this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Google Pixel

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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?

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[–] Zectivi@sh.itjust.works 83 points 1 year ago (2 children)

After years of eSim, wanting eSim, asking for nothing but eSim, I'm done with eSim. Having an argument with a T-Mobile rep in store on whether or not my Pixel 7 has an eSim made me no longer want eSim. I want my phone and its service to be as self service as possible, and managing my own sim seems to be my best option.

[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I mean, technically an eSim at its simplest is just a QR code provided to you by your provider, just like they provide you a SIM card. None of their fucking business whether your device supports it.

[–] droans@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Pixel does support eSim and QR code setup.

T-Mobile will only support QR code setup for Samsungs and iPhones, though. You have to call in if you have a Pixel.

[–] Phrey@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 1 year ago

The QR codes aren't tied to any brand. Next time just tell them it's a Samsung phone.

[–] Lordran_Hollow@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

And what makes it more frustrating with T-Mobile is they don't allow their customers to go online and swap a phone themselves. You HAVE to go in or call. My brother got a Pixel 7, and we couldn't swap his 5 out for the 7 online.

I looked everywhere on that shitty website, the closest thing they had was an option "upgrade my phone" that just took you to their online store. Fuck TMobile, I hate them so much.

[–] Decentralizr@lemmy.world 54 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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

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[–] phi1997@kbin.social 54 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Why do Android manufacturers keep turning their phones unto iPhones? If I wanted an iPhone, I'd buy one.

[–] lorez@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Prolly cos they sell like hotcakes.

[–] phi1997@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

True, but they shouldn't be the only option. A big part of why they sell the way they do is brand recognition.

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[–] socsa@lemmy.ml 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Do people not remember how fucking annoying this shit was before physical SIM cards? Who in the ever loving fuck is asking for this??

[–] keeb420@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I remember vzw being on 3g and not having Sims. It made changing phones a bit of a hassle. I hated having to either go into a store or call in. Hopefully there's better ways in the future if this does happen.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Apple has never been about having options. They have always believed that the customer doesn't know what they want. They enforce whatever they think is best, and provide no ways to change it.

[–] Chickenstalker@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Apple is for iToddlers. That's how they view their customers: as mentally deficient children who must be hand held at all times, lest they run into traffic.

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[–] yoz@aussie.zone 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

TIL apple doesn't have Sim slot.

[–] dukatos@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)
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[–] Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (8 children)

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

[–] droans@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] SolomonTheMagnificent@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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.

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[–] veroxii@aussie.zone 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Maybe I'm out of the loop but are eSIMs insecure or something? What's the problem? I started using eSIMs while traveling overseas and it been a game changer. So easy... No more swapping. No more trying to find a Sim provider at the airport etc.

[–] NightOwl@lemmy.one 15 points 1 year ago (8 children)

What I like about physical Sims is I can easily swap it between different devices without need to login into a website or app to transfer it over.

Is esim that convient when it comes to swapping the same sim between different devices?

[–] cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Stringer Bell over here with your SIM card shenanigans.

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[–] CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They are a privacy problem.

[–] cbarrick@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What are those privacy problems?

I guess there's the fact that you cannot anonymously purchase an eSIM.

Anything else?

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[–] SloppyPuppy@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] thatgirlwasfire@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Most carriers don’t support eSim. Mostly just the more expensive ones do.

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[–] Hazdaz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Someone should come in here and explain further, but I believe this becomes a big deal when traveling.

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[–] dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] dog_@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

They may be neat, but I don't think that should be the only means of getting your phone connected to your carrier/telco.

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[–] Underwaterbob@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] ddkman@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I mean of all the stupid shit to remove from a phone, why is the sim card THE big deal? I mean who the fuck cares? a SIM card is infrastructure dependent inherently, it is just a token for a network! What is the problem of storing the token for a network digitally. The SD slot and the headphone jack, Yeah those are useful. But the SIM slot? I don't get it.

[–] lenathaw@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

if your phone dies you can easily love the sim card to the new one and move on with life

[–] mellejwz@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There still are operators that don't support esim, like the one I'm on.

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[–] finnie@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This started when we lost swappable batteries and it never stopped. Will never get over it either.

[–] couragethebravedog@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)
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[–] sudoku@programming.dev 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I remember being very happy that pixels went from 3 year support to 5. But then they got rid of the headphone jack, so I never bought it. Seems to have been the right choice.

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[–] totallynotfbi@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, I guess that rules out the Pixel 8 as my next phone. My telecom, as with most in my country, only issues eSIMs to phones that they officially support - in other words, Samsung Galaxy phones and iPhones only.

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[–] Prethoryn@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Oh, look more Lemmy users not understanding security, again. All because they hate big Apple and change because Apple did something is bad.

I am convinced Lemmy users are more prone to let their bias get in the way of actually understanding the benefits of this change and the reason this is going away.

If you want to educate yourself.

https://darknetdiaries.com/transcript/118/

If you want a summary because you don't want to listen to a podcast or read the transcript of a podcast. There is a lot of theft occurring at the SIM card level in phones. This change is a bigger benefit than it is a negative. Is it annoying? Sure? Does it change how the phone functions? No.

Most phones can't dual SIM, and phones that do typically have issues. I am convinced this will quite literally not affect any of you, and if anything it protects the average consumer.

Pixel and iPhone have been doing eSIM for a while and I personally use a Google Fi number and First Net number. If you are wondering how the number transfer process will work then here is another article about how that is going to be handled: https://www.droid-life.com/2023/08/22/first-look-at-androids-native-esim-transfer-tool/

This means no one can just take your SIM card. They need to fully get into your phone. If you are worried about number transfer from telecom company to telecom company then you should know that is also already being handled and both Verizon and AT&T have implemented this change to their systems. You just transfer the number like normal and the systems generate an eSIM for you.

This is a win for security of your phone, you, and for your number.

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[–] Exusia@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

If you buy this pixel from Verizon, and use it as trade in for, say, samsung phone via their website, how are you supposed to get Sim service switched? You don't have Verizons phone (because you sent it to them), and your new phone doesn't have service (because they sell you a blank unlocked phone), nor is it connected to Verizons towers. You're going to be....expected to go to verizon? Use someone else's phone?

Like using someone else's car at the dmv for driving tests, it's horribly reliant on external factors and is fuckin' duuuuumb

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[–] NENathaniel@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As someone who switches between my iPhone and Pixel regularly for fun, this would kinda be a dealbreaker

[–] Hazdaz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There was that news article just the other day that some obnoxiously high percentage of youth (80%?) wanted iPhones over Android devices. There is a reason why every other phone company copies Apple and it isn't just because it is cheaper to copy than be original - Apple has a lock on the youth market. In this particular case, they are copying something not aesthetics/design related, but if you are going to copy one thing, you might as well copy everything that Apple does. Or at least that is what these companies believe they should so.

[–] dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I really have to wonder if teens prefer apple as a status symbol and peer pressure.

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 6 points 1 year ago

Only in the US tho.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because fuck what people want amiright?

[–] cordlesslamp@lemmy.today 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Corporates: Because shits still sold amiright?

We only have ourselves to blame.

Microtransactions, subscriptions, non-removeable battery, no headphone jack, no sim slots, $2000 phones, $2000 GPUs,........ It's all us. We keep buying their shits no matter how much they screwed us.

And who gave people what they wants?

Fairphone: sustainable phone. -> No one buying.

Iphone: Sold out.

AMD GPUs: somewhat the lesser evil. -> No one buying.

Nvidia: Reach over a Trillion in value.

Framework laptop: fully repairable, upgradeable. -> No one buying.

MacBook: Sold out.

I said "No one buying" is just exaggerated, but you know what I mean.

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[–] regalia@literature.cafe 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] dog_@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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.

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