https://gizmodo.com/google-s-pixel-8-sim-slot-esim-only-iphone-1850759671
What happened to daring to be different? What happened to having options? What happened to creativity?
You must log in or register to comment.
To setup an esim you need google framework and play installed (grapheneos is out, except you install Google)
This is the idea behind… More control
I don’t think this is true?
I use calyx which has only microg and I’ve successfully used esims. No play store installed.
It’s somewhere on the GrapheneOS website, Says to install you need google play, you can delete it afterwords. That said calyx has microg
deleted by creator
you need google framework and play installed
Nonstarter for me then 👎 frustrating too, why
these companies insist onuse Google’s infra instead of creating or adopting an actual celluar standard?Edit: sentence
Only to initially install it. After you install the esim, you can purge the Google stuff and it’ll remain working perfectly. Esim is actually on your phone at the hardware level.
Nah, I use GrapheneOS. Unfortunately you need to install the play store/services initially to services and “enabled privileged esim access” in the network access to install esim. After that though, you can purge all the Google crap and easily uninstall it all. Esim will remain in your phone, even if you were to factory reset and reflash to another OS. You just have install esim only once and it’s actually stored on the hardware level.
My favorite phone I’ve ever had was an LG. I had two easily switchable batteries for it and an external charger. It had an SD card slot and a headphone jack. It did everything I needed it to do, and it had very little bloatware. Hell, it’s over decade old or something, and it still works just fine. In fact, last time I used it, the battery lasted longer than ever since it doesn’t have a SIM card anymore, I rooted it and removed every unnecessary app, and it spends all its time in flight mode occasionally playing MP3s. I’ve no doubt if I fired it up tomorrow, it’d still work, though Google would certainly complain that it hasn’t been updated 8 bajillion times in the interim. Every phone I’ve had since then (Google Nexus 6P, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and now an S23 Ultra) has had a better camera, a little bigger screen resolution, and was worse in just about every other way.
I’m still on an old ass LG because there is nothing that isnt a massive downgrade in functionality.
Pixel 8? I thought we were on Pixel 5.
Whyyyyy
esims are neat tho
They may be neat, but I don’t think that should be the only means of getting your phone connected to your carrier/telco.
(all carriers support and promote esim where i live)
what advantages do physical, external sims offer over built-in esim modules?Walking to a supermarket in some random country you are traveling to and getting a sim worth 10$ to go.
Physical Sims are easier to move around. So someone like a tech reviewer (as an extreme example) can flip their sim into any device for review and switch back without having to do anything further. With esim, generally the qr code initiates the process but doesn’t actually represent the sim itself, so the sims are non-transferable. You usually need a new esim qr code and you have to interact with your carrier to move to the new eSIM; usually through an online sim transfer process.
Transplant that for people who travel and may have half a dozen sims for various destination locations which can be swapped out for any reason at any time. Hopping between carriers as they go. Landed in France? Cool, just pull out your collection of sims and pull your France Telecom company sim card, and pop it in. No internet/wifi/data/phone call needed.
For me, I use my esim as dual SIM, my esim is my personal SIM card. For work, I’m usually given a mobile number at least, so I take the sim that work provides and drop it in the physical SIM slot and I’m off to the races. If I’m fired or quit, I just pop it out and hand it back to them. With eSIM, they only have my word that is been removed, and they need to transfer it to a new eSIM QR code. It’s just more hassle. With a physical SIM they just pop it into a new device for my replacement, or hand it to that person if they’re bringing their own device to the table… It’s just a lot less hassle.
90% of people don’t travel enough that the former is a problem, or change jobs enough that the latter is a problem. Most people put the sim into their phone and ignore it exists (as long as it keeps working). So for the vast majority eSIM is barely an inconvenience, and most of the work in transferring the eSIM will be done by the carrier employees when setting you up on a new device as part of an upgrade, so the vast majority of customers won’t care or notice.
The main technical argument for eSIM is that it takes up substantially less internal space which can go towards making devices smaller, and lighter, or provide slightly larger batteries or storage or something.
I prefer having a sim as an option, but for the most part, I’m not going to be too bothered if they don’t put it in.
Physical sims are physical and contribute to unnecessary waste. Which is bad for the environment. Embrace digital. Personally i hope we can live in a star Trek utopia where we even get rid of currency
And so does buying a new phone every year… Which people do.
stupid apple sheep are gonna be stupid apple sheep, unfortunately.
you can usually store multiple esims on your phone tho and quickly swap between them… (with only one active at a time)
I have both my eSIM and physical SIM active at the same time; I need it this way, since it’s my personal line and my work provided line, both of which need to be able to receive a call, more or less 24/7. I’m an IT tech, and if you’re not familiar with the job, we end up on-call, 24/7. Usually there’s a rotation to the on-call (one person is on call one week, another the next, etc etc). So I need access to my work SIM all the time. With dual-SIM (one physical, one eSIM), I can make and take phone calls on either, 24/7. I won’t sacrifice either personal communication nor work communication for the other; and presently, I don’t.
The caveat is that I can only have one of them active for data at a time; so I have to pick which one. To avoid putting a lot of personal data on my work SIM, or a lot of work data on my personal SIM, I limit my work-related data and keep my personal SIM active for data 90% of the time or more. Whenever work demands require that I use mobile data for something that’s data intensive, I switch to my work SIM for the duration of that task (like tethering, or a video call or something). That’s how I’ve structured it. I’d like for it to be able to have both connected and direct traffic around based on app, but no such structure exists either with iPhones, nor Android, so I cannot do that for the moment (which I believe would require another cellular modem - which would increase costs for the phone, and most people wouldn’t need that).
I haven’t used dual-eSIM, though I know it’s possible to have multiple of them, and I don’t know what the behaviour is with dual-eSIM in this regard… Since it’s a fairly niche use-case, I don’t expect to have an answer without experimenting.
Oh great. So basically leaving me with no dual sim options (I live in a country where esim is not available yet.) Basically pushing me to Samsung. Nice work Google.
Esim should be on the device level rather then mobile network I thought. But assuming the phone companies do support eSim, you can still dual sim with them rather easily by installing an app or scanning a qr code.
You realize there are multiple variants of devices? Chances are there will be a universal or international version of the Pixel 8 on top of that this forces your carrier to support it which is a win because more choice.
Additionally, the Pixel 8 and Android 14 carry support for dual eSIM: https://www.androidpolice.com/android-14-dual-sim/
Pretty sure its a nothing burger.
Considering majority of the planet doesn’t have access to esim. Google just cut off a huge chunk of its markets. I’ve been waiting on esims for years. They are slowly creeping out but they don’t work on all networks and don’t work on pay as you go plans.
Think you’d need esim to be much more established before you tried anything like this.
BT headphones had become pretty normal by the time they started removing the jack. You can also get an adapter to still use them. No slot for sim would be incredibly bold and lose them a tonne of money.
Nae chance in hell.
Info is from a leak. C’mon
And there are also those with dual SIMs for work or other purposes. With eSim one can have a personal account and use the physical SIM for work without the need for dual SIM slots. Removing the physical SIM means this is no longer possible.
How is that not possible with dual esims?
Google shouldn’t remove physical SIM cards until the networks can figure them out. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for them to do so, though.
Setting my Pixel up with an eSim on T-Mobile was a huge pain in the ass even though it should have been stupid easy. T-Mobile has a QR code you can scan to automate the setup, but, by their choice, it only works on Samsungs and iPhones.
First step was that I had to call up their tech support and confirm my identity. No issues with the identity confirmation, that’s the bare minimum they should require. But then I had to manually relay my IMEI, avoiding making any mistakes.
When they finished, the call disconnected and my service no longer worked. Why? Because they need to deactivate your current IMEI to get it to work. And eSim won’t work with T-Mobile until you take out your old SIM and restart your phone.
Before losing service, they told me this part would be tricky. If they had made a single mistake, I would have lost service. The online reps couldn’t fix this, only the phone reps could, but again, I would have no service so I couldn’t call the phone reps. If it didn’t work, I would need to go in store to get it fixed and hope they would call in for me.
I don’t understand why the process is any harder than just logging into your carrier on your phone.
Yeah I used an esim on spark. It took 2 seconds. I bought it used code and had a new sim in like 5 mins.
No idea what the hell you went through. Obviously different systems
In the Netherlands I went from not being a customer to making a phone call at the carrier in 10 minutes, while being in a third country. It really isn’t hard. And I have a Fairphone, so not even a mainstream brand.
We already have US versions and international versions of phones. The international version will probably still have regular sim.
Idk, I think they’re totally willing to manufacture a separate US model and an international model. And as time goes on, they’ll phase out the international model. Just much more slowly.
Could be. But not until esims are ubicuos. Or else what’s the point.
Just one correction, I’ve found plenty of companies offering pay as you go eSims in Switzerland, so I’d imagine it can exist elsewhere too. Digital Republic is an example that I use. Not gonna lie, it’s nice to have a fully functioning phone plan right as you land on the tarmac.
Oh excellent I stand corrected. All the sim plans I’ve seen in the UK France and North America all seemed to offer monthly plans but not pay as you go.
I know there are lots of online only holiday sims. They are fantastic. Was going to use them in Canada but didn’t get a chance.
Hopefully more will push into competition
You can get a vodafone PAYG esim, they just don’t tell you about it. Get the PAYG SIM, register for an online account, wait a day or two for their ancient backend systems to all update, change to an esim from the account page.
Used it on my pixel 7 at Glastonbury this year
Noice. So there are likely more esims available they just are hidden
I think you can get a Lycamobile one too, but that’s all I could find when I was looking a couple of months ago
Google Pixel leaks are very notorious. Assuming this is true, it still doesn’t make the “rumor” a good thing.
How will all those Russian spies ever get to use all those copies of Sims 3 now?
eSims 3
That is kind of the point of the Pixel. To be the iPhone of Android.
deleted by creator
Not an apple fanboi but isnt that coming to the iphone in the next ios update?
Not sure what point is being made here. I’m saying that Pixel is the iPhone of Android because it is aimed at the same market. It is the stylish, simple, don’t have to think about it solution that is updated regularly and has the best their OS can provide.
?
I mean that Pixel is the default, slick, polished option. It isn’t like Samsung that has every software feature and form factor under the sun, the absolute best specs, the lowest price, etc.
It is the slick, polished default option. The option that you recommend everyone.
While you have a point, I think the pixel stands out because of the giant visor it has now. It stands out more than iPhones today.
Google is definitely embracing that look, but if we’re cynical about it, that’s also following in Apple’s playbook. Apple basically made the home button on their older iPhones their design queue for years. And then they switched to the notch, and it was again their design signature. And recently they switched to the pill shaped camera cutout, and again, it’s a design feature.
why the hell do you need a plastic chip? its useless and redundant. get a username and password from the phone carrier and that’s it. just like connecting to an ISP for example. why are people clinging to old technology for no reason.
Besides, phone carrier nowadays are exactly this: ISPs. they provide an IP and a bandwidth.
Because I’m much more likely to lose/forget a username and password and going through the hassle of getting a hold of the carrier, proving who I am, and recovering said info is a bitch. I’d prefer to not go through that over and over. I buy my phone out right with no part of the carrier. They have no need to be a part of me switching phones.
Then click “forgot password”
Because I’m much more likely to lose/forget a username and password
Are you my wife?
There are password managers for that
Also a decent chunk of carriers outside of America only support physical sim cards so in alot of countries this phone would be useless.
Someone should come in here and explain further, but I believe this becomes a big deal when traveling.
eSIMs are much more comfortable for travel, since you can purchase one online and activate it while still in your home country a few days before your flight, for example.
There, you just got a shitload of options, had the time to comfortably compare plans from your home PC while on home WiFi, and make sure you picked the best one.
Now compare this to: arriving, getting past customs, picking up your luggage from the belt, picking up your rental and oh no fuck I have to buy a SIM from the first scammy desk I can find at the airport or around town.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I am not going to argue either way on this. I am simply repeating the travel issue that I recall reading about when eSims first hit the scene. My understanding is that your example is just not super accurate for countries that you might not have been before - in other words, how do you know it will work or the network will be any good from 1/2 a world away. Especially in 3rd world countries where support and coverage might be iffy at best. Along with that is some of these networks from 3rd world countries might simply not support eSims at all.
Those are just some of the points that I recall.
very short sited comment
ISPs also provides hardware.
Most carriers don’t support eSim. Mostly just the more expensive ones do.
There are several companies that provide travel esims. I use knowroaming. Much more convenient than trying to find a shop that sells sim cards after you arrive.
I’m on an inexpensive MVNO that supports eSim.
Same. I used to be on ting because it was only $18 a month. No esim support though. I recently switched to tello because now I only have to pay $10/month. Oh and they have esim support. (Also ting’s mobile app appears to be no longer available which was a red flag for me that made me feel like maybe they were getting ready to shut down so I jumped ship
maybe if people stop clinging to old techonology and use it the companies will be forced to advance as well. maybe stop using fax machines and they will stop producing them!
For now it’s only a rumor based on leaked renders, it could be that the renders simply didn’t have all the details. I’d be very surprised if Google really ditched physicals SIM cards as that would definitely hurt sales.
I dunno, they ditched the headphone jack when they shouldn’t have.
Same goes for shipping power adapters with phones
To be fair, most headphone jacks were utter trash so it did not bother me too much, but I used to specifically choose LG because they had built in quad DACs for their phones. I choose a pixel now because it is the best phone otherwise.
I’d rather have that than nothing.
Should I be saving up my extra sims? I’ve been throwing them away and now I feel I should’ve held onto them for a potential sim sacristy
deleted by creator
I would actually prefer this tbh. I setup my sim card for a new mobile plan from their app instantly. I couldn’t do that with sim and would have to wait for them to ship. Unless you swap phones often, it’s pretty much a lot better.
That’s your opinion, but if you had a previous phone, you’d just swap the SIM card into the new device. While I personally disagree with your opinion, I understand your points.
Yeah that’s definitely an advantage of traditional sim, but imo I think the upsides of esim outweigh that inconvenience
Understandable.
Now you will just do it electronically. This really isn’t as big of a deal as I am seeing in the comments. You will just move them across devices. This already works on iPhones. When you move from an eSIM on a 13 to a 14 for example. It will be similar on Android. On top of that, security wise, this is an absolute win for the average consumer, albeit annoying for Lemmy users that can’t bother to learn a thing or two about why.
https://www.androidauthority.com/android-esim-transfer-3356508/
Here is a podcast if you want to know a little bit more about why this is happening: https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/post/3584474
In short, hot swapping is a big deal right now and it is costing people a lot of money and a lot of trust in telecom as well.
Not every phone I have supports esim. If my phone breaks for some reason, or something software wise happens to it and I don’t have the time to deal with it at the moment. I can pop out my sim card and put it into another phone to get it working so I have something at the moment rather than nothing. The example I’ve provided has actually happened to me before and I’d be screwed if I had an eSIM instead.
iPhones and Pixels have had an eSIM for ages, in addition to their regular SIM slot.
If I don’t have a SIM card slot, how do I plan on using my phone to… oh I don’t know, use a mobile phone network?
And how exactly will I swap between networks at will, by swapping SIMs, if I can’t swap SIMs?
Ridiculous.
deleted by creator
You can load multiple esims and choose which one you want to use for calls/data/text just like a physical SIM card
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESIM
Can you explain how to load multiple esims? I thought they were embedded into the device, akin to an IMEI and unchangeable.
The eSIMs in phones are reprogrammable with new “profiles”, and Android can store multiple profiles and reprogram the eSIM with whichever one you want to use. Non-programmable eSIMs are only used in embedded devices.
Android 13 also has something called eSIM MEP that allows it to do dual SIM using a single eSIM chip.
Edit: here’s Android documentation for developers on eSIM MEP: https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/esim-mep
Thank you for sharing your information, I did not know that at all. 👍
