https://gizmodo.com/google-s-pixel-8-sim-slot-esim-only-iphone-1850759671
What happened to daring to be different? What happened to having options? What happened to creativity?
this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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(all carriers support and promote esim where i live)
what advantages do physical, external sims offer over built-in esim modules?
Physical Sims are easier to move around. So someone like a tech reviewer (as an extreme example) can flip their sim into any device for review and switch back without having to do anything further. With esim, generally the qr code initiates the process but doesn't actually represent the sim itself, so the sims are non-transferable. You usually need a new esim qr code and you have to interact with your carrier to move to the new eSIM; usually through an online sim transfer process.
Transplant that for people who travel and may have half a dozen sims for various destination locations which can be swapped out for any reason at any time. Hopping between carriers as they go. Landed in France? Cool, just pull out your collection of sims and pull your France Telecom company sim card, and pop it in. No internet/wifi/data/phone call needed.
For me, I use my esim as dual SIM, my esim is my personal SIM card. For work, I'm usually given a mobile number at least, so I take the sim that work provides and drop it in the physical SIM slot and I'm off to the races. If I'm fired or quit, I just pop it out and hand it back to them. With eSIM, they only have my word that is been removed, and they need to transfer it to a new eSIM QR code. It's just more hassle. With a physical SIM they just pop it into a new device for my replacement, or hand it to that person if they're bringing their own device to the table.... It's just a lot less hassle.
90% of people don't travel enough that the former is a problem, or change jobs enough that the latter is a problem. Most people put the sim into their phone and ignore it exists (as long as it keeps working). So for the vast majority eSIM is barely an inconvenience, and most of the work in transferring the eSIM will be done by the carrier employees when setting you up on a new device as part of an upgrade, so the vast majority of customers won't care or notice.
The main technical argument for eSIM is that it takes up substantially less internal space which can go towards making devices smaller, and lighter, or provide slightly larger batteries or storage or something.
I prefer having a sim as an option, but for the most part, I'm not going to be too bothered if they don't put it in.
you can usually store multiple esims on your phone tho and quickly swap between them... (with only one active at a time)
Physical sims are physical and contribute to unnecessary waste. Which is bad for the environment. Embrace digital. Personally i hope we can live in a star Trek utopia where we even get rid of currency
And so does buying a new phone every year... Which people do.
stupid apple sheep are gonna be stupid apple sheep, unfortunately.
If we're going to gatekeep on the matter of plastic waste, this is not the winning argument. There's far more common, far more severe wastes of plastic than SIM cards.
Walking to a supermarket in some random country you are traveling to and getting a sim worth 10$ to go.