Micro-SIM Format - is Apple asking for anti-trust?

[rawbz]

I like apple products. I have an iphone, imac and a macbook pro. I was thinking about getting a ipad but hearing that the ipad won't tether with the iphone is pretty annoying. Especially as Apple (Steve) has chosen to to use the micro-SIM format.

There is 'no way' they can argue it was a space decision and Steve didn't even justify why they went this way in his keynote. Looking at the ipad spec's it doesn't even mention that this form factor is used!

This has to be a collaboration between AT&T and Apple to sell more data contracts and lock out the competition... as the iPad’s 3G frequencies are different than those used on T-Mobile’s network, so anyone using a T-Mobile SIM would be limited to the carrier’s slower 2G network. That would make your shiny, new iPad about as fast as a first-generation iPhone.

Lucky you US people that have unlimited data plans, in NZ (where I am) unlimited is unheard of.. its really expensive here and iphone and ipad means two expensive contracts!

I just wonder how long it will be before Apple push the envelope too far and get slapped with an Anti-trust suit? What does everyone think?

 

[skubish]

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There is no anti trust issue with Apple working with ATT. It is a carrier/supplier arrangement.

 

[NT1440]

Other carriers are hopping on board with micro sim, its just a new standard of sim cards, not the end of the world.

 

[robbieduncan]

The OP clearly doesn't remember the transition from full sized SIMs (which were credit-card sized) to the current Mini-SIM we have today. We've been here and done this before.

 

[admanimal]

I just wonder how long it will be before Apple push the envelope too far and get slapped with an Anti-trust suit? What does everyone think?

There would be an antitrust issue if Apple was somehow blocking other device manufacturers from selling devices through AT&T or other carriers, which they are not.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

This is not even close to being anti-trust worthy. For starters its a new product with 0% market share. To be on the radar for anti-trust you need to have a near monopoly on the product category. Next Micro-SIM is an open standard, not an Apple proprietary format. Any cell company can support Micro-SIM if they want too.

FWIW if you do a Google search its easy to learn how to turn a mini-SIM to a micro-SIM.

 

[goobot]

well it could be att is going to make everything micro-sim and the next gen iphone may have micro-sim. you never know.

 

[Mactagonist]

microSIM is the new SIM. In a year or two they will be everywhere, Apple is just jumping on the standard very early. The fact that it prevents people from sharing SIMs is a temporary side benefit for Apple, not the sole reason for adopting the standard.

 

[thejakill]

LOL at the whining about this issue. Did you really think it would tether?

 

[t0mat0]

I imagine anyone whining about it here doesn't have the chops to trim down their SIM card.

 

[EssentialParado]

You don't necessarily need to snip it down to size, you can just clone it directly onto a micro-sim card. Lots of places can do this.

Also, I think someone who says Apple "had no need to do this" doesn't know Apple hardware! Anyone who's seen inside a modern Apple product knows how precise the design is, and that no space is wasted. When the new generation of iPod shuffles arrived, teardown sites found the following:

The device contains a tiny lithium ion battery that costs $1.20, and that Rassweiler describes as "the smallest we've ever seen." And for a company that doesn't ignore the tiniest of details, the most mundane of components are the most advanced available. The device's so-called passive components - capacitors and resistors - are unusually small. Known by their numeric label 01005, which in electronics shorthand describes their dimensions in millionths of a meter, they're about the size of a grain of salt and cost fractions of a penny each. But they're half the size of what had previously been considered the smallest device of their type, those labeled 0201.

So if moving to micro SIM made the iPad 0.1mm thinner, I think Apple would've done that.

 

[omgitscro]

No. Was Apple in danger when they chose to replace floppy drives with CD drives in their iMacs? How about the switch to FireWire? The original iPods only supported Macs.

 

[Xenoxide]

Not a chance.

The Micro-SIM card is an international standard which follows the specifications outlined in ISO 7816. As a result, any of the carriers worldwide that use GSM can provide Micro-SIM cards to their subscribers. It's simply that none of them choose to do so.

There is no anti-trust here. It's not like the operators have to get permission from Apple to provide Micro-SIM cards.

 

[rawbz]

But isn't this just another evolution in the closed market of Apple? I understand that the collaboration with AT&T, and Micro-SIM "might" be the next standard... but you cannot deny the fact that the excluding the predominant market of customers that have standard SIMs is a ploy to sell more contracts.

I guess we will all find out when the next iphone is released - if it remains with the current format its Apple collaborating to ensure revenues are increased...

Maybe thats just good business.

 

[alphaod]

If using micro-SIMs means saving a half a gram in weight, why not?

 

[MisterMe]

... but you cannot deny the fact that the excluding the predominant market of customers that have standard SIMs is a ploy to sell more contracts.

...

Repeating it does not make it so. Your whole premise is flawed. The micro-SIMs in the iPad are standard SIMs. As Xenoxide previously posted, micro-SIMs are compliant with the ISO 7816 standard.

 

[t0mat0]

Irrelevant plastic, or a few more chips? It'd just trimming the fat. 0.1mm's count. I could imagine the volume gained could be similar to one of the useful components in there.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

But isn't this just another evolution in the closed market of Apple? I understand that the collaboration with AT&T, and Micro-SIM "might" be the next standard... but you cannot deny the fact that the excluding the predominant market of customers that have standard SIMs is a ploy to sell more contracts.

1) How many times must you be told that Micro-SIM IS a standard. Not "might" become a standard, but is. Got it? Whether any one company elects to use that standard is up to them. The cell cos. are the one's who choose whether to support the iPad, not Apple.

2) The iPad 3G is "no contract," so how is using Micro-SIM a ploy to sell contracts?

3) Just because Apple, or any other company, inconveniences you with how they equip their products does not create an anti-trust situation. Proprietary parts are not, per se, illegal.

 

[Xenoxide]

But isn't this just another evolution in the closed market of Apple? I understand that the collaboration with AT&T, and Micro-SIM "might" be the next standard... but you cannot deny the fact that the excluding the predominant market of customers that have standard SIMs is a ploy to sell more contracts.

Yes, I can. The device is sold without a contract, so where is the advantage to Apple?

I guess we will all find out when the next iphone is released - if it remains with the current format its Apple collaborating to ensure revenues are increased...

Maybe thats just good business.

That's simply ridiculous. There are multiple news articles over the web about mobile operators worldwide ordering Micro-SIM cards for various purposes (Source).

I reckon Apple's adoption of the Micro-SIM format in the iPad is more to do with preparations for new iPhones. If Apple can shave a few millimeters off the size of the new iPhone, or free up some internal space for different chipsets, then this is one way of doing it.

Introducing the Micro-SIM with the iPad means that operators are already prepared when the iPhone's start using Micro-SIM's.