Sam Oliver
The next-generation iPad Air will ship with a multitude of new features — like the A8X chip, faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and a fully-laminated display — but there is one addition that the company did not reveal on stage: a preinstalled "Apple SIM" that will be recognized by wireless providers around the world.
Cellular-enabled iPad models have traditionally shipped either with no SIM or the SIM of the dominant GSM-based carrier in their country, unless purchased from a specific wireless provider. Apple is attempting to change that paradigm with the Apple SIM, which the company says "gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from select carriers in the U.S. and UK right on your iPad."
Users have always been able to insert a new SIM into their iPad when moving around, but the process is tedious and the ability to start-and-stop data service from the tablet's settings menu is lost. The Apple SIM should rectify that for users traveling to countries with participating carrier partners.
At launch, only AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the U.S. and EE in the U.K. have signed on. Apple does hint that more may be available in the future, however.
"And when you travel, you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip," the company said.
The Apple SIM appears to be a traditional hardware SIM, and likely works by having its identification number registered with each of Apple's participating carrier partners. Apple has previously explored embedded SIM technology, but those plans were shelved following a carrier revolt.
Apple's iPad mini 3 will also ship with an Apple SIM, but there do not appear to be plans yet to offer it as a standalone solution.
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38 Comments
Very cool. Sometimes it is about the little things Apple does that makes them great.
A multi-carrier SIM is the first step toward carrier-agnostic devices. I'd gladly pay Apple slightly more than I'm paying AT&T if my iPhone could switch carriers. Wherever I am, I'd like to switch to the carrier with the strongest signal and/or fastest data. Every month I'd pay Apple instead of any one carrier. Carriers would get pro-rated payment. That's worth a little more IMHO. (Yeah. I know, I know. It might never happen.)
This is actually a pretty big deal. If I can use the Apple sim and go "pretty much anywhere" and spend 20$ or so to activate 2GB of data or a month of data or whatever, you no longer have to buy the prepaid sim cards in the EU, or beg a MVNO for a sim card without buying a phone in the US/Canada. You can just use what it comes with. It probably would have been a bit more worth while for Apple to be it's own MVNO, but that would likely not work in Apple's favor when there are still parts of the world with horrible wireless costs (US/Canada) or horrible coverage (Canada/Australia/US Western states.)
Want this on the iPhone!!
First step before removing SIM cards and their trays altogether. There are virtual sims in the future with menu based carrier selection! Maybe even an option to automatically select the carrier on the fly based on a range of options such as price or signal strength! Maybe it isn't on iPhone yet becuase of the ubiquity of carrier subsidies.