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Apple Proposes Smaller SIM Card Design
An anonymous reader writes with word that Apple, as reported by Reuters, has proposed a smaller SIM card standard. Says the Orange executive quoted, "We were quite happy to see last week that Apple has submitted a new requirement to (European telecoms standards body) ETSI for a smaller SIM form factor -- smaller than the one that goes in iPhone 4 and iPad." Hard to believe that any phone designed for the human hand could be much limited by the size of the current micro-SIMs, but this is one race to the bottom I'm pleased with.
This has less to do with practical concerns about footprint and more about making sim-swapping even harder. Are they really saying a ~1cm^2 SIM is too big, even in an iPad?
Karma be damned, Apple only need that bulky SIM holder because there isn't a user-replaceable battery and its associated cover. I've had enough other brand phones to see that there are better (i.e. smaller) ways to hold a SIM.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
Strictly speaking, it's a lock-out strategy. Whenever I travel abroad, I have to talk the local cell provider into selling me a standard SIM, which I then have to cut down to fit in the tiny slot in my giant iPad (most providers claim to sell Micro-SIMs, but they never seem to have them in stock). Whereas I can put a standard SIM in my Nexus S. Guess why I bought a Nexus S instead of an iPhone 4? (Well, okay, partly it was because it was unlocked, but the non-hassle-factor is pretty major too.) If Apple comes up with a SIM that can't even be cut down, that'll be a *really* strong reason not to buy whatever device depends on it.
Honestly, "too large" hasn't been a factor in my cell phone purchases in a *long* time. I don't want a screen the size of my thumbnail anyway. Sometimes standard is more important than small.