Vratislav Holub The new iPhone 14 generation is literally just around the corner, and it's no wonder that various speculations and leaks are spreading among Apple fans. One leak even talks about the fact that Apple should partially get rid of the classic slot for physical SIM cards. Of course, in such a case, he would not be able to make such a drastic change all at once. One could therefore expect that there will be two versions on the market – one with a classic slot and the other without it, relying purely on eSIM technology.
It could be interest you
Flying around the world with Apple But the question is whether this change makes sense, or whether Apple is heading in the right direction. It's not quite that simple. While in Europe and Asia people often change operators (trying to get the most favorable tariff), on the contrary, for example in the United States, people stay with one operator for a long time and changing SIM cards is completely foreign to them. This again goes hand in hand with what we have already mentioned – that the iPhone 14 (Pro) could be on the market in two versions, namely with and without a slot.
Should Apple remove the SIM slot?
But let's get back to the essentials. Should Apple decide to take this step, or will it make a big mistake? Of course, we cannot predict the real answer now. On the other hand, if we summarize it in general, it certainly does not have to be a bad step. Smartphones work with limited space. Manufacturers therefore have to think about how they actually stack the individual components in such a way that they can use all the space and achieve maximum efficiency. And since technology is constantly shrinking, even the relatively small space that would be freed up by the removal of the mentioned slot could play a big role in the final.
iPhone 13 (Pro)
However, the change would not have to be sudden. On the contrary, the Cupertino giant could go about it a little smarter and start the transition gradually - similar to what we mentioned right at the beginning. From the beginning, two versions could enter the market, while each customer could choose whether they want an iPhone with or without a physical slot, or divide it according to a specific market. After all, something similar is not far from reality. For example, the iPhone XS (Max) and XR were Apple's first phones that could handle two numbers, despite only offering one physical SIM card slot. The second number could be used when using an eSIM. On the contrary, you did not encounter something like this in China. Phones with two physical slots were sold there.
eSIM is growing in popularity
Like it or not, the era of physical SIM cards will end sooner or later. After all, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal also writes about it. Users all over the world are slowly switching to the electronic form - eSIM - which is enjoying ever-increasing popularity. And, of course, there is hardly a single reason why it should not continue to be so. So, no matter how Apple deals with the complete transition to eSIM and the removal of the physical slot, it is good to realize that it is more or less inevitable. Although the mentioned physical slot may seem like an irreplaceable part, remember the story of the 3,5mm jack connector, which years ago was considered an inseparable part of all electronics, including smartphones. Even so, it disappeared from most models with an unexpected speed.
It could be interest you
Adam Kos 