Vai jaunākais iPhone nogalinās SIM karti?

With smartphones, where Apple leads others often follow – which is why it’s launching an iPhone this week without a traditional SIM card, raising questions about the future of a very familiar phone technology.

All phone users will be accustomed to small plastic cards that they need to gently insert into their devices in order to make them work.

But for iPhone Air buyers, that will be a thing of the past.

It will only work with an eSIM – which allows users to change networks or plans without having to use a fiddly fork to open a small SIM card tray.

Analyst Kester Mann of CCS Insight told BBC News that Apple’s announcement “marks the end of the physical SIM card.”

But how long will it be before we all throw away our little chip-carrying pieces of plastic – and what difference will it make to how we use our phones?

SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. The chip is a key component of your phone—it allows you to connect to your mobile network provider, handle calls and texts, and use your data.

In recent years, ESIM has become an alternative, and newer phones allow users to use both a traditional SIM and an ESIM.

On Tuesday, when announcing the new iPhone Air – the latest and slimmest addition to the Apple family – the tech giant said it would feature an eSIM-only design.

This is the first time an eSIM-only iPhone will be available globally. Customers in the US have had eSIM-only iPhones since 2022.

But even Apple isn’t completely abandoning the physical SIM card,

While it’s true that the other new iPhones it announced this week – the 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max – will only have eSIM in a few markets, they will retain physical SIM card slots in most countries.

Other major manufacturers like Samsung and Google, while we’ll consider it as an option, still maintain a physical SIM in most places.

However, experts say there is no doubt about the direction of travel.

According to CCS Insight’s latest forecast, 1.3 billion smartphones with ESIMS were in use by the end of 2024. This number is expected to reach 3.1 billion by 2030.

“Over time, expect the SIM tray to disappear altogether,” said Paolo Pescatore, a technology analyst at PP Foresight.

Mr Pescatore said the move to eSIM offered “many advantages”, most notably saving space internally in the phone, thus allowing for larger batteries.

He also highlighted the environmental benefits of not using plastic SIM cards and believes that people who use eSIMs when they travel abroad will have more provider options and no “bill shocks”.

Kester Mann said it will create new customer behavior and “slowly change how people interact with their mobile provider.”

For example, this could mean that some customers won’t need to go into a high street store to negotiate their SIM with their provider.

This could be a big advantage for people who want to save some time and a trip to a physical store.

But he said, like all changes, it might not be welcomed by everyone.

“The changes could be particularly important among older demographics or for people who are less confident using technology. The industry needs to work hard to explain how to use ESIMS,” Mann said.