> The SIM tray adds manufacturing cost and complexity. It's also a structural weak point and makes waterproofing harder - which adds to warranty/applecare+ costs.

Please explain then why I have been seeing iPhone 13 ads that showcase how it handles all sorts of drops and spills and sprinkles and kitchen hazards while sporting the SIM tray.

Unbelievable.

I love how Apple basically eliminated competition from competitors selling $20 headphones (oh no…you have to deal with a couple of wires…something Apple itself used as the signature motif in its ad campaigns for the iPods for a decade), so they could sell you the same thing for about 10 times the price (sure it has a slight convenience benefit but not everyone cares for it that much) and Apple’s fans will tie themselves into knots to explain how this is a good thing, as opposed to having both, so those who want to spend 10x for the convenience of no wires can do so and those who are happy buying cheap $10 earbuds from their local convenience store’s checkout counter display can also do so.

I didn't say it made waterproofing or structural integrity impossible.

It just makes it more difficult and therefore more expensive to manufacture.

Most people do not care about the SIM tray. There are apps that can get you e-sims for data in every country in the world.

Physical SIM cards are largely a liability. They need to be replaced as the network changes (as T-mobile had to for standalone 5G) and they make phone theft even more of a headache because phone thieves can take your SIM card and use it for SMS-based OTP and password resets.

I would rather have mmWave.

Also possibly Apple decided to implement mmwave antenna for US model on where SIM tray locates for the rest of the world model.

Fortunately water in non-compressible and has surface tension, the only real issue seems to be water vapor.

I don't understand how modern hard drives are not helium proof. Apparently, everything is a permeable solid.