Apple SIM in the Apple iPad Air 2 - How iOS 8.0 Carrier Unlocked SIM sells Apple iPads in Year of the Sheep 2015

Since the Apple iPad Air 2 and the Apple iPad Mini 3 launched on Thursday October 16^th 2014, I’ve been holding back to doing an article on the Apple iPad, mainly because nothing much has really changed with the device, save for Touch ID and a new Gold version as stated in the article “5K, iPad Mini 3 and more: Here's everything Apple announced”, published October 16, 2014 11:40 AM PDT by Lori Grunin, CNET News.

And yet Apple seems to have hidden a gem inside of their Tablet which the spoke little of. It's the Apple SIM, which they gave scant details in the Apple iPad Air 2 Wireless Connectivity Option sheet as noted in the article “Apple Built A SIM Card That Lets You Switch Between AT&T, Sprint, And T-Mobile” published 10/16/2014 by Greg Kumparak, TechCrunch.

Apparently the idea is that you have one SIM but with setting for multiple Carriers and it comes in the box with the purchase of an Apple iPad Air. Here’s the Official Apple Page for the Apple SIM Installation.

So instead of inserting a SIM Card using that easy-to-lose SIM Tray removal tool (you can use a paper clip pulled out into a T-shape instead), it comes with one built in as noted in the article “Apple SIM may be biggest news of Apple iPad event. Here's why”, published October 17, 11:55 PM By Anu Passary, Tech Times.

It also appears to be a feature that works only with Apple iOS 8.0, suggesting that the Apple SIM may also work in other products since as the Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus and even older Apple products that are compatible with Apple iOS 8.0.

Thus upgrading Carriers is simply a matter of choosing from the menu which carrier you want instead of buying three (3) or more different SIM Cards. So far the list of carriers includes:

1.      AT&T

2.      Sprint

3.      T-Mobile

4.      EE in Britain

So despite its relative obscurity, this is a very big deal hidden under all the fluff of the Apple iPad Air 2 and the Apple iPad Mini 3 launch on Thursday October 16^th 2014.

Apple SIM in the Apple iPad Air 2 - How a Carrier Unlocked SIM tied to iOS 8.0 will boost sales of Apple iPads

This is pure genius and may be the real innovation to come out of the Apple iPad Air 2 and the Apple iPad Mini 3 launch event on Thursday October 16^th 2014.

It reminds me of the Carrier Unlocked SIM Cars that have been introduced in the Netherlands since March 2014 as described in my blog article entitled “The Netherlands makes Carrier Unlocked SIM Cards Legal - Apple's Idea revived heralding M2M and the Internet of Things, a financial Boon to Telecom Providers”.

Unlike the Carrier Unlocked SIM, it does appear to be a product that you can buy separately, but rather a product that Apple's pushing as a way to boost sales of their 3G or 4G LTE Apple iPad Air 2 Sales. 

Many subscribers are wary of committing to a two (2) year contract. so by offering a flexible option that allows they the ability to buy monthly plans for Data or take advantage of Data plans from other Telecom Providers, they hoping to boost sales overall by implying that you don't have to commit to a Telecom Provider in order to buy a Tablet as you would a smartphone.

After all, the Apple iPad is a computer, not a phone. You don't normally commit to an Internet Provider in order to buy a computer, so it should be no different when buying an Apple iPad.

Apple's backtracking on committing to contracts in this their 5^th iteration of the Apple iPad suggests that this may be how they are planning to secretly boost sales for their product which is being pummeled by cheaper Tablets.

Tablet and PC Sales Falling - Choice of Telecom Providers increases sales in the Year of the Sheep 2015

Not many people can afford Gold these days, opting for cheaper Chinese variants, a trend that analyst IDC and the NPD Group spotted in the First Quarter of 2014 as stated in my blog article entitled “IDC and NPD Group record Tablet Decline and Phablet Rise - “White Box” Chinese Tablets and Wearable Computing in First Quarter of 2014 making Tablets obsolete in the Year of the Sheep” .

2014 has now ended and Gartner and IDC have extended their forecasts to include PC (Personal Computers) which like Tablets are also in freefall decline while smartphones  sales keep rising globally as concluded in my blog article entitled “Gartner and IDC Forecast Tablets, PC fall, Smartphone rise - How Tablet's 3-Year Lifespan means Sub-US$199 Smartphones, Chrome OS to Dominate”.

By 2015, therefore, I suspect a lot of Telecom Provider and even retailers that have unsold inventories of Apple iPads that can be upgraded to iOS 8.0 will join this list of Carriers that users can select to work with the Apple SIM, the real innovation to come out of the Apple iPad Air 2 and the Apple iPad Mini 3 launch event on Thursday October 16^th 2014.

This even as AT&T resist the Apple SIM by locking it as noted in the article “AT&T doesn't play nice, locks the Apple SIM”, published 25 October, 2014, GSM Arena. Telecom Providers in the EU (European Union) are equally disdainful of the Apple SIM and have not made any solid plans on how they'll treat the Apple SIM as noted in the article “Europe’s Telcos Plan Frosty Reception for Apple’s iPad SIM”, published Oct 27, 2014 12:52 pm ET by SIMON ZEKARIA, Wall Street Journal.

Flexibility with your choice of Telecom Providers, especially as most people only opt to use Data Plans, will translate to increased sales in the Year of the Sheep 2015.

Still, we'll have to await confirmation from the analysts in April 2015 for how this breakthrough fared First Quarter of 2015.  Not to mention for Hell to Freeze and the Telecom Providers come to their senses and adopt what the Netherlands have already accepted.

Also, I suspect Google Android v.50. Lollipop and eventually Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 might include a Carrier unlocked SIM support in their next updates to boost sales in 2015, the Year of the Sheep.   

Apple iPad Air 2

Apple iPad Mini 3

Official Apple Page for the Apple SIM Installation