As a company, Apple is notorious for ruthlessly eliminating functionality in the sake of development. They got rid of the DVD drive on the Mac while optical discs were still in demand, took away HDMI and MagSafe from MacBook Pros (only to add them back later), and, of course, killed off the headphone jack. The removal of the SIM tray from the iPhone 14 range in favour of eSIM by Apple may seem like a minor change, but it might end up costing you in the long run.
Just what is an eSIM?
If you picked “electronic SIM card,” you’d be somewhat correct. Instead, it refers to the fact that eSIMs are embedded in your smartphone, hence the term embedded SIM (with SIM standing for subscriber identity module).
The eSIM in the iPhone eliminates the need for a physical SIM card and makes it simple to swap carriers and data plans. That independence grants you the flexibility to switch networks at will, whenever you choose, simply by installing a new app or subscribing to a new service. You also don’t have to worry about losing or damaging your eSIM because you no longer need to deal with SIM cards. It is safe within your iPhone where nobody can interfere with it.
The use of electronic SIM cards is nothing new for the iPhone. Since the release of the iPhone XS and XR, both eSIM and the more conventional SIM card have been included in every iPhone model. Dual-sim allows you to use two phones at once. Apple has previously only accepted virtual SIM cards, but with the iPhone 14, the company is doing away with actual SIM cards entirely. Our future cellular demands will have to be met by implanted SIM cards.
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Not ready for an eSIM-only device?
In the United States, many people will not be significantly affected by this shift. You will still go through the same procedures of selecting a carrier, activating an eSIM, and continuing on. A 14-inch iPhone, however, could be beyond of reach for some people.
First of all, consumers who buy cellular service from smaller operators still need real SIMs. The list of devices that do support eSIM has grown in recent months, but there are still those that do not. You will not be able to use an iPhone 14 with a carrier that does not support eSIM; if you want to upgrade to the newest iPhone, you will also need to transfer carriers.
Your membership with a supported provider may nevertheless cause problems if you use it outside of the country. Prepaid SIM cards can be purchased in the area you are visiting for far less money than using your regular U.S. cellular operator would cost. However, you cannot buy these SIMs with the iPhone 14. If the country doesn’t have eSIM support (and many countries still don’t), you’ll have to pay more to stay connected with your home network.
This is not to suggest that eSIMs are intrinsically hostile to visitors. Activating a local plan in a nation that allows eSIM might be more hassle-free than with a standard SIM card. We have also discussed how an eSIM might be a convenient choice when abroad. However, this might be problematic because certain countries don’t yet allow eSIM, and there is no alternative. This may explain why the iPhone 14 in Europe may use a real SIM card. They Europeans are so lucky.
There’s high anticipation that eSIM will soon experience significant growth. That isn’t just a pipe dream; Apple really does have an impact on the direction of technology (again, remember the headphone jack). It’s likely that the iPhone 14 may spark an eSIM revolution, in which case the capability will be widely supported by carriers. Because it can use up to eight eSIMs, the iPhone 14 is a fantastic option for those who often switch between different countries.
However, until then, you’ll have to balance the benefits of the iPhone 14’s new features against the downsides of eSIM-only usage. How prepared do you feel for it? In that case, the iPhone 13 may be the way to go, as it is still a great phone.