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.

Comments

Of course, it's for those implantable iPhones

[rolfwind]

as seen on Futurama....

I wonder if they'll sport the "As Seen On TV" on them?

Thinner devices?

[Anonymous Coward]

That is the justification for the need for smaller sim cards. Frankly, the sim card is thin enough (I'm sure it could be thinner, but it is still much thinner than the device). And all that is used is a bunch of contacts from the sim. I fail to see how a smaller sim card would do away with much of the thickness.

Re:Thinner devices?

[bruce_the_loon]

a) Worldwide, the vast majority of cell users never swap their SIMS so changing a design and implementing a new locking mechanism that won't accidentally eject the SIM when dropped isn't worth the designers' time.

There is also an element of security in the design. If someone steals my handset, they can't switch to another SIM without going through my PIN to start the phone.

b) Google dual-SIM phones sometime. There are a number out there for precisely this use. Maybe they're not available in your country, but they do exist. If you are American, you really should think about an armed revolution against your cellular companies.

Dare I say it?

[newcastlejon]

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.

Re:Dare I say it?

[ModernGeek]

I'd rather have a phone that has a software-swappable identifier that handshakes with the tower, but I suppose that is just dreaming.

Re:Dare I say it?

[Bogtha]

Apple have patented something along those lines and the carriers weren't happy about it.

Re:Dare I say it?

[Bogtha]

Apple only need that bulky SIM holder because there isn't a user-replaceable battery and its associated cover.

User-replaceable batteries take up more space. They need extra casing and catches that are otherwise unnecessary.

Hardware SIMs are an annoyance. They should be replaced by software, in which case they would take up no room at all.

Re:Dare I say it?

[Microlith]

Are they really saying a ~1cm^2 SIM is too big, even in an iPad?

A physically smaller, but otherwise identical, SIM card would be easy for most vendors to get behind. Reduced z-height and board area would be welcomed, considering that the average SIM card is mostly plastic and larger in all 3 dimensions than the average microSD card. And yes, all manufacturers take those parameters into consideration.

I've had enough other brand phones to see that there are better (i.e. smaller) ways to hold a SIM.

  But no way to reduce the physical, internal footprint of the SIM card itself, short of eliminating all the plastic and soldering it in entirely or redesigning the packaging (which is mostly plastic and huge contacts.)

Re:Dare I say it?

[mjwx]

I'd rather have a phone that has a software-swappable identifier that handshakes with the tower, but I suppose that is just dreaming.

The security implications make this less then desirable.

Yes it is securable enough to work, in theory (using PKI)...

But in reality, where telco's won't even enforce security on voicemail (I call my voicemail from overseas all the time, I only need to enter my Australian phone number) and the average person doesn't give a crap about keeping their private key secure. When an attacker only needs 2 minutes to grab a phone, copy the private key and return it the average person wont even notice it's missing in that time and few people actually use the security features on their phone.

What I'd like is a mix between the two. The private key needs to be an installable ROM module (SIM card). The SIM is mine, I assign it to an IMEI and I give both to the telco who registers that on their system. If I want to register the same IMEI and SIM on a different network, I should be able to do that too. But because of the security implications, the SIM needs to be unique and hardware based.

Re:Dare I say it?

[taharvey]

Snore.... Slashdot is paranoid about Apple, like teabaggers are about taxes.

Nothing about Apples motives here have anything to do with exclusivity. That is why Apple is leading the way with a standards body. Apple is not the conspiracy that Slashdot makes it out to be. Apple is easy to understand, and their motive is always been clear:

1. Sure they are insanely profitable and have a somewhat walled garden. But to see this as greed is to totally misunderstand Apple culture and Steve Jobs. It is all about Idealism and designing the "one perfect thing". In fact, Steve Jobs idealism for making "beautiful devices" that will "change the world" far outstrips any profit motive he has.

2. Sealed batteries, smaller sim cards and the like are critical paths to Apple's future product plans. Just like technological advances enables product development, Apple sees industrial design and packaging on a equal footing with technology. They have conceptual products they are laying the groundwork for years in advance. Don't look at the current need look at the possible needs down the road.

Re:Dare I say it?

[peragrin]

Consider the simple fact that the standard Sim card is larger that the A4 processor in the iphone I would say yes.

Think of all that wasted space since the SIM usually only has a couple of Megs of storage too. A Mini SIM that the current iPhone uses is nearly 30% the size of of the A4 processor. and the same size as my 4GB microSD.

Re:Dare I say it?

[ergean]

Have you seen the size of a normal sim and it's holding cradle in most of the phones? In my nokia the sim holder is more then 3 time the size of the sim, not considering the underlining connectors and the structure around it. It may seem small, but it ads up.
I hate small phones, but I think if you could make a smaller sim, it could be better.

Re:Dare I say it?

[CheerfulMacFanboy]

The only reason why phones have replaceable batteries is because the real money in the phone business is in selling replacement battery covers.

It's not the size, it's the thickness

[dgatwood]

The real issue is not the 2D dimensions, but rather the thickness of the card. You can only make a set of pressure contacts so thin. At some point, I suspect we'll see SIM cards that are thicker, but have their contacts running down the edge of the card instead of across the face, thus reducing the plausible device thickness from about a quarter inch to about a millimeter (if you ignore all the other components that are thicker than a SIM card tray...).

Re:It's not the size, it's the thickness

[Lord_of_the_nerf]

Dear Apple,

Shrink things that an everyday user will never handle.

Sincerely, Users
PS: That is, unless you somehow plan on profiting from the number that will be lost, dropped, damaged because of our fat sausage fingers

Why smaller?

[youn]

There is already extra space in most phones today. There is a point with phones where they are getting too small; I actually expect the desire for smarter phones bring phone sizes bigger actually

Deja Vu

[Haedrian]

I remember something like this in the past.

We have sim cards which work with pretty much everything, EXCEPT the iPhone. So the solution was either to buy a smaller sim or just grab a pair of scissors and remove some of the plastic yourself, while the career that had exclusivity was heavily advertising that it has these new high-tech simcards.

I'm sure its not because we're running out of space. At all. Its for exclusivity.

MicroSIM?

[WiiVault]

I assume your not trying to call the standardized MicroSIM an evil plot by Apple. Sometimes I wonder why some folks can't just be happy criticizing Apple for all the real crap they do and must instead make up absurd new conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact.

Re:MicroSIM?

[multipartmixed]

The only cell phone manufacturer that I know of that uses MicroSIMs is Apple.

Back in the day, the only computer manufacturer that I knew of that used USB ports was Apple.

Are you still using a serial mouse with a DB-25 connector?

Re:Nooo, don't do this!

[mellon]

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.

Re:Nooo, don't do this!

[UnknowingFool]

A sim card is currently about the size of a fingernail, isn't it? Does anyone buy the line that they want to make it smaller so they can make smaller handsets?

Have you ever considered that the same company that makes their iDevices smaller/thinner every year, won't want to make the SIM card smaller?