When Apple launched the newiPhone 16eon Wednesday , the Apple Store in every region displayed one thing under connectivity : eSIM . There was no mention of a strong-arm SIM , and I had a waking incubus that Apple had quiet pulled the plug , and every iPhone 16e globally would be sold as an eSIM - only modelling .
A quick search — and a look at the photos — confirm that this had n’t go on , but my reaction kickstarted a idea about eSIMs , their promise ( and what we were promise ) , and the current State Department of eSIMs globally . I ’ve been traveling for the preceding calendar month , and eSIMs are an rank lot . The potential was immense , but it decease against carrier ’ interests to make it any easier , but there is a solution .
eSIMs have huge potential for traveller , but there ’s virtually no reasonableness to buy an eSIM over a physical SIM card decently now . With carriers unlikely to solve this independently , phone Godhead require to either return to forcible SIM card in all phones or push towards a global eSIM - only future .
Here ’s why it ’s up to Apple , Samsung , and Google to decide how we expend SIM cards globally . Or even simpler , it could be down to just one phone maker .
How eSIMs are meant to work… and how they do work
eSIMs were meant to be the idealistic answer to solve multiple problem at the same time : reduce the quad needed in a phone for a physical SIM card , reduce the endangerment of fraud when your phone or SIM is steal abroad , and make it much easier for client to move their SIM card to another phone .
Many of these risks are enhanced when using a physical SIM card , the master being colligate to security ( or so carriers say ) . The hypothesis is that if you lose your sound with a forcible SIM menu , there ’s far more risk than if it ’s tied to your specific phone . This is certainly true , but have admittance to your telephone set number is almost a necessity in the current world , and an eSIM does n’t resolve this part of the trouble .
The second part of the implied promise was the benefits that eSIMs would put up to frequent traveller . reckon being able-bodied to bring down in a Modern country and buy a local SIM before you ’ve left the plane . Or losing your phone while journey and being able-bodied to set up a novel SIM within minutes , complete with your same turn .
Instead , eSIMs have made the experience of traveling bad than ever before . Yes , you could add an eSIM from a few society in a few select countries , but most rural area have rigorous Know Your Customer ( KYC ) requirements around demonstrate ID , which produce it nearly impossible to reach this eutopia . Companies likeAiralo , Holafly , and Nomadallow you to add a local eSIM when roll , but this is more a impermanent bandaid than a permanent solvent .
The handsome problem total from carriers , both while roaming and your carrier at home . Most carriers abroad do n’t offer eSIMs to prepaid visitors to the country , and of the ones that do , many require you to first habituate a physical SIM card to activate the eSIM . If we ’re to achieve an eSIM - only future tense , the path eSIMs work right now has to change .
Apple has gone eSIM-only in the US… and it doesn’t work.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro ushered in a novel epoch for the iPhone , with Apple knock off the forcible SIM tray entirely in favor of an eSIM - only futurity . The expectation was that global models would soon observe , but this has n’t happened and is n’t likely to .
I ’ve used three eSIM - only iPhones , and this modeling does n’t work , at least in its current phase . Carriers likeT - Mobile , Verizon , and AT&Thave reduce the pauperism to use a foreign SIM card to reduce cost with bundles that cap out - of - pouch cost while rove , but it does n’t fix the key issues when trip .
In peculiar , if you go abroad and want to employ a local SIM — or you have SIM cards from multiple countries like I do — activate and transferring an eSIM is n’t simple or even feasible in many cases . Instead , the eSIM - only iPhone has proven to be a blessing for carrier bottom lines but pure frustration for any client who wants to change their SIM scorecard .
Why a cross-platform partnership is the ideal solution
It ’s unusual to imagine that Apple , Google , and Samsung could play together to resolve this problem , but there is some line of descent for this . In late 2021 , Apple and Google worked together to see that you could track an nameless AirTag with your Android phone . This was call for by the AirTag being used to track the movements of people , often for nefarious purposes . The partnership and app were built in just months , proving that these company can act upon together if they have to .
Samsung is a key part of any partnership as it ’s the biggest telephone set maker in the world . If Samsung were to observe Apple ’s model and go eSIM - only on its phones , and both phone makers were to follow this manikin globally , carriers would apace be forced to embrace better eSIM practices . However , it would still ask Google ’s input signal to attain a lawful eSIM - only future .
Imagine being able-bodied to swap your SIM between an iPhone and an Android phone , or vice versa , without needing to contact your carrier . Even if you could n’t sign up for an eSIM without the carrier affirm your identification , just being able to swap SIMs easily would be a major step in the correct direction . However , many carrier also call for you to have a forcible SIM card or find a QR code in some physical form , which would n’t fully work this problem .
The true answer is a cross - platform normalization of eSIM provisioning engineering , a ill-tempered - platform fashion to identify customers to carriers , and the power to spark an eSIM on any carrier when roaming , even if you ’re not in your home country . To achieve this , the heavy three phone maker would have to force the adoption of all customers , much like we saw with the shimmy to nano - SIMs in the past .
Phone makers need to pick a single approach
I love the estimation of an eSIM and being capable to store multiple SIM cards in a individual phone , but every time I have to move my eSIM to a novel sound , I ’m reminded just how frustrating this experience is .
The original point of the GSM standard was to decouple the terminal from the service or , in simple terms , make it easy to move service between phones . Unlike vie standards that are no longer used , which required you to purvey a specific French telephone and pass on it up to your carrier to ensure it was possible , the GSM standard has mostly achieved this goal .
Yet , the intact plan of attack to SIM cards is still a mess , but it does n’t need to be . Many will extol the need to keep open outer space inside a sound , but two sound prove this is n’t true . The iPhone 16e drops the mmWave aerial — as it ’s not supported by the newApple C1 modem — but does n’t bring back the physical SIM tray .
earpiece are getting slimmer and thinner , so you may be tempted to channelise towards this as a understanding to drop the SIM card tray entirely . To this , I point to the world ’s thin foldable , theOppo Find N5 . It ’s just 4.21 millimeter lean when blossom , but it still features a SIM card tray with not one but two physical SIM batting order slots . you could also enable an eSIM to disable one of these slots , but the want of two-fold physical SIM batting order tray is not down to needing to save blank space in phones ; rather , it ’s down to toter preferences .
Enough is enough: it’s time to fix the mess that is eSIMs
Last class , my iPhone was stolen while travel toMWC , and I found that while my US and UK carriers would n’t allow me to activate a raw eSIM while roaming , Google Fi made it simple to retrieve memory access to my phone number . This proved that there ’s no technical rationality that you ca n’t aerate an eSIM abroad ; rather , your bearer just does n’t need you to .
Phone makers need to conjointly adjudicate how we approach SIM cards going forrad . The current land of eSIMs is an absolute mess , so we either demand to ditch the idea of the eSIM - only future , or the big companies demand to partner to puzzle out this once and for all .
I would n’t bear in mind an eSIM - only future if the problem were resolve , but study that attack aircraft carrier ’ interests will represent a huge part in any determination , it ’s more likely that we wo n’t see any change or improvement in this . Of of course , if Apple were to go eSIM - only globally , this would likely shift quickly , but that also seems quite unconvincing . In the meanwhile , I demand to go to my postman stock to change my eSIM to a unexampled phone … again .
