Apple recommends that U.S. carriers prepare to remove physical cards for iPhones

Apple recommends that U.S. carriers prepare to remove physical cards for iPhones

Commercial Password December 28 (Shao Feng) Recent news, Apple has suggested that several major operators in the United States to prepare for the release of eSIM-only smartphones released in September 2022. As part of the transition, some U.S. carriers will begin offering iPhone 13 models without SIM card slots in the second quarter of 2022. Users can activate the network through eSIM by simply turning on the iPhone, connecting to the Wi-Fi network, and following the on-screen instructions.

eSIM is not a new technology, but the progress at the actual promotion level is not fast. In fact, the dual-SIM iPhone sold in the United States is a physical SIM plus eSIM, which is different from china's dual-sim version.

Not all countries offer eSIM services, which are related to local laws and regulations and operator policies. However, it seems that "de-physical SIM card" will be the next future direction of the mobile phone industry.

JonyIve, Apple's former head of design, had envisioned the iPhone becoming a glass pane, and removing the SIM slot would be another step towards a seamless design and improved water resistance. It also frees up some valuable internal space for the iPhone.

Physical SIM cards in the digitization has now become more and more chicken ribs of the product, which not only occupies a lot of hardware space of mobile phones, but also causes physical problems to the waterproof and dustproof mobile phones. Although the card slot is getting smaller and smaller, the point of its chicken rib is its replaceability. To know that today's smart phones can accept operator signals in many ways, and the physical card exists only to occupy the solid-state space of the mobile phone.

In addition, some users have multiple SIM cards, and switching can only be replaced by plugging and unplugging, which also seriously affects the user experience. Switching the network with one click and replacing the virtual card is obviously more in line with the current situation of contemporary society. To know that SIM multi-card writing, in fact, many years ago existed, many geeks by writing multiple SIM cards into a card, to achieve software switching network, to solve the problem of plugging and unplugging cards.

eSIM will also be a similar product, the biggest barrier to its rapid application, in fact, is still in the operator, operators do not want users to quickly switch and abandon a product, mainly considering the cost of users to replace the network. If you say goodbye to physical cards, users will have more choices, under the premise that number portability can be achieved now, coupled with the landing of eSIM, many consumers will choose products suitable for themselves according to the operator's service, price and network coverage. This will create new challenges to operators' service requirements, and it will also worry operators who have been making money in the past.

But the development of eSIM is the trend, technology is also developing to innovation, such as Musk's Starlink plan, if he really completes the coverage, and then through the user base, the number of users, reduce operating costs, reduce usage costs, operators will be eliminated. Therefore, instead of holding on to the previous market and sitting on the mountain, operators should find ways to improve user services and have the courage to innovate.