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Apple Proposes Smaller SIM Card Design

Posted by timothy on from the microchip-limbo dept.

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.

4 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Nooo, don't do this! by dloose · · Score: 1, Troll

    Please. A SIM card is not a major investment. Your provider will give you a replacement your SIM (in any form factor they support) for a nominal fee. That's not lock-in. Lock-in is what Apple originally did with iTunes DRM. They made a proprietary format that could only be played with Apple hardware and software. as a result, people could not switch to another manufacturer's portable media player without having to repurchase all of their music. Hence, they were locked in.

  2. Re:It's not the size, it's the thickness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll


    Dear Apple,

    Ignore previous letter. It doesn't speak for me. I want my iPhones even thinner lighter and with a longer battery life.

    Sincerely, Actual User

  3. Re:Dare I say it? by mjwx · · Score: -1, Troll

    This has less to do with practical concerns about footprint and more about making sim-swapping even harder.

    Lets not forget the royalty fees to Apple.

    Karma be damned, Apple want to make it harder for competitors to enter the marketplace seeing as they have trouble competing as it is. Not that I expect this to work, SIM's are very well entrenched GSM equipment manufacturers. Also, Apple do not want Apple devices on networks that Apple does not have an agreement with.

    Less about practicality, more about locking in your own customers. Not that it would work here in Oz, if your telco refuses to swap your MicroSIM for a normal SIM you just take them to the TIO until they do. However I imagine in places without consumer protection it would be a serious hurdle to changing handsets.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  4. Re:MicroSIM? by qubezz · · Score: 1, Troll

    Apple first with USB? PCs had them a year before the iMac. Plus back in the day, the only portable music player that would dare use firewire was the iPod.

    Apple Computer is the new Sony for proprietary f-you lock-in.

    Are you still using your Apple Bus Mouse with an ADB connector?