After years of eSim, wanting eSim, asking for nothing but eSim, I'm done with eSim. Having an argument with a T-Mobile rep in store on whether or not my Pixel 7 has an eSim made me no longer want eSim. I want my phone and its service to be as self service as possible, and managing my own sim seems to be my best option.
I mean, technically an eSim at its simplest is just a QR code provided to you by your provider, just like they provide you a SIM card. None of their fucking business whether your device supports it.
And what makes it more frustrating with T-Mobile is they don't allow their customers to go online and swap a phone themselves. You HAVE to go in or call. My brother got a Pixel 7, and we couldn't swap his 5 out for the 7 online.
I looked everywhere on that shitty website, the closest thing they had was an option "upgrade my phone" that just took you to their online store. Fuck TMobile, I hate them so much.
Nah, I use GrapheneOS. Unfortunately you need to install the play store/services initially to services and "enabled privileged esim access" in the network access to install esim. After that though, you can purge all the Google crap and easily uninstall it all. Esim will remain in your phone, even if you were to factory reset and reflash to another OS. You just have install esim only once and it's actually stored on the hardware level.
Only to initially install it. After you install the esim, you can purge the Google stuff and it'll remain working perfectly. Esim is actually on your phone at the hardware level.
I remember vzw being on 3g and not having Sims. It made changing phones a bit of a hassle. I hated having to either go into a store or call in. Hopefully there's better ways in the future if this does happen.
It was annoying before because there was no sim. You had to register your device with the carrier for it to work. So it always meant a call to your provider to do anything and you couldn't use the device on more then one network.
E-sim is different. You can have multiple esims on one phone and even move them to other phones.
Apple has never been about having options. They have always believed that the customer doesn't know what they want. They enforce whatever they think is best, and provide no ways to change it.
Apple is for iToddlers. That's how they view their customers: as mentally deficient children who must be hand held at all times, lest they run into traffic.
Additionally, there is support to swap eSIM to other devices Apple has implemented a method and Google is working to do so. Telecom compnaies in the US are already capable of doing so as well: https://www.androidpolice.com/android-14-dual-sim/
What choice did this actually take from you? You either want a phone number or you don't? You either want that number on a device or you don't? The choice still exist here. This post has solidified to me that Lemmy users literally know absolutely nothing about security and let bias interfere with educating themselves on this kind of thing.
Considering majority of the planet doesn't have access to esim. Google just cut off a huge chunk of its markets. I've been waiting on esims for years. They are slowly creeping out but they don't work on all networks and don't work on pay as you go plans.
Think you'd need esim to be much more established before you tried anything like this.
BT headphones had become pretty normal by the time they started removing the jack. You can also get an adapter to still use them. No slot for sim would be incredibly bold and lose them a tonne of money.
Google shouldn't remove physical SIM cards until the networks can figure them out. I don't understand why it's so hard for them to do so, though.
Setting my Pixel up with an eSim on T-Mobile was a huge pain in the ass even though it should have been stupid easy. T-Mobile has a QR code you can scan to automate the setup, but, by their choice, it only works on Samsungs and iPhones.
First step was that I had to call up their tech support and confirm my identity. No issues with the identity confirmation, that's the bare minimum they should require. But then I had to manually relay my IMEI, avoiding making any mistakes.
When they finished, the call disconnected and my service no longer worked. Why? Because they need to deactivate your current IMEI to get it to work. And eSim won't work with T-Mobile until you take out your old SIM and restart your phone.
Before losing service, they told me this part would be tricky. If they had made a single mistake, I would have lost service. The online reps couldn't fix this, only the phone reps could, but again, I would have no service so I couldn't call the phone reps. If it didn't work, I would need to go in store to get it fixed and hope they would call in for me.
I don't understand why the process is any harder than just logging into your carrier on your phone.
In the Netherlands I went from not being a customer to making a phone call at the carrier in 10 minutes, while being in a third country. It really isn't hard. And I have a Fairphone, so not even a mainstream brand.
Just one correction, I've found plenty of companies offering pay as you go eSims in Switzerland, so I'd imagine it can exist elsewhere too. Digital Republic is an example that I use. Not gonna lie, it's nice to have a fully functioning phone plan right as you land on the tarmac.
Oh excellent I stand corrected. All the sim plans I've seen in the UK France and North America all seemed to offer monthly plans but not pay as you go.
I know there are lots of online only holiday sims. They are fantastic. Was going to use them in Canada but didn't get a chance.
Idk, I think they're totally willing to manufacture a separate US model and an international model. And as time goes on, they'll phase out the international model. Just much more slowly.
And there are also those with dual SIMs for work or other purposes. With eSim one can have a personal account and use the physical SIM for work without the need for dual SIM slots. Removing the physical SIM means this is no longer possible.
But it's a leak. Plenty get it wrong. I wouldn't be throwing in the towel because a leak said esims or nothing. It's from a render from "leaked" details. Some really big leaps there
Maybe I'm out of the loop but are eSIMs insecure or something? What's the problem? I started using eSIMs while traveling overseas and it been a game changer. So easy... No more swapping. No more trying to find a Sim provider at the airport etc.
AFAIK esim is not available everywhere and it's also less private since you need to register an account to activate rather than pay cash and pop in the card.
Yes eSIM adoption is low, but half the world requires you to register either way. The main concern is the friction (sometimes inability) with swapping eSIM's between phones. They are great and convenient but they should never be the only option.
i’d say it’s a toss up really: personally i’d prefer logging into an account rather than having to find/carry something to pop open the sim tray, but i can see why some people would prefer that option
Agreed, except that it can still be more difficult to get an eSIM than a physical SIM in some parts of the world. It depends on where you are traveling.
That probably won't be an issue in the next couple of years.
why the hell do you need a plastic chip? its useless and redundant.
get a username and password from the phone carrier and that's it.
just like connecting to an ISP for example.
why are people clinging to old technology for no reason.
Besides, phone carrier nowadays are exactly this: ISPs. they provide an IP and a bandwidth.
There are several companies that provide travel esims. I use knowroaming. Much more convenient than trying to find a shop that sells sim cards after you arrive.
maybe if people stop clinging to old techonology and use it the companies will be forced to advance as well.
maybe stop using fax machines and they will stop producing them!
eSIMs are much more comfortable for travel, since you can purchase one online and activate it while still in your home country a few days before your flight, for example.
There, you just got a shitload of options, had the time to comfortably compare plans from your home PC while on home WiFi, and make sure you picked the best one.
Now compare this to: arriving, getting past customs, picking up your luggage from the belt, picking up your rental and oh no fuck I have to buy a SIM from the first scammy desk I can find at the airport or around town.
Because I'm much more likely to lose/forget a username and password and going through the hassle of getting a hold of the carrier, proving who I am, and recovering said info is a bitch. I'd prefer to not go through that over and over. I buy my phone out right with no part of the carrier. They have no need to be a part of me switching phones.
My favorite phone I've ever had was an LG. I had two easily switchable batteries for it and an external charger. It had an SD card slot and a headphone jack. It did everything I needed it to do, and it had very little bloatware. Hell, it's over decade old or something, and it still works just fine. In fact, last time I used it, the battery lasted longer than ever since it doesn't have a SIM card anymore, I rooted it and removed every unnecessary app, and it spends all its time in flight mode occasionally playing MP3s. I've no doubt if I fired it up tomorrow, it'd still work, though Google would certainly complain that it hasn't been updated 8 bajillion times in the interim. Every phone I've had since then (Google Nexus 6P, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and now an S23 Ultra) has had a better camera, a little bigger screen resolution, and was worse in just about every other way.
Microtransactions, subscriptions, non-removeable battery, no headphone jack, no sim slots, $2000 phones, $2000 GPUs,........ It's all us. We keep buying their shits no matter how much they screwed us.
And who gave people what they wants?
Fairphone: sustainable phone. -> No one buying.
Iphone: Sold out.
AMD GPUs: somewhat the lesser evil. -> No one buying.
Nvidia: Reach over a Trillion in value.
Framework laptop: fully repairable, upgradeable. -> No one buying.
MacBook: Sold out.
I said "No one buying" is just exaggerated, but you know what I mean.
It needs to be on regulators. Consumers aren't good at being informed or wearing hair shirt for long term goals. Little guys struggle competing with giants due to economy of scales.
I mean of all the stupid shit to remove from a phone, why is the sim card THE big deal? I mean who the fuck cares? a SIM card is infrastructure dependent inherently, it is just a token for a network! What is the problem of storing the token for a network digitally. The SD slot and the headphone jack, Yeah those are useful. But the SIM slot? I don't get it.
I had heard about that! Kinda nuts that America seems to just be universally doing the wrong thing about everything. We can't have nice things here, ever bc the worst people just want things to be worse.
I remember being very happy that pixels went from 3 year support to 5. But then they got rid of the headphone jack, so I never bought it. Seems to have been the right choice.
Well, I guess that rules out the Pixel 8 as my next phone. My telecom, as with most in my country, only issues eSIMs to phones that they officially support - in other words, Samsung Galaxy phones and iPhones only.
Unless they have some fancy/magical way to install the esim remotely on your phone (which I highly doubt), they will just send you an email with a QR code to scan. And guess what, the Pixel can totally handle that.
If you buy this pixel from Verizon, and use it as trade in for, say, samsung phone via their website, how are you supposed to get Sim service switched? You don't have Verizons phone (because you sent it to them), and your new phone doesn't have service (because they sell you a blank unlocked phone), nor is it connected to Verizons towers. You're going to be....expected to go to verizon? Use someone else's phone?
Like using someone else's car at the dmv for driving tests, it's horribly reliant on external factors and is fuckin' duuuuumb
I mailed in my last phone and it was a situation where it's "X" price /if/ they get the trade in within a certain number of days. So I had a few days where I had both phones and they warned me to do the switch over before I sent back the other phone.
Not my experience but I may have done it wrong lol. Samsung's fold4 shipments were so delayed I ended up 2 weeks without a phone after boxing up my Verizon branded Fold2 as trade in. But nah your explanation makes sense
You take the phone you get to Verizon before you send your trade out. You say, give me a SIM for a phone that doesn't support it or switch my number to this phone via an eSIM.
Most companies send you the new phone first and you have time to send the trade-in after the fact for a set amount of days. If you do this from Verizon to Verizon as another example the new phone should activate with an eSIM out of the box and move your number. If not, Google is working on a tool to fix that:https://www.droid-life.com/2023/08/22/first-look-at-androids-native-esim-transfer-tool/
This is not any offense to you as your questions are relevant and reasonable, but this post has proved my point that Lemmy users know jack shit about security and why this is a good change. If you want learn there is a good podcast that elaborates on the issue with current physical SIM standards: https://darknetdiaries.com/transcript/118/
Mark my words, this is coming. Once RAM is cheaper than having multiple production lines, you'll buy phones with RAM that is disabled and you'll have the option of enabling it OTA.
But the possibility to replace a SIM if defective without replacing the whole phone is an advantage. You can also swap sim really easily when travelling.
Sorry what? It creates a door, which needs to be sealed for IP rating, which needs to be located in physical relation to the edge of the phone body, needs power and data vias routed to/from which dictates the location of the radio, antennae etc. etc. etc.
It's absolutely impactful to the electronics design no matter the screen size, you just can't see all the decisions and compromises associated with it.
What network and where? Many (the majority) networks offer it for free. There is talk of regulation forcing it to be free to download too, and it can't come soon enough.
There was that news article just the other day that some obnoxiously high percentage of youth (80%?) wanted iPhones over Android devices. There is a reason why every other phone company copies Apple and it isn't just because it is cheaper to copy than be original - Apple has a lock on the youth market. In this particular case, they are copying something not aesthetics/design related, but if you are going to copy one thing, you might as well copy everything that Apple does. Or at least that is what these companies believe they should so.
I'm a teenager too and these trends are stupid. The only two reasons in the United States for iPhones being popular are because of the "Ecosystem" and iMessage. Unlike every other country where they use an app like WhatsApp or Signal or Telegram and no one bats an eye on what you use. I find it better to stand out rather than blend in with the crowd.
It is worse in Asia and I would say in parts of Europe it is just as bad. Apple's marketing is second to none and one thing teens care about more than anything else, that's image and branding.
For now it's only a rumor based on leaked renders, it could be that the renders simply didn't have all the details. I'd be very surprised if Google really ditched physicals SIM cards as that would definitely hurt sales.
To be fair, most headphone jacks were utter trash so it did not bother me too much, but I used to specifically choose LG because they had built in quad DACs for their phones. I choose a pixel now because it is the best phone otherwise.
Oh, look more Lemmy users not understanding security, again. All because they hate big Apple and change because Apple did something is bad.
I am convinced Lemmy users are more prone to let their bias get in the way of actually understanding the benefits of this change and the reason this is going away.
If you want a summary because you don't want to listen to a podcast or read the transcript of a podcast. There is a lot of theft occurring at the SIM card level in phones. This change is a bigger benefit than it is a negative. Is it annoying? Sure? Does it change how the phone functions? No.
Most phones can't dual SIM, and phones that do typically have issues. I am convinced this will quite literally not affect any of you, and if anything it protects the average consumer.
This means no one can just take your SIM card. They need to fully get into your phone. If you are worried about number transfer from telecom company to telecom company then you should know that is also already being handled and both Verizon and AT&T have implemented this change to their systems. You just transfer the number like normal and the systems generate an eSIM for you.
This is a win for security of your phone, you, and for your number.
While you do have great points, I'd personally rather have the option to have a SIM card than just having eSIM. Sure, there may be a huge security benefit, but again, i'd rather have the option to do so.
Main argument is probably who actually supports esim and will people check that before buying a phone expecting it to work like any other phone they've ever owned. Good on the US for being ahead of the curve and having more providers support esim, but this is an international device and looks like support is piss poor everywhere else https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT209096 including in the UK where I am, my current provider doesn't support esim at all so I'll have to switch if I want one.
End or the day I think it's really a matter of what is simpler for consumers. I agree based on all your points esim is better, but given physical sims are a standard and probably will be for years to come it's absurd to remove support for them in flagship phones and just expect people and providers to switch to one that supports it.
Well, when Google jumps in the wagon and makes Android 14 support eSIM and Apple being one of the largest companies also does it. I would imagine others will as well. This kind of thing forces your carrier to finally get with the program and start supporting it that being said. There should be more concern that a phone manufacturer and telecom company aren't changing for the future and that future makes your life more secure.
It seems like the people that left Reddit for lemmy are mostly super biased in some way and highly argumentative. No one here is willing to have a discussion and recognize valid points from the other person, even if your opinion differs.
When it comes to this change I have personally not seen a valid point. The argument is being compared to the loss of battery swapping. These are not comparable in anyway is the issue. If you want to argue that you should be able to swap batteries in phones then I agree you should be able to.
However, eSIM versus physical SIM is an actual security advantage and a good change and the methods we will use to transfer them is all that will be different. The podcast transcript above is a good source for understanding why this is fundamentally different. Losing the ability to swap a battery sucks. However, there will be ways to swap a SIM while still keeping the end user safe and honestly even safer and it doesn't change how a SIM functions for your use of the phone. You could still swap a battery and an eSIM would literally not make a difference. The point is that you are not losing anything with no physical SIM your freedom to what you want with your phone hasn't changed in the same way that you can't replace your own battery because and eSIM can't be stolen or lost the same way a physical SIM.
I think Lemmy users are absolutely far more biased than they think and I have leaned in the few months I have been here that often times they just stick their way of thinking to something without even asking why this kind of change could be a good thing.
I have also found that Lemmy users don't know shit about security and privacy like they think they do. Lemmy as an app being the biggest example.
eSIM kind of solves this issue to a degree. However it's up to network provider not to suck. In my country when you buy eSIM you get it on a folded cardboard which contains qr code. If am nit mistaken you can buy them on kiosks as well. So they work every bit as well as regular sim. Problem arises if you phone doesn't have regular Sim and country you are visiting doesn't have eSIM.
Then again this has fewer issues in EU due to no roaming charges.
I would actually prefer this tbh. I setup my sim card for a new mobile plan from their app instantly. I couldn't do that with sim and would have to wait for them to ship. Unless you swap phones often, it's pretty much a lot better.
That's your opinion, but if you had a previous phone, you'd just swap the SIM card into the new device. While I personally disagree with your opinion, I understand your points.
Now you will just do it electronically. This really isn't as big of a deal as I am seeing in the comments. You will just move them across devices. This already works on iPhones. When you move from an eSIM on a 13 to a 14 for example. It will be similar on Android. On top of that, security wise, this is an absolute win for the average consumer, albeit annoying for Lemmy users that can't bother to learn a thing or two about why.
removing things is also removing manufacturing complexity and reducing the number of points of failure. If it costs $0.13 to add a headphone jack, but an increasingly smaller number of your customers use it, eventually there's a tipping point where removing the feature is worth the grief the company will get from the noisy minority. Your manufacturing run of a million devices just got many thousands of dollars cheaper. Same with removable batteries, SIM slots, and CD drives in laptops, etc.
A close-up of the side of a Google Pixel 8 with a UK O2 SIM card next to it and the SIM card holder next to that. The text added underneath by user Gizmodo reads: Google Pixel 8 Could Eliminate the SIM Slot, Just Like the iPhone
[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]
Oh great. So basically leaving me with no dual sim options (I live in a country where esim is not available yet.) Basically pushing me to Samsung. Nice work Google.
Esim should be on the device level rather then mobile network I thought. But assuming the phone companies do support eSim, you can still dual sim with them rather easily by installing an app or scanning a qr code.
You realize there are multiple variants of devices? Chances are there will be a universal or international version of the Pixel 8 on top of that this forces your carrier to support it which is a win because more choice.
I mean that Pixel is the default, slick, polished option. It isn't like Samsung that has every software feature and form factor under the sun, the absolute best specs, the lowest price, etc.
It is the slick, polished default option. The option that you recommend everyone.
I have older devices that don't support eSIM. "Accepting" it here wouldn't help one bit. Sure, my main device does support it, but if this device breaks, or something happens to the software (which has happened before on other devices I've owned), I would've been screwed out of a phone if I had eSIM.
I don't understand why people cling on to crap, probably better me posting in unpopularopinion... but I just don't understand why people want a headphone jack, removable battery, SD card slot, SIM slot etc. I actively look to purchase phones that don't have this.
I recently bought a new phone and I'm quite frustrated that it doesn't have esim support. As others have mentioned, it'd make using your phone abroad so much easier. Surely in 2023 a physical SIM just shouldn't be needed any more...
Headphone jack means I can use the same earphones for years and not throw away my wireless earphones after a year (of heavy use). Whole point of Airpods was to create a new revenue stream for Apple, not just make your life easier.
My phone is on it's 4th battery. If this one dies I can buy another one for 20$ and have them swapped in 20 seconds. My sd slot allows me to carry my entire music and game rom collection as well as a decent selection of movies. If I wanted it would be trivial to load the rest on SD cards and swap them out. The headphone jack allows me to use Wired headphones that dont cost 100+ dollars and don't have batteries that need to be charged and wear out. It also lets me plug my phone into my cars AUX jack and play the aforementioned music collection.
You don't want your phone to last very long or have the option to be expandable when you need it, which most people do want or need.
esim is purely a software thing it seems, I know my phone has a dual sim slot and esim and all of it has been very useful in my travels compared to just having one of those. I also know that the battery is getting old and I'm going to need to replace it with a lot of pain, I also need a little extra storage for videos.
There's also been situations where I do want to plug in my headphones into my phone and forget it doesn't have a headphone jack.
Here's also the reminder that having these features on a phone wouldn't compromise anything about it and that there's plenty space to have all of this, there's no reason not to advocate for having these features. Removing things like the sim slot might be good in the long run to force carriers to support esim, but for many people It's obviously a scary thing for now.
This isn't the case for the removable battery and aux port though as these will pretty much always be needed or at least be a good thing, or they can put some money into supporting USB to AUX better and make dongles that perfectly fit their phones.