New photos claim to show finalized nano-SIM tray destined for iPhone 5

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
A new series of photos have surface online, claiming to confirmed much rumored plans by Apple to introduce a more compact "nano-SIM" standard alongside this year's iPhone aimed at helping the company designed more compact and streamlined iOS devices going forward.

The photos of the empty SIM tray, published over at Nowhereelse.fr, reveal a design that will command roughly 40 percent less internal space when compared to existing micro-SIM cards, which should allow smartphone makers like Apple to make smaller handsets with increased functionality.

Rumors of Apple's intentions to employ the more compact SIM standard gained steam back in March when it was reported that Apple was offering to license a new, ultra-compact SIM card technology to rival mobile devices makers at no cost if they agreed back the format as the new industry standard.

Sized roughly a third smaller than existing MicroSIM cards found inside current iPads and iPhones, the so-called nano-SIM design -- which is also noticeably thinner than that of MicroSIM -- was reportedly modified back in May to address objections on the part of rival handset maker Nokia.

The Finnish company claimed the design violated a "no jamming" rule because its length was too similar to the width of current-generation micro-SIMs. Apple responded in May by slightly adjusting the dimensions of card by adding a small amount of plastic around the edges of the electrical contacts, making the new nano-SIM just long enough so that it can't be forced lengthwise into an incompatible socket.



The European Telecommunications Standards Institute in June ultimately selected Apple's revised nano-SIM design as the official fourth form factor for the SIM card standard. Since then, European wireless operators have reportedly been stockpiling the new SIM cards in anticipation of Apple's upcoming iPhone launch, which is expected to make its first appearance during an Apple media event on September 12th.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32


    Strange marking on the ruler at the half-centimeter mark: "0.5 mm". Surely this should be "0.5 cm", or "5 mm"?

  • Reply 2 of 32
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Strange marking on the ruler at the half-centimeter mark: "0.5 mm". Surely this should be "0.5 cm", or "5 mm"?

    Looks like it's referring to those hash marks in between each mm and coincidently aligning on the .5 cm mark.


    Edit: Welcome to AI.
  • Reply 3 of 32
    Strange marking on the ruler at the half-centimeter mark: "0.5 mm". Surely this should be "0.5 cm", or "5 mm"?

    Perhaps referring to the smallest denomination of the ruler.
  • Reply 4 of 32
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.
  • Reply 5 of 32
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jonathan Black View Post


    Strange marking on the ruler at the half-centimeter mark: "0.5 mm". Surely this should be "0.5 cm", or "5 mm"?



    Millimeters, centimeters, whatever... Forget that. Can't you see they label it iPhone 5? One person in particular around here is going to have a coronary.

  • Reply 6 of 32
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    deleted     
  • Reply 7 of 32
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    mstone wrote: »
    Millimeters, centimeters, whatever... Forget that. Can't you see they label it iPhone 5? One person in particular around here is going to have a coronary.

    "The New iPhone" would have taken more space on the pic than the new SIM?
  • Reply 8 of 32
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.


    But that would make it easier for you to dump your phone service carrier. You know they are against that.

  • Reply 9 of 32
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member


    Only an iPhone can make a SIM tray an actual news item. 


     


    You don't see "New photos claim to show finalized SIM tray destined for Huawei ZHS500X7000-Ascend Activa 6000FX Optimus Desire XL."


     


    When a SIM tray, or a couple of screws, or the placement of a connector hole .0000005mm from its original location make big news in tech, you know you have absolutely ridiculous levels of mindshare. I feel so sorry for some of these Android OEMs. But they aren't in the game to reshape entire industries, anyway. 

  • Reply 10 of 32

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.


     


    If only Apple could've convinced all the telecommunications companies to agree to that (any barrier to telco churn rates is a bonus for those companies). The next best thing would've been a massive reduction in SIM size by utilizing a different metal contact configuration, however no one would agree to that either probably do to lack of backwards compatibility (I'd love to see a "SD micro to SD type" solution in the future). So the 3rd best thing was to cut the edges off the existing metal contact layout. And even with that minimal effort, we almost didn't get that over disagreements!


     


    Regardless, any cubic mm of space saved is worth something.

  • Reply 11 of 32
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.

    You would, I would, but the cell companies would have a hissy- fit!
  • Reply 12 of 32

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Only an iPhone can make a SIM tray an actual news item. 


     


    You don't see "New photos claim to show finalized SIM tray destined for Huawei ZHS500X7000-Ascend Activa 6000FX Optimus Desire XL."


     


    When a SIM tray, or a couple of screws, or the placement of a connector hole .0000005mm from its original location make big news in tech, you know you have absolutely ridiculous levels of mindshare. I feel so sorry for some of these Android OEMs. But they aren't in the game to reshape entire industries, anyway. 



     


    And I absolutely love it! Apple has a new "secret or tactical or power generating' building on some parcel of land in the middle of nowhere, get aerial photos stat! The home button is .3mm smaller than last gen, get the most precise measurements possible and for god-sake, wear finger condoms! Some part from a Chinese factory was found by an Asian microblogger, let's give it to two PhDs to put it under a microscope to measure the size of the pixels!


     


    I think it's awesome. Apple has so much mindshare, there are more leaked photos of the next iPhone on the internet than there are of the already released Galaxy S3.

  • Reply 13 of 32
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.

    I agree.

    However, it seems likely that Apple was unable to convince anyone to go with virtual SIMs at this point, so the next best thing may be to proliferate new designs so that at some point in the future they can say "this is a mess - look at all the different SIMs that carriers and customers need to keep track of. Let's just get rid of them entirely. But who knows?
  • Reply 14 of 32
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    If only Apple could've convinced all the telecommunications companies to agree to that (any barrier to telco churn rates is a bonus for those companies). The next best thing would've been a massive reduction in SIM size by utilizing a different metal contact configuration, however no one would agree to that either probably do to lack of backwards compatibility (I'd love to see a "SD micro to SD type" solution in the future). So the 3rd best thing was to cut the edges off the existing metal contact layout. And even with that minimal effort, we almost didn't get that over disagreements!

    Regardless, any cubic mm of space saved is worth something.

    I had an idea for a screw-based SIM. I'll use bullet point in an attempt to succinct in my description.

    • Short screw, threaded at top, only.
    • Bottom of screw is flat, has round connector plate in disc formation thereby making rotation or screw a non-issue for striking the connector plate. Also can use sides of screw for contacts but device will need to use pressure to connect to sides.
    • Data storage is held within chamber in screw.
    • Size of storage is dramatically reduced as obsolete method to store contacts and SMS are removed.

    Production could be an issue. It's certainly possible but it might be too costly compared to current SIMs since it's not a flat design. It would considerably smaller though as even the spring release mechanism on the iPhone is larger than what I propose.
  • Reply 15 of 32
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Millimeters, centimeters, whatever... Forget that. Can't you see they label it iPhone 5? One person in particular around here is going to have a coronary.



     


    Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be that lucky.


     


    Look at all the space they'll save!  So much room for more batteries.  :-)

  • Reply 16 of 32
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    There is a modicum of space saved that can used for other things but this seems like such a waste of time and effort overall for such a small gain. I'd much rather have virtual SIMs that can be changed at will from Settings.
    It's not just about reducing the size of one component. This size decrease, combined with other size decreases elsewhere within the handset add up. Apple can then choose to make the handset thinner, increase the battery capacity, use a bigger/more capable camera module, increase the speaker size, etc.

    By the way, Apple wanted a "virtual" embedded SIM but the carriers threw a fit.

    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/11/18/european_carriers_threaten_apple_over_embedded_sim_option.html
  • Reply 17 of 32
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post





    You would, I would, but the cell companies would have a hissy- fit!


    Isn't Verizon's CDMA chip sort of a virtual SIM? They can still lock it to a carrier I think.

  • Reply 18 of 32
    chiachia Posts: 713member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Only an iPhone can make a SIM tray an actual news item. 


     


    You don't see "New photos claim to show finalized SIM tray destined for Huawei ZHS50...



     

    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

    Speaking of which, how many other non Apple devices uses the Micro SIM sized card?


    I remember the first SIM cards were the size of credit cards, it underlines how far mobile phone technology has progressed over the years!


     


    It also illustrates how much smaller mobile phones have become, which is why I'm puzzled why some people want to walk around with huge phones again.


    But that issue is another big can of worms.


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     
  • Reply 19 of 32
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Isn't Verizon's CDMA chip sort of a virtual SIM? They can still lock it to a carrier I think.

    A virtual SIM would allow you to use system or baseband software to enter the parameters of a new SIM card for a different number, carrier, and/or country for access, and let you store multiple vSIMs on the baseband and then switch between them as needed. This is low level so it would surely require a restart of the device, for example, when you reset a Network Settings in the iPhone. CDMA is a HW locked SIM. You could call it an internal SIM or on-board SIM but it's not virtual in that you can't jump between, say, Verizon and Sprint at will.
  • Reply 20 of 32
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    No no no no no no no.  There is a self made genius here who has proven the next iPhone will be called iPhone 6!!!!!!!!  Your all wrong.  His user id has an X in it.

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