Nano-SIM Card Standard to be Decided This Month

Apple has been pushing its own nano-SIM design as a replacement for the current micro-SIM for a year. As of a couple months ago, however, Apple was fighting with rival phone makers who were pushing their own SIM designs. Apple has even offered a royalty-free patent license to its design in order to convince other companies to sign on.

nanosim
The Verge reports that the votes on the next SIM card standard are finally being taken and should be concluded by mid-May. Apple has attempted to counter Nokia's concerns by slightly reworking its design.

We just spoke with SIM card maker (and pioneer) Giesecke & Devrient here at CTIA about progress on the creation of the 4FF standard — the so-called nano-SIM — over which Apple and Nokia have been warring in recent months.

[...]

The company tells us that the ETSI vote on the 4FF standard that had been delayed back in March is actually now underway. Voting began for ETSI members in mid-April and wraps up in mid-May, mere days away. G&D is a voting member, though it wouldn't tell us which way it's leaning — needless to say, the presence of Apple's design here signals that they'll almost certainly put their votes in that direction and away from Nokia's more radical design that limits backward compatibility with micro-SIM and mini-SIM slots on older phones.

G&D also noted that since the nano-SIM design is being "driven by a supplier" -- in this case, Apple -- there wouldn't be a long lag before the new design was implemented. The current standard, the micro-SIM, took five years from ratification as a standard to appearing in the iPhone 4.

Recently, a purported micro-SIM tray for the next iPhone leaked from a part supplier, suggesting that Apple will continue to use that standard in the forthcoming device. Being that the new nano-SIM standard hasn't been ratified, and the fact that Apple would need some lead-time to incorporate the design into the iPhone, it seems likely that the nano-SIM standard would not be ready in time for the next iPhone.

Top Rated Comments

electronics1201 Avatar
155 months ago
I guess this means good news for a radical design for the 6th generation iPhone?? aka the iPhone 5 :)

Yeah, im gonna take a wild stab in the dark and go with "The New iPhone" hahaha jk :D

Im sorta getting sick of this numbering thing anyway

its not like they say "iMac 4" or "macbook pro 5s"...

the new iPhone sounds......simple.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrsir2009 Avatar
155 months ago
Really? That'd be ridiculously small.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlnr Avatar
155 months ago
It is frustrating enough to have two SIM card standards co-exist in 2012, why three? This is going to be a PITA for travellers.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BvizioN Avatar
155 months ago
I can't wait for the new iPhone to arrive, so the naming problem can finaly be solved once and forerver.

Btw, nano sim doesn't just mean thinner iPhone. In general it means more room for other phone components.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Swampie Avatar
155 months ago
This.

On the subject tho, could someone please explain what the big deal is with this SIM standards? Is one of them technically superior to the other, they can't be that different from a size aspect that it would matter, SIM's are already like 0,5mm thin or something like that.

ETSI asked for designs for their new 4FF (aka - nano SIM). Apple responded with one design, Nokia, RIM and Motorola responded with a different design.

Apple's design requires a drawer to hold the SIM. 1p piece of plastic (with huge tooling costs) is fine on a £400 handset with £100 profit on each sale which sells in their millions between design changes, but on a £30 handset with £5 profit it becomes more of an issue. Remember Apple used expensive Liquid Metal just to make a SIM eject tool on the 3GS (when a 0.01p pin could have done). Nokia's design claims to allow greater options where the SIM is sited, how it's inserted, and therefore a greater range in form-factors. Once the tray is taken into account, Nokia claims Apple's SIM doesn't offer a significant reduction in size (smaller, but not by enough to justify it).

Apple's design is/was the same width and the micro SIM was wide - meaning users could insert the SIM the wrong way around into existing handsets with the risk of jamming the card in and damaging the phone.

Nokia claim that their SIM would be easier for users to handle, allow for more innovative device designs and provide something very different to just a SIM a little smaller than the current micro SIM.

And finally, ETSI had pre-agreed a number of requirements for the 4FF - i.e. they said "Please submit your designs for our new nano-SIM, it has to do X, Y and Z". Nokia/RIM/Motorola's claims that Apple's design does not meet all the requirements. It's like a customer (ETSI) asking a software developer (Apple) for some software to do some specific things, and the developer coming back and saying "You didn't really want that - have this instead."

Apple want their design as it suits them and their market (high margin, high priced phones). Nokia/RIM/Motorola want their design as it allows cheaper devices, and benefits all manufacturers. ETSI sets standards for the industry as a whole - to allow interoperability and good competition - not just for single manufacturers.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
155 months ago
No SIM at all would be the best option, eSim would be by far the best option for those who travel a lot.
I find it a pain in the behind to change Sims, and since they are so small easy to loose.

Instead of buying a new sim you just buy a number, register by sms and your done, as soon as you get into another already registered area/country it automatically registers, no hassle of changing SIM's.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...