simple SIM swap).
 
Any current phone could implement an "eSIM" in software right now. Whatever, at least the room it frees up inside can be used for more ram or storage. The "eLock" will of course come as a free optional extra.
 
Skripka said:
My L900 Note 2 has long since been paid off. It was and is and will forever be only a Sprint phone. Same goes for the Sprint Note 3 and 4 and the coming 5.

That is what internal SIM cards have been used for for years. Permalocking a phone to a carrier, and selling it with a carrier-distinct SKU. I'll bet money the USA carriers will do the same...I'll bet said money by refusing to buy said devices.
Click to expand...

Sprint will unlock new iPhones now (after jumping through some hoops), their policies have changed. The iPhone model Sprint sells is the same as the international unlocked model Apple sells.
 
Skripka said:
They *can* be rewriteable. Carriers don't want to give up control. Customers buying devices elsewhere costs carriers revenue, and they don't like that

Example: Verizon has been in hot water in the past 6 months as they have refused to authorize Nexus 6 handhelds not purchased from VZW stores on their network. Irate already-on-contract customers who wanted to change devices were told off by Verizon giving variously lame and pathetic excuses. Finally after lots of people yelled to the FCC about it, they seem to have backed down.
Click to expand...

CDMA carriers operate differently. They only allow whitelisted phones on their network, which is why you generally can't bring a sprint phone to Verizon or vice versa. If VoLTE becomes more widespread and Verizon/Sprint turn off their old networks this shouldn't be a problem anymore since LTE is a GSM technology.
 
Skripka said:
Uh?

Sprint and I believe VZW phones have had built-in sims forever (such as the Samsung Galaxy line to name a big one)

...guess what? They only ever work on Sprint. Guess what? They have their own unique SKU even...and even their own unique firmware...which is why you go on XDA and there's a separate sub forum each for ATT/TMo and VZW and Sprint and USCellular.


Pretty much the only non carrier-locked handset you can get that you can carry to another carrier (any, be it CDMA or GSM) is the Google Nexus line,.
Click to expand...

Its pretty easy to get the unlock code from Sprint for a device. I have just called and asked for international travel. But no easy unlock for the States. But does a Sprint phone, ie. S5 or S6, have the same LTE antennas as other carriers? iPhones work on everything everywhere right?

Either way is the esim going to be cheaper or more expensive than a physical sim card? Should be interesting to see what XDA comes up with for whatever this turns into.
 
if you are on Verizon...I went through hell getting my nexus 6 to work...I got one from the play store shortly after they came out knowing it would work on Verizon...but since they didn't have them in store (and wouldn't for several months) I had to cut my sim down from my galaxy nexus to get it to work...and even now, a year later, it shows as a non Verizon device...e-sim will suck on Verizon...price I pay for still having my unlimited data plan...I bought the nexus because it's stock and rootable...all the other Verizon droid phones get one, maybe 2 updates and never see another...if I'm going to spend $500+ on a phone I want to do whatever I want to it...I want it to be updated...I want to run custom roms...this will only be good for those that switch carriers often...
 
The smaller these cards get the easier they will be able to emulate. Heck, msdos is more complicated and look how it's been deconstructed.
 
travanx said:
Its pretty easy to get the unlock code from Sprint for a device. I have just called and asked for international travel. But no easy unlock for the States. But does a Sprint phone, ie. S5 or S6, have the same LTE antennas as other carriers? iPhones work on everything everywhere right?

Either way is the esim going to be cheaper or more expensive than a physical sim card? Should be interesting to see what XDA comes up with for whatever this turns into.
Click to expand...

All the Galaxy Samsung phones have the same antennas IIRC. Samsung bricks them with firmware and flashing the SIM for the carrier specific SKUs.

iPhones up until now have had separate SIMs
 
This seems just more limiting and closed off then "easy". Yeah it'll save space but so what? Space clearly isn't an issue for Apple...I mean...have you seen the iPhone 6? Size apparently wasn't a problem. Just seems like one more freedom Apple is trying to take away from it's customers.
 
Oh, also, why didn't they name this iSim? Is this something they're expecting other phones to use?
 
Skripka said:
Uh?

Sprint and I believe VZW phones have had built-in sims forever (such as the Samsung Galaxy line to name a big one)

...guess what? They only ever work on Sprint. Guess what? They have their own unique SKU even...and even their own unique firmware...which is why you go on XDA and there's a separate sub forum each for ATT/TMo and VZW and Sprint and USCellular.


Pretty much the only non carrier-locked handset you can get that you can carry to another carrier (any, be it CDMA or GSM) is the Google Nexus line,.
Click to expand...

GSM and CDMA run on different frequencies, that's why they don't work on each other's respective carriers.. Not because the companies lock each other out. :rolleyes:
 
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