News The iPhone 14 won’t have a SIM tray in the US

The iPhone 14 won’t have a SIM tray in the US

The new iPhone 14 lineup will ship with out bodily SIM trays — however solely in the US. They’ll be capable to use two eSIMs without delay (and retailer greater than that), however is the lack of a bodily tray a large deal? And is it user-hostile and silly?

First, a refresher on eSIMs: they’re SIM playing cards, however digital, not bodily. Which means your telephone might be provisioned remotely — no extra going to a retailer to get a bodily SIM. This makes it simpler (in some methods) to change networks or strive one out — T-Cellular now makes use of eSIMs to let folks test-drive its community for as much as three months. As of iOS 16, you possibly can even switch your eSIM between iPhones through Bluetooth, which ought to make it nearly as simple as a bodily SIM — so long as you’re staying in the Apple ecosystem. In fact.

Most main US carriers, and plenty of worldwide, have eSIM help, and (*14*)iPhones have supported them since 2018, together with the potential to make use of two SIMs without delay. Up till the iPhone 13, that meant one eSIM and one bodily SIM; the iPhone 13 household launched the potential to make use of two eSIMs at the similar time. Eradicating the bodily SIM — and the gap in the case it requires — is the subsequent logical step. At the least for Apple, and not less than in the US — the iPhone 14 nonetheless has a SIM tray all over the place else.

Should you’re on a main US cellular phone community — AT&T, Verizon, or T-Cellular — the lack of a bodily SIM tray most likely won’t impression you a lot. Even when you change carriers or change telephones, you possibly can obtain an eSIM instantly from Verizon, AT&T, or T-Cellular with out going to a retailer.

However in case you are on a service that doesn’t have eSIM help otherwise you’re planning to change to 1, nicely, you shouldn’t get the iPhone 14 proper now. You won’t have to attend too lengthy; this could possibly be the push smaller carriers have to get on board with eSIMs.

(Exterior the US, the iPhone 14 lineup nonetheless contains nano-SIM slots.)

That’s no SIM slot; it’s a mmWave cutout

At the launch occasion, Apple spokespeople advised The Verge that the iPhone 14 and 14 Professional can retailer not less than eight eSIMS, with as much as two lively without delay. International eSIM reseller Airalo says earlier iPhones may maintain 5 to 10, relying on the mannequin. This might take a few of the sting out of the lack of the bodily SIM tray, although not all worldwide carriers help eSIMs. (I haven’t used Airalo and might’t vouch for them, however with the ability to remotely provision a native eSIM when touring overseas may take away the trouble of discovering a native SIM.)

The potential to have a couple of lively SIM is nice for frequent vacationers, individuals who dwell in areas the place anyone community has spotty protection, or people who have separate work and private numbers. I purchased my iPhone 11 once I lived in the Netherlands, and it has each a Dutch eSIM and a bodily Verizon SIM. That meant I may use a native SIM whether or not I used to be in Europe or the US with out shedding entry to my different quantity or having to mess with my iMessage or WhatsApp settings.

Bodily SIMs make it simple to deliver your telephone to a completely different service or deliver your quantity to a new telephone. They’re ubiquitous, work on all telephones, and are simple sufficient to make use of (although additionally simple to lose; ask me how I do know). A lot of my co-workers will not be psyched about shedding the SIM slot. Transferring an eSIM from an iPhone to an Android telephone isn’t essentially trivial.

I don’t assume eradicating the SIM tray is essentially user-hostile for most individuals; most individuals simply don’t swap carriers or telephones each few weeks. However that depends upon how simple suppliers make it to put in and migrate eSIMs throughout platforms. We’ll see how this performs out.

Replace Sept seventh, 4:45PM ET: Added info on eSIM help.

Correction Sept eighth, 12:06PM ET: The authentic textual content of this text misspelled the title of eSIM retailer Airalo. We remorse the error.

Correction Sept tenth, 9:26PM ET: An earlier model of this text acknowledged the iPhone 14 can retailer as much as six eSIMs; each the 14 and 14 Professional fashions can retailer not less than eight.


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