In case you hadn't noticed, Apple has declared war on the SIM card. Or at least, it escalated the war that technically began with the release of iPhone 14 in 2022, when those models launched as eSIM-only phones in the U.S.
Not only has Apple expanded the reach of eSIM-only iPhones, it's also given them an advantage by adding a little more battery capacity to eSIM-based iPhone 17 models.
Apple isn't alone in this — Google removed the SIM tray from Pixel 10 series phones in the U.S. And that makes it seem like the SIM card's days are numbered. There's going to come a day when eSIMs are the only option, regardless of what we as consumers have to say on the matter. Remember what happened to the headphone jack?
I can certainly see the benefits of using eSIM from a consumer standpoint. But I'm also going to have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I won't be able to pop out my SIM card whenever I need to.
Why are phone makers pushing eSIMs so hard?
SIM cards do have a bunch of disadvantages, especially if you're a phone maker trying to squeeze all the necessary hardware into as small a space as possible. A SIM tray may not look very big, but it does take up a lot more space compared to an eSIM.
An eSIM is roughly half the size of the modern Nano SIM and is built into the phone itself. That means there's no need for the removable tray and all the other hardware needed to read the physical card.
Removing a physical SIM card tray leaves more room for other stuff, though I suspect the tangible benefits will be fairly limited if you're only offering eSIM-only phones in certain regions of the world. Apple seems to have solved that problem by promising extra battery capacity to phones without the SIM tray.
On top of that, Apple has made it very clear that eSIM has extra security benefits as well. An eSIM can't be removed in the event that your phone gets lost or stolen, meaning a thief couldn't use your SIM to pretend to be you.
The fact that an eSIM is all virtual means that you don't need to obtain a physical SIM card, either by mail or from a store. That can save time when you need to set up a new plan, letting you access your new allowances immediately, rather than in a few days.
That's particularly useful if you're traveling and don't have data roaming included in your plan. Rather than paying over the odds for data from your carrier, you can get a local eSIM set up before you arrive so that when you land in a new country, your data is waiting for you.
A lot of phones also let you store several eSIMs at a time; usually, though, you're only allowed to have two active at any given time.
Convenience is still a big factor for me
eSIMs do make the process of actually swapping phones that bit harder. You can't just pop out the SIM tray and put your SIM into a brand new phone — a process that takes maybe 10 seconds.
eSIMs are a little bit more complicated because you need to go through the motions of transferring all your information from one phone to another. If your carrier supports Quick Transfer, then you can do the whole thing yourself without any outside assistance. If not, you're going to have to call customer service and hope you can get through to a person before the end of the day.
Presumably, as time goes on, that process is only going to get easier. And it ends up blurring in with the rest of a new phone's setup process so much that you don't even realize it's happening. But that's not how things are today.
I'm a little biased because I test phones for a living, and often have to swap my SIM card around on different devices multiple times a year.
For most people reading this, the swapping process is something that'll happen every two years at most. It all depends on how often you upgrade your phone, so the longer you keep your device (without damaging it beyond repair), the less likely you are to have to go through these motions. As a result, it's not that big of a deal.
I'm probably not the only one who still needs to get used to the idea of my phone number and everything associated with it not living on a small piece of plastic that I have full control over.
Bottom line
There's going to come a point where phones are only available with eSIMs, and the physical SIM cards are a thing of the past. Or at least, it will be on premium smartphones such asthe iPhone. I don't know when that will happen, though if Apple has its way, it'll be a global thing sooner rather than later — and not just on ultra-thin phones like iPhone Air.
Much as I had to get used to the loss of the headphone jack, I'm going to have to get over the fact that I can't pop my SIM card out of my phone at a second's notice. Sure, there will be extra benefits to ditching that system, which is now a few decades old, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
Hopefully, we still have a few years to go before I have to make that switch.
More from Tom's Guide
- iPhone Air battery life tested — here’s how it really stacks up
- iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro have a 'rare' camera glitch — but Apple has promised us a fix
- iOS 26 complaints are piling up — should you wait to upgrade?
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