Smartphones ditch plastic SIM card for more flexible eSIM

Home buttons have gone, 3.5mm audio sockets have gone. Now the plastic SIM card is facing extinction.

An Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max smartphone. Last year, Apple began installing dual SIM configurations with iPhones offering both a conventional SIM and eSIM.

Home buttons have gone, 3.5mm audio sockets have gone. Now another iconic smartphone component is facing eventual extinction — the humble plastic SIM card.

The plastic nanoSIM might have seemed a space-age invention, but we are entering an era in which the way forward is the embedded eSIM.

There are lots of advantages. One eSIM can handle several accounts, several phone numbers. It is the communications equivalent of a digit wallet. You don’t need to physically load an eSIM into a phone. You don’t really need to visit a shop to buy it, although initially that may be the case with Australian telcos. An eSIM already resides in the device and you simply need to configure it to handle your phone number and data transfer needs.

eSIMs are already available for Apple Watch Series 3 and beyond, a Samsung Galaxy Watch, some wearables and Windows 10 devices. Last year, Apple began installing dual SIM configurations with iPhones offering both a conventional SIM and eSIM. iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR all support eSIMs.

This year’s three new iPhone models also offer an eSIM as part of a dual SIM arrangement. While you can add several different numbers to the one eSIM, Apple says only two SIMs can be active at a time.

If you need extra data while you’re overseas, you could buy a data-only plan and activate it as an eSIM. In general, such purchases can be made online.

Until recently we couldn’t take advantage of the dual SIM set-up because our telcos didn’t offer eSIM accounts. This has now changed. Optus, Vodafone and Telstra offer eSIMs for postpaid plans on iPhone. You link an eSIM to your phone number and activate it by scanning a QR code.

When travelling, be wary that you might face extra charges using multiple SIMs. Vodafone for example charges you $5 a day when travelling. However, using one SIM for calls and another SIM for data will attract a $10-a-day charge.

Calls to an inactive SIM generally go through to voicemail.