4 ms·

Perhaps if they made physical dual sim phones widely available (and not just in China and Hong Kong) they might be able to lure more users. In my corner of the

Perhaps if they made physical dual sim phones widely available (and not just in China and Hong Kong) they might be able to lure more users. In my corner of the globe, a significant number of people have more than one SIM so Purchasing an iPhone is not very cost efficient. And even if you do have the means to purchase a second device it will most likely be a cheaper android phone. Eventually you’ll come to realize that android isn’t that bad compared to iOS and at times it even does things better. So your next logical upgrade purchase will be a high end dual sim android phone.

asciident 6y ago
What's the point of sim cards anyways? I'm not sure why it's needed when things can be done over software. It feels like an antiquated piece of technology. Like just use the phone identifier or something, and map it to a digital sim.
- nottorp 6y ago
  It decouples the carrier from the phone manufacturer. I'd rather swap sims than beg Apple to change my carrier. Maybe to one they don't yet support. Of course, you need an unlocked phone for this, but in the poorer countries most people are on prepaid not contract, and their phones are unlocked from the start.
  - Polylactic_acid 6y ago
    The obvious solution is that sim is replaced with a username and password
  - nottorp 6y ago
    > The obvious solution is that sim is replaced with a username and password That would still go through the phone manufacturer? Or maybe not, but in that case it would require changing how all the cell phone networks work. Not going to happen soon.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  I have wondered the same thing. I just did a search and all I can find is uninformed speculation about how its "more secure" or because its required as part of the mobile technology. None of it seems correct and my guess is there is just no push for esim because every phone has to have a sim tray for compatibility and every carrier gives out a sim because everyone has a sim tray and knows how to use it.

asciident 6y ago

What's the point of sim cards anyways? I'm not sure why it's needed when things can be done over software. It feels like an antiquated piece of technology. Like just use the phone identifier or something, and map it to a digital sim.

nottorp 6y ago
It decouples the carrier from the phone manufacturer. I'd rather swap sims than beg Apple to change my carrier. Maybe to one they don't yet support. Of course, you need an unlocked phone for this, but in the poorer countries most people are on prepaid not contract, and their phones are unlocked from the start.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  The obvious solution is that sim is replaced with a username and password
- nottorp 6y ago
  > The obvious solution is that sim is replaced with a username and password That would still go through the phone manufacturer? Or maybe not, but in that case it would require changing how all the cell phone networks work. Not going to happen soon.
Polylactic_acid 6y ago
I have wondered the same thing. I just did a search and all I can find is uninformed speculation about how its "more secure" or because its required as part of the mobile technology. None of it seems correct and my guess is there is just no push for esim because every phone has to have a sim tray for compatibility and every carrier gives out a sim because everyone has a sim tray and knows how to use it.