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Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" and you could just opt-in to something straight

Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" and you could just opt-in to something straight from your phone and be connected before you even get off the plane without needing to buy a disposable SIM card. With that being said, I think it would be better if carriers were just global tbh. But that's a dream.

cma 4y ago
Maybe Apple could get a 30% cut of plans sold that way. Since they made the phone it's only fair.
- ericmay 4y ago
  I think that makes sense b/c they’re basically “doing the sale” similar to how a retailer might advertise a product that they up sell from a wholesale price.
  - colin_mccabe 4y ago
    Is this sarcasm, or do you really think Apple should get 30% of the revenue from all phone plans?
    - ericmay 4y ago
      Idk about 30%, but yea whatever they agree to with carriers for integrating this feature into the iPhone seems to make sense to me. I mean are you really going to be upset that one multi-billion dollar corporation is getting a share of the revenue of other multi-billion dollar corporations? Should we be upset that Amazon sells Apple products on Amazon.com? Or do you think Apple and others should just not create features like this or make it easier for you to switch carriers in different countries when the carriers themselves are making billions ripping you off with overpriced throw-away SIM cards? Ultimately if they're developing features like this, I don't care if they do or don't get a cut. My life gets a lot better. If (to use the US as an example) Verizon makes a little less money because they're paying Apple. Whatever. Could not care less. Apple will probably eventually launch their own service anyway unless anti-trust breaks them up. iPhone is so huge that they can truly own the full stack if they so desire.
      - cma 4y ago
        My post was sarcasm.
elforce002 4y ago
I totally see Apple doing that with some type of arrangement between them and the Telco providers.
1659447091 4y ago
> I think it would be better if carriers were just global tbh. T-Mobile is pretty close. Most monthly plans get unlimited data and text in 200+(?) countries. Pay $10 extra for better data speeds. Haven't had to buy an airport SIM since I was already covered for the things I use - rideshare apps, google maps, hotel/airline apps, messaging apps and regular sms. Would be nice to get even higher data speeds in places that have it, but it's still very much usable and useful.
- ericmay 4y ago
  Yea I have T-Mobile as well and like it quite a bit. Even if very few customers took advantage of this offering it gives you a sense of safety that taps into the same nerve center that something like the Amex Platinum and lounge access does.
- addicted 4y ago
  If I’m traveling to another country, I might want a local number so that people in that country can call me from without incurring a long distance call charge. Also, a lot of 2 factor verification systems have trouble messaging international numbers. A lot of the airport Wi-Fi’s I try to log into, for example, almost never succeed in sending me a pin on my international number. Adding a roaming data plan to my existing number only solves a small number of the problems international travelers face. And even those problems are almost always resolved at a higher cost than getting a local SIM.
stemlord 4y ago
This already exists based on carrier and plan. However my verizon "Travel Pass" has never ever worked in any country I've tried it in. Even when I ended up getting billed for.the $10/day to use it I still never had service. On the other hand a 70gb Vodafone SIM card was 10 euro and all I had to do was stick it in and wait 30 seconds. It's good to have options, esp tried and true ones
- FireBeyond 4y ago
  This can be down to Settings. I traveled to Thailand and had similar issues with AT&Ts service. IIRC there may be 2 or even 3 separate 'roaming' type settings that need to be enabled for everything to work.
- klooney 4y ago
  Verizon's travel pass works pretty well in Mexico, so there's that at least
daveoc64 4y ago
That model doesn't work because it relies on you having data available to set up that interaction with the local carrier. With a physical SIM you can insert it into your device, even if there's no connectivity available to you. That's not to mention how likely carriers are to make it difficult to swap eSIMs around.
csdvrx 4y ago
> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" And do you think you will always get the best prices/services compared to SIM cards sold to locals? I don't think the incentives go that way. It's more like step 1) limit the visibility of the alternatives in the name of convenience/simplicity step 2) "these are not the alternatives you are looking for" For the phone company, their best bet is that they'll nickel and dime you through roaming, if for some reason you need this exact phone number to receive calls. If you just need to use your skype/google voice number , they know you don't need roaming, as a local company will be less expansive, but they can still try to push you towards their "friendly favored partner" (which bad prices due to generous revenue sharing agreement) If your phone is unlocked and is not ESIM only, there's nothing they can do to let local competition deliver you the cheapest service
techdragon 4y ago
Carriers (at least of the non-MVNO kind) are far too burdened by the transnational legal frameworks of radio regulation to ever really be global. And various legal regulations on companies around the world don’t make it easier for telecommunications providers to form certain kinds of business arrangements. The best we will ever get is if some MVNO gets a good enough deal on their global transit that they can provide some kind of global roaming service like that by way of agreements with physical carriers in many countries.
- baybal2 4y ago
arinlen 4y ago
> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" Does having a SIM tray stop you from replying to that prompt? > and you could just opt-in to something straight from your phone and be connected before you even get off the plane without needing to buy a disposable SIM card. Does having a SIM tray remove your ability to choose? Meanwhile, people use multiple SIMs even without leaving their home town as some mobile internet providers offer better services than bundled voice+internet services, having to use multiple cellphone numbers is a reality, and actually subscribing to separate services in multiple countries is a thing as well. For instance, right now I have two SIM cards from two separate operators from two separate countries in one of my phones, and I would have a third if that was an option. Why is this suddenly a bad thing?
- addicted 4y ago
  One sees this logical fallacy so often with Apple and its fans. It’s almost certainly encouraged by Apple as well. Let’s say there’s a product that has 2 similar features A & B. For its next version of the product Apple removes feature B. Then folks complain about how there are things they cannot do because feature B is missing. The Apple fans respond by extolling the benefits of feature A. The problem is that I already had all those benefits of feature A when Apple shipped the product with both A and B. The Apple fans convert the actual argument, which is (A AND B) vs (Only A) into a strawman argument, which is (Only B) vs (Only A).
  - ericmay 4y ago
    I think if folks really want the feature of a physical SIM card they have other phone options out there. Maybe it's something available from Samsung or Google? Personally I think going to another country and buying a disposable SIM card and hoping I don't lose my other one and all of these other things is much more of a hassle than something like landing, turning off airplane mode, and then just selecting a plan that works for me all set up with Apple Pay that I could have done before I even get off the plane. Then again, just using a carrier that has global coverage would be even better.

cma 4y ago

Maybe Apple could get a 30% cut of plans sold that way. Since they made the phone it's only fair.

ericmay 4y ago
I think that makes sense b/c they’re basically “doing the sale” similar to how a retailer might advertise a product that they up sell from a wholesale price.
- colin_mccabe 4y ago
  Is this sarcasm, or do you really think Apple should get 30% of the revenue from all phone plans?
  - ericmay 4y ago
    Idk about 30%, but yea whatever they agree to with carriers for integrating this feature into the iPhone seems to make sense to me. I mean are you really going to be upset that one multi-billion dollar corporation is getting a share of the revenue of other multi-billion dollar corporations? Should we be upset that Amazon sells Apple products on Amazon.com? Or do you think Apple and others should just not create features like this or make it easier for you to switch carriers in different countries when the carriers themselves are making billions ripping you off with overpriced throw-away SIM cards? Ultimately if they're developing features like this, I don't care if they do or don't get a cut. My life gets a lot better. If (to use the US as an example) Verizon makes a little less money because they're paying Apple. Whatever. Could not care less. Apple will probably eventually launch their own service anyway unless anti-trust breaks them up. iPhone is so huge that they can truly own the full stack if they so desire.
    - cma 4y ago
      My post was sarcasm.

elforce002 4y ago

I totally see Apple doing that with some type of arrangement between them and the Telco providers.

1659447091 4y ago

> I think it would be better if carriers were just global tbh. T-Mobile is pretty close. Most monthly plans get unlimited data and text in 200+(?) countries. Pay $10 extra for better data speeds. Haven't had to buy an airport SIM since I was already covered for the things I use - rideshare apps, google maps, hotel/airline apps, messaging apps and regular sms. Would be nice to get even higher data speeds in places that have it, but it's still very much usable and useful.

ericmay 4y ago
Yea I have T-Mobile as well and like it quite a bit. Even if very few customers took advantage of this offering it gives you a sense of safety that taps into the same nerve center that something like the Amex Platinum and lounge access does.
addicted 4y ago
If I’m traveling to another country, I might want a local number so that people in that country can call me from without incurring a long distance call charge. Also, a lot of 2 factor verification systems have trouble messaging international numbers. A lot of the airport Wi-Fi’s I try to log into, for example, almost never succeed in sending me a pin on my international number. Adding a roaming data plan to my existing number only solves a small number of the problems international travelers face. And even those problems are almost always resolved at a higher cost than getting a local SIM.

stemlord 4y ago

This already exists based on carrier and plan. However my verizon "Travel Pass" has never ever worked in any country I've tried it in. Even when I ended up getting billed for.the $10/day to use it I still never had service. On the other hand a 70gb Vodafone SIM card was 10 euro and all I had to do was stick it in and wait 30 seconds. It's good to have options, esp tried and true ones

FireBeyond 4y ago
This can be down to Settings. I traveled to Thailand and had similar issues with AT&Ts service. IIRC there may be 2 or even 3 separate 'roaming' type settings that need to be enabled for everything to work.
klooney 4y ago
Verizon's travel pass works pretty well in Mexico, so there's that at least

daveoc64 4y ago

That model doesn't work because it relies on you having data available to set up that interaction with the local carrier. With a physical SIM you can insert it into your device, even if there's no connectivity available to you. That's not to mention how likely carriers are to make it difficult to swap eSIMs around.

csdvrx 4y ago

> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" And do you think you will always get the best prices/services compared to SIM cards sold to locals? I don't think the incentives go that way. It's more like step 1) limit the visibility of the alternatives in the name of convenience/simplicity step 2) "these are not the alternatives you are looking for" For the phone company, their best bet is that they'll nickel and dime you through roaming, if for some reason you need this exact phone number to receive calls. If you just need to use your skype/google voice number , they know you don't need roaming, as a local company will be less expansive, but they can still try to push you towards their "friendly favored partner" (which bad prices due to generous revenue sharing agreement) If your phone is unlocked and is not ESIM only, there's nothing they can do to let local competition deliver you the cheapest service

techdragon 4y ago

Carriers (at least of the non-MVNO kind) are far too burdened by the transnational legal frameworks of radio regulation to ever really be global. And various legal regulations on companies around the world don’t make it easier for telecommunications providers to form certain kinds of business arrangements. The best we will ever get is if some MVNO gets a good enough deal on their global transit that they can provide some kind of global roaming service like that by way of agreements with physical carriers in many countries.

baybal2 4y ago

arinlen 4y ago

> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" Does having a SIM tray stop you from replying to that prompt? > and you could just opt-in to something straight from your phone and be connected before you even get off the plane without needing to buy a disposable SIM card. Does having a SIM tray remove your ability to choose? Meanwhile, people use multiple SIMs even without leaving their home town as some mobile internet providers offer better services than bundled voice+internet services, having to use multiple cellphone numbers is a reality, and actually subscribing to separate services in multiple countries is a thing as well. For instance, right now I have two SIM cards from two separate operators from two separate countries in one of my phones, and I would have a third if that was an option. Why is this suddenly a bad thing?

addicted 4y ago
One sees this logical fallacy so often with Apple and its fans. It’s almost certainly encouraged by Apple as well. Let’s say there’s a product that has 2 similar features A & B. For its next version of the product Apple removes feature B. Then folks complain about how there are things they cannot do because feature B is missing. The Apple fans respond by extolling the benefits of feature A. The problem is that I already had all those benefits of feature A when Apple shipped the product with both A and B. The Apple fans convert the actual argument, which is (A AND B) vs (Only A) into a strawman argument, which is (Only B) vs (Only A).
- ericmay 4y ago
  I think if folks really want the feature of a physical SIM card they have other phone options out there. Maybe it's something available from Samsung or Google? Personally I think going to another country and buying a disposable SIM card and hoping I don't lose my other one and all of these other things is much more of a hassle than something like landing, turning off airplane mode, and then just selecting a plan that works for me all set up with Apple Pay that I could have done before I even get off the plane. Then again, just using a carrier that has global coverage would be even better.