Just a few years after allowing users to set up an electronic SIM card (eSIM) with the iPhone XS, Apple is reportedly on the way to phasing out the physical SIM card from the iPhones.
MacRumors assures us that “Apple has advised the main US operators to prepare for the launch of eSIM-only smartphones by September 2022”. Future iPhone 14 models could therefore be the first to use eSIM technology only. Unless it is the iPhone 15, the next generation, which would benefit from this new functionality.
In 2017, Apple put an eSIM in its Apple Watch. On recent iPhones, it is the dual SIM option that has been put forward by Apple, with a physical card alongside a virtual card.
The SIM card war is nothing new
The SIM card war is nothing new. Already in 2011 Apple filed a patent to create a mobile virtual network, an MVNO, the direct consequence of which was to force telecommunications operators to bid to sell their services to iPhone users. In 2014 Apple introduced the Apple SIM, a sort of precursor to eSIM. And Samsung has also been working on the concept for many years.
The eSim card offers many advantages: it cannot be lost, it has more memory, it can store multiple cell profiles, etc. It’s also extremely small compared to a SIM slot, and it takes up much less space inside the phone, which can be put to good use for the battery and other components.