Rest easy, iPad roamers: O2 and Orange have micro SIM orders, too
By Chris Ziegler 
posted January 28th 2010 8:28PM
posted January 28th 2010 8:28PM
Steve mentioned in his iPad preso yesterday that he was pretty confident the company would have international data deals locked up by June or July of this year -- but since the thing uses some wacky new micro SIM standard, carriers that intend to support it are going to need to get the new chips in stock after having used traditional SIMs for nearly twenty years. That makes moving your iPad around between carriers and your SIM between devices that much harder, but we've got a sliver of good news here: we're hearing from a tipster with connections at supplier Gemalto that O2 and Orange both have micro SIM orders in the pipeline. That doesn't necessarily mean that Apple is going to be trumpeting them as iPad partners with special data plans, of course -- but even if they aren't, at least they'll have the necessary equipment ready for you if you want to use your unlocked tablet on their airwaves. Gemalto also has outstanding orders with T-Mobile and AT&T (of course), so yeah -- it might be a long road, but we're hopeful that these will start to become commonplace over the next few years.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
I still don't see why they couldn't use a normal SIM card.
O wait, that would make sense.
@The Shadow Because then I could use my iPhone SIM card, and that would make me happy and want to buy the product. Obviously, Apple's looking for the opposite effect in this case.
@The Shadow And it would let people take the sim from the iPad and use their $30 per month, no contract, data plan in another device.
@The Shadow I'm hoping Softbank, the iPhone carrier in Japan, will offer unlimited data for around the $30USD mark each month. That would be awesome and would push me to get the iPad. (If it is contract free) Of course that makes sense, so it won't happen.
Anyways, I think this video sums up the iPad rather well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnT0zp8Ya4
@The Shadow
Still if it's a new standard it's ok for the new cellphones to adopt it as long as it's better than the last standard, and that seems the case.
@RikF Wouldn't that be short lived? If you can cut a normal 3g sim down into one of these, surely you can tack a few bits onto one of these sims so it will fit into a normal sim slot?
Really this is just apple being apple. We are god and do as we say! They never like to follow standards set by others.
@The Shadow
This isn't as rare as one would think. Micro SIM is used a lot in M2M (machine to machine eg. tractors etc) and powermeters so most telcos will have them in stock. There just arent phones that use it so it hasn't been offered to customers.
You might have one without your knowledge. If you have a power meter with remote reading it probably has one of these inside.
@RikF
But why is that a worry? The other device is (a) under contract already (b) unlocked or (c) not subsidized (or subsidy paid off). If AT&T is willing to sell data at $30/month w/o contract for an iPad, why would they care if that data is being used on a blackberry or droid?
@The Shadow
Probably because you're not an engineer, you don't know anything about consumer electronics hardware, you don't know anything about running a cellular network.
In other words — you had none of the information the Apple/AT&T had available when making the call. I doubt the decision went like this: toss a coin, heads: micro SIM, tails: SIM. Oh look heads it is…
@(Unverified)
Come on, that comment is just not smart. If this newfangled SIM was so great, why isn't it in the iPhone and in every new phone being produced?
Of course there was no coin toss - the argument went like this: How to make a lot of money, because we're not a charity and our shareholders tasks us to make money? Let's once again use the fact that our loyal consumer will suck it up and buy it anyway if it's half decent and good looking.
That's how it went. That's what we would've done if our jobs were to maximize profit for a company like Apple. It doesn't make me less fed up with Apple's crap, but here we are...
@The Shadow - If you think this is bad, wait until Verizon starts to use soldered embedded SIMs in their 4G LTE devices, WATCH!
Dear Engadget,
Nobody cares about iPad anymore.
In begging it was interesting, then it got annoying, then it was disappointing, and now simply super annoying and not interesting!
Thank you
@Dking7 in the beginning*
@Dking7
anyone else getting annoyed by these, and similar, comments?
@glenskey
Yes.
@glenskey Yes. 100% with you, it's worse listening to people bitch about it in every article than all the articles are.
@Dking7 OH SHUT UP! Your the annoying one fucken windows fanboi
@Benaus
You have to shut up yourself you pathetic little bitch.
@Dking7
Maybe try scrolling real fast when an iPad story comes up rather than spending time reading it?
Hope it helps.
@daniel D
What would we ever read on Engadget then?
@scots79 Then dont read them. But can you avoid seeing the frontpage cluttered with ipad articles? No.
Looks like a normal sim card with the ends cut off. I wouldn't be suprised if you could score micro sim to regular sim adapters on eBay. To bad it wouldn't be worth the hassle for an essentially gimped netbook version of a tablet PC.
yay?
@glenskey
yay indeed, this hopefully means that my fellow canadians and i wont have to see any pretentious hipsters wandering around with their oversized ipods for now.
@vlad the inhaler .. yep because people who carry Netbooks are the 'coolest' people around.
Engadget is the official Ipad blog.
@MaxDiablito
i-nPadget?
I prefer begging
someone tell me why AT&T is letting iPad users get unlimited data for $30 pay-as-you-go, while subsidized iPhone users on contract have to pay the same amount?
@sinai Because they do whatever apple says in exchange for apple not going to verizon
@iCello Apple runs AT&T
@sinai
Because the iPhone is subsidized and the iPad is not? After 2 years, your contract is up and you can haz month to month at $30.
@sinai
because the subsidy is in the price plan not the add on features
$30 is the standard price for smart devices
@sinai
btw, most people should be happy its not $60/month. that's what most people are having to pay to connect their tablets/netbooks/pcs
@sinai Woah Woah Woah! AT&T? Prepaid data? $30? UNLIMITED?!?!?!?!?!?
Sorry Canada, I'm leaving you.
Most new phones (In Europe anyway) are moving to micro SIM it's the new GSM standard, Apple just adopted early to minimise size and prevent a redesign in a couple of years.
@fourthletter
Yeah I don't know what everyone is freaking out about, it's a smaller standard card which will lead to smaller devices. At least it's not CDMA without SIM cards.
@reallynotnick Yep because we all know how small the iPad is.
@cloud858rk
forget about how small it fucking isn't
Its about the god damn new card. You have to start somewhere and this new device is starting it off. Now its a big step to the new card. Everyone shut up about it. Its a new sim card standard. We needed some change eventually. get over it.
@fourthletter
its just annoying
had they gone with a standard size then people would have been able to use their existing card and plan in their ipad for occasional browsing. and vice versa (use ipad sim to go online on other devices)
@Drybones5
Um yeah... I don't think so.
If there was going to be a ground breaking new standard for sim cards, wouldn't it make sense for a phone to be the pioneer. Since, you know, they are primarily for phones. Like someone commented earlier, micro sims are already used in embedded applications, and they still aren't in phones.
WTF. I lIve in the valley. Can someone give one freakin reason y I would get a $60 3g tmobil weak as heck signal. When I can get AT&T 3g $14 mtm?????????anyone??
@logic thinker you're a dumbass. need more proof? just read his history.
Question
so will apple ipad revolutionize the tablet industry. ?
Yes or no.
Exactly.
@logic thinker
revolution on the tablets??
LOL at your ?
Windows 7 on Tablets FTW!!!
Tmobilusa laptop plans $60-90., 2 year contract. !!
No thanx!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@logic thinker LOL T-Mobile killed his Mother! Ahahahaa
it's alright, she was a Tramp anyways..... *shrugs***
Can't we just cut up a regular SD card? The internals are the same just with extra plastic. Or so I have been told
@doctorrobert exactly what i've been thinking since yesterday! as long as the metal contacts are the same size and the communication protocols and whatnot are compatible.