Google supports eSIM. Google can sell you cell service for your iPhone from the couch.
If any phone manufacturer is trying to compete with the carriers, it would look a lot like Google, which made a global MVNO.
Yes, there is usually a business motive behind every business decision. The GSMA makes it sound like the carriers want it, as well as the phone manufacturers:
“Simpler device setup without the need to insert or replace a SIM card;
Devices that can operate independently of a tethered smartphone, with their own subscriptions;
A range of new, enhanced mobile-connected devices.”
Emphasis on “with their own subscriptions”
> Google Fi is a service for US residents only, as of late 2019. [1]
> When outside the United States, cellular phone calls cost $0.20 per minute, data costs the same $10 per gigabyte (i.e. there are no extra data charges outside of the US), and texting is free
It's difficult to get SIMs that work in local places around the world that do everything you need to do and cost much less than that. Plus the ones you buy locally have different numbers.
Eventually I switched this around, I put my US carrier in my SIM slot, and I use eSIM on the phone to get decent digital plans "in market". Some are digital via apps, some are QR codes from shops or kiosks.
eSIM seems to have better or at least competitive pricing for the last 4 years or so.
// Note I'm generally using a lot of data, so cost matters. The only thing I've found much cheaper is to get a local carrier who also offers free unlimited WiFi from local APs. Anywhere this works, that naturally beats any cell-only plan. You usually won't find this except by searching local language sites or going into local carrier stores and asking.
iPhone 12 series was the first to support 5G - launched in Oct 2020. That’s barely over a year ago?
So much about support and independence.
My Pixel 2 supported WiFi Calling but my carrier didn't acknowledge it as "supported" and the carrier's servers refused to send it a settings file.
I assume that’s an autocorrect? I like it.
Another thing that I just remembered is that my ISP only allowed me 10 activations on the e-sim before having to buy a new one for 50 bucks.
How does the phone manufacturer have anything to do with it? My only wish is to support multiple eSIMs, as now I only have one physical SIM slot and one eSIM.
A physical SIM in contrast always works. I was already questioning whether I'd ever need to upgrade from the 12 Pro but this type of needless regression makes it an easy decision.
You could still get everything working by manually configuring the phone, and carriers like GiffGaff had support articles explaining how, but it was a total pain in the arse and stuff would occasionally break in subtle ways.
Additionally the eSIM is separate physical chip within the phone attached to baseband radio. Once configured with a profile, the host OS has as much access as it does to a normal SIM, I.e. not much. The entire standard is kinda a hack, which basically boils down to “what if we embedded a normal SIM card chip in the phone, and let the phone flash a new carrier profile every now and then?”. Remember these SIMs are fully fledged computers, like their normal removable counterparts, that can ignore host OS commands, and issue instructions directly to the baseband processor without the host OS knowledge.
Then there’s the dozens of companies in the App Store like https://www.dentwireless.com/ who all provide eSIMs for international travel. I find it hard to believe they all have agreements with Apple, it normally costs far to much to deal with Apple for bottom dollar companies to make any money.
So would take all of those sources with a large pinch of salt. If Apples eSIMs we’re proprietary, I would expect to be easy to find articles discussing the fact, given they’ve been around for a few years now.
SIMs come from the phone company. How could it be otherwise as that's where the phone number comes from, and that's how the local physical network determines whether you're allowed to connect or not:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_card
Unless Apple is planning to become a MVNO (or building out their own cell towers), they cannot provide any information for network connectivity.
> A virtual SIM is a mobile phone number provided by a mobile network operator that does not require a SIM card to connect phone calls to a user's mobile phone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_card#Other_variants
This isn't about Apple becoming an MVNO, this is about Apple somehow controlling the process of configuring your phone because you no longer have the option to choose a SIM card and insert it yourself.
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tutorials/topic/esim/activa...
Here's what a rational, profitable scenario would look like to me: in the not-too-distant-future, you land in country X and you get prompted if you would you like a local number by partner Mobile network. If you agree, Apple submits your electronic ID[1] to the Mobile Network for KYC purposes (with your opt-in), you pay with your Apple wallet, and you get a local number. The network gets paid, and Apple gets its cut (as well as a subsequent payments, if it's a PAYG plan) - and you haven't even picked up your baggage from the carousel. Apple can even play off networks against each other and pick the more profitable ones, and consumers get a sleek onboarding experience for a fee, or bundled with your Apple TV/iTunes/iServices subscription, so you can resume watching season 10 of Foundation while you wait for your Uber.
1. https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/15/apple-strict-terms-on-u...
Removing the SIM slot isn’t a step into that direction, removing standards compliant eSIM support would be.
Or maybe your comment isn’t meant as a criticism at all, I think that actually sounds pretty awesome. As long as we retain the ability to load our own eSIMs.
Please tell me you are serious about this. Tried looking into this earlier and found out that eSIM is extra proprietary, which means no hobby devices, like those 3G/4G/GSM connectivity Arduino modules.
https://www.gsma.com/esim/esim-specification/
In addition you can get ST micro data sheets for full blown electrical and mechanical data sheets for free
Why do you think you a physical sim for different providers. Because they only work with that provider. Apple can turn the tap off on a class of Sims as it is
That's definitely going to be a step up in user comfort... The average apple user will definitely love it
eSIMs aren’t some apple run “program” you have to take part in.
[ citation needed ]
eSIM is already a standard and as far as I can tell, Apple gets no kickbacks/etc for users using it. I can go to att.com right now and swap to an eSIM if I were so inclined, for free.
I wonder if Apple won't just bulk-buy bandwidth and take care of the customer experience.
Imagine your phone just... working globally.
That is exactly what apple doesn't want you to do. They don't want users making deals with local ISPs for service. They want in on that transaction. Virtual SIMs, controlled by phone manufacturers, will allow them to exercise a degree of control over wandering users. If you are a local ISP, you better be part of the program if you want to sell your services to apple's devices. And most users will be OK with this. They will probably appreciated not having to buy a local SIM cars. They will enjoy how easily their virtual SIM connected to the local ISP and hooked them into a the prearranged roaming deal for apple devices. They won't question the price because they will have no input into a negotiation that happened years before they arrived in the country. All that is left for them is to blindly pay the bills.