Like it or not, Apple has made several controversial moves in the past which eventually became the industry norm. This includes removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and not bundling a power adapter in the box starting with the iPhone 12. With the iPhone 14 series, Apple’s latest act of ‘courage’ is the removal of the SIM tray slot, a standard component that’s found on every smartphone sold today. This means the new iPhone 14 would only accept eSIM starting with the US market.
To recap, an eSIM is essentially a digital SIM which enables you to connect your device to your telco without waiting for the physical SIM. Apple supports eSIM on the iPhone XR and XS series and above, and the feature also enables dual-SIM connectivity for the first time on an iPhone.
According to Apple, an eSIM allows users to easily connect or quickly transfer their existing plans digitally, and it is seen as a more secure alternative to a physical SIM card, allowing for multiple cellular plans on a single device. With an eSIM, nobody can simply hijack your mobile number as there’s no physical SIM to take out if your device is stolen.
Apple has also made some improvements to its eSIM support particularly the ability to transfer your eSIM to another device even without WiFi. As leaked recently, iOS 16 will allow users to transfer eSIM and mobile plan from one iPhone to another device over Bluetooth.
If you’re currently residing outside of the US, you don’t have to worry about switching to an eSIM if you haven’t already. Apple’s eSIM-only iPhone 14 devices are only offered for the US market. In other global markets, there’s still a physical SIM card slot and there’s also the option for Dual eSIM support.
eSIMs have been around for quite some time now and most major telcos do offer eSIM as a faster way to get users onboard. In Malaysia, the big four Apple partner telcos such as Celcom, Digi, Maxis and U Mobile have offered eSIM as an option since 2019.
While Malaysian users are still able to slot in their preferred SIM card for the new iPhone 14 series sold locally, the latest move appears to be the first step towards a SIM-less experience. We reckon that it will be just a matter of time before Apple removes the SIM tray slot completely for its future iPhone models. Just like the headphone jack and charger, you can definitely expect other smartphone makers to follow Apple’s footsteps.
What do you think about the move towards a SIM-less experience? Do you prefer physical SIMs over eSIMs? Let us know in the comments below.
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- iPhone 14 Malaysia: Here's the official price for the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, pre-order starts on Malaysia Day
- Why the new iPhone 14 costs so much more in Malaysia, despite no price increase in the U.S.