Problem with SIM cards

SIM cards have been with us here for a long time, and that is going nowhere anytime soon. However, SIM cards aren’t perfect to begin with, and the multiple different sizes of SIM card these days are going to make things more difficult. Especially for phone manufacturers and consumers.

There isn’t anyone to be blamed, but this is about me ranting on about how the SIM cards are great before the days where micro and nano SIM sizes are not introduced yet.

Mini, micro, nano, SIM… what are they?

As a part of the introduction, here’s what they are all called, with respect to their own sizes.

The one that everyone is familiar (or at least used to) is the mini SIM that was used in the days prior to iPhone 4. Then iPhone 4 came and was the first to adopt the micro-sized SIM, that is a little smaller than the conventional mini SIM. Then the iPhone 5 came and nano SIM was introduced.

Another little introduction between the difference of SIM card sizes is as shown below – its size.

We’ve seen SIM card cutters that cuts SIM cards from the mini SIM all the way to its nano SIM counterparts, but that will pose some incompatibility due to its thickness. It happened when I was reviewing the HTC One M8. Nano SIM cards getting cut from a micro or mini SIM will still fit if you force it in, but the pins won’t have a proper contact with the chip. In other words, they’re incompatible.

Phone manufacturers

Starting off with the phone manufacturers, as far as I can tell, HTC and Sony uses nano SIM size, whereas a majority of other phone manufacturers are still using the micro SIM, like Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and some of Motorola’s phones.

I can tell that phone manufacturers themselves are a little confused to begin with. Manufacturers themselves obviously want users to change from their current phone to their newest and latest phones in the market – but just what SIM card size to be included in their latest device? Micro SIM or nano SIM?

Manufacturers then fret about this for quite some time, and then finally settled down for a SIM card size. Great.

If the manufacturer settled for micro SIM, the problem arises when customers are already using nano SIM to begin with, and the customer will have to go over to their telcos to get a new SIM card or to get a converter, which I will talk about it later.

If manufacturer settled for a nano SIM, then the customer will also have to renew their SIM card as the thickness is different. HTC puts this beautifully in their graphical instruction on how to install SIM card on their latest HTC Butterfly 2.

We customers

Onwards to the users. Users are most probably settled down for one SIM card size for their phone, and then realizing that they need another SIM card size when they change phones and then run over to their telcos and renew another new SIM card, rendering their previous one useless.

While that might only be a small task to do while changing phones, you might want to consider the times when your phone suddenly just dies out of a sudden and you need to use another spare phone that has another SIM size.

Oh the agony.

If you’re lazy and you have some SIM card adapters to convert SIM sizes from a smaller to larger sized one, then good luck – those things are dangerous as heck.

I’ve gotten myself a Noosy-branded SIM card adapter. It’s made in China, just like every other thing. On one horrible night, my brother’s phone that uses a micro SIM decided to die. I whipped out this SIM card adapter like a pro and passed it to my brother for him to use the spare phone that has a mini SIM.

Then it happened.

The SIM card adapter got stuck halfway in. It was already too late. The SIM card can’t get in or come out. Something must be done. My brother then pulled out the entire SIM card adapter, ripping apart the golden SIM card pins inside – rendering the phone’s SIM card slot unusable forever.

After that, I’ve never once used that SIM card adapter again. You can probably see how harsh that pull was to rip apart those golden SIM card pins. Rest in peace, spare phone.

Even I myself had to play doctor sometimes. Since I change phones that often, I got myself a micro SIM and then got it cut down to a nano SIM and then kept the leftover parts as the adapter. That way it works a lot more naturally rather then adding some extra height through a lousy adapter.

It’s proven to work, but not perfect. I played doctor for the SIM card slot when I review the HTC Desire some time ago. I got my SIM card out, but damaged some of the gold surface in the process.

If you plan to use my style of having a micro SIM cut into a nano SIM and keeping the leftovers as an adapter, you’re on your own. I’m not responsible for any risks.

So… what now? Any solutions?

A friend of mine used my method on his ASUS ZenFone 5, and he suffered a terrible fate on the SIM slot 1. One of the pins got torn and was damaged, rendering it unusable. Pity him, but luckily the ZenFone 5 has two SIM slots, and he’s able to still use it on the second SIM slot.

When he explained to me, the problem was due to how the was putting the SIM card inside. The SIM card slot is a sliding one, and he wasn’t careful enough while putting it in, tearing the SIM slot while doing so. Ouch.

If we turn back time a little, there were some of the phones that has a very different SIM card mechanism that could have prevented all of these problems.

My personal favourite is still the hinged SIM card slot.

This is probably the safest mechanism for SIM cards, and also the most space consuming one. It’s feasible for phones with removable back covers and have the SIM cards slotted from the back like Samsung phones, but maybe even the OnePlus can do so by just shifting the SIM slot to the back.

The best characteristic about this SIM slot is how you can even slot in SIM cards on adapters without the fear of ripping apart those golden pins, since you remove them upwards and not sidewards.

I have no idea why most devices are moving towards the SIM tray concept, contact pins, or they’re all using either the spring-loaded push-to-secure-push-again-to-release SIM trays. The SIM card needs some sort of revolution.

Take a look at GradConn to explore the multiple types of SIM card slots, maybe then you’ll join in the revolution too.

SIM card revolution? Apple SIM?

The Apple SIM was something that caught my eye in the midst of gathering information for this story. It’s a new concept by Apple (again!) which they now want to have one SIM card pre-loaded into the new iPad, and have the customers select their own carriers and data plans without switching SIM cards even when customers switch telcos. That’s a great idea, Apple! Finally you’re doing something instead of just shrinking down SIM cards again.

However the Apple SIM is already doomed to begin with. MacWorld has reported that there was a lot of drama stirring around the Apple SIM, as carriers in the United States just wouldn’t get along with each other. AT&T locks the SIM down once activated. PC Mag also reported that Sprint network requires the IMEI of the iPad , so if you bought the iPad from other carriers, it won’t work at all. It seems like only T-Mobile is playing the whole game as Apple intended it to be.

It seems like even Apple SIM launched in the United States alone  is already facing too much drama. Talk about Malaysia when we have DiGi, Maxis, Celcom, UMobile and all the others coming into play.

I won’t say that Apple SIM is doomed to fail (even though it already seems like it) but it’s just Apple not thinking the whole thing through and have some kind of testing phases first. Apple will also need to lay out some rules for the participating carriers to play fair, so users won’t have to get another SIM card while changing carriers – defeating the main purpose of Apple SIM in the first place.

Conclusion

SIM cards are facing a big problem now. The manufacturers over at Android are confused. Apple tried Apple SIM, to which I tip my hat to, but I don’t think it’ll succeed even in the United States. Manufacturers need to stop jumping on the bandwagon and following what others are doing and start thinking for themselves. SIM cards are a big issue as there are people changing carriers everyday.

How to fix this? Can we abolish SIM cards all together? No. Not anytime soon, at least. SIM cards are here to stay for at least a few more years, but till then we need a new mechanism to deal with SIM cards.

It’s just sad to see that such a neglected part of a device like SIM cards can render the entire phone a semi-useless brick.

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