I Switched to eSIM, and I Am Full of Regret

"SIM cards, the small slips of plastic that have held your mobile subscriber information since time immemorial, are on the verge of extinction. In an effort to save space for other components, device makers are finally dropping the SIM slot, and Google is the latest to move to embedded SIMs with the Pixel 10 series. After long avoiding eSIM, I had no choice but to take the plunge when the time came to review Google's new phones. And boy, do I regret it."

"The eSIM standard was introduced in 2016, slowly gaining support as a secondary option in smartphones. Rather than holding your phone number on a removable card, an eSIM is a programmable, nonremovable component soldered to the circuit board. This allows you to store multiple SIMs and swap between them in software, and no one can swipe your SIM card from the phone. They also take up half as much space compared to a removable card, which is why OEMs have begun dropping the physical slot."

"Apple was the first major smartphone maker to force the use of eSIM with the release of the iPhone 14, and it makes use of that space. The international iPhone 17 with a SIM card slot has a smaller battery than the eSIM-only version, but the difference is only about 8 percent. Google didn't make the jump until this year with the Pixel 10 series-the US models are eSIM-only, but they unfortunately don't have more of anything compared to the international versions."

Embedded SIMs eliminate removable SIM cards to free internal space inside smartphones. The eSIM standard, introduced in 2016, is a programmable, soldered component that can store multiple profiles and prevents physical SIM theft. eSIMs occupy roughly half the space of removable cards, prompting OEMs to remove SIM trays to reclaim space for batteries or other components. Apple adopted eSIM-only models beginning with the iPhone 14, and Google made US Pixel 10 models eSIM-only. The shift offers benefits in flexibility and space savings but introduces provisioning, transfer, and usability challenges for many users.

Read at WIRED