APPLE WITH DUAL SIM!
There is a reason why phones with dual-SIM card feature are popular. They are mighty useful, especially in countries like India where people like choices in what network they use. But the iPhone just like many other high-end phones doesn't have this feature. But just like many other high-end phones, most notable the Samsung Galaxy S7, it is possible that the next iPhone aka the iPhone 8 in 2017 may come with support for two SIM cards.
There is one HUGE technical reason Apple does not have a dual SIM iPhone:
They believe the benefits of having a thinner iPhone with more battery life outweigh the advantages of a dual SIM phone, which most of it’s customers do not need and would never use.
They believe the benefits of having a thinner iPhone with more battery life outweigh the advantages of a dual SIM phone, which most of it’s customers do not need and would never use.
But it has changed its mindset
According to a report by Forbes, Apple has filed an application with the Chinese intellectual property office for a patent that describes support for dual-SIM card feature in a phone. At the same time, the company has also seen a similar application getting approved by the US patent office last week.
"Some mobile devices have the capability of using multiple SIMs," notes the US patent. This allows "users to maintain different wireless services, such as for business and personal use."
Once a not-so-important feature, the support for dual-SIM cards in a phone has crucial for phone companies. Almost all the mainstream and budget phones nowadays sold in India support two SIM cards because consumers here like to use multiple SIM cards for multiple purposes. One SIM card they may use for data, while the other one is used for calls and messages.
USPTO Patent No. 9,521,563 was awarded to Apple on Tuesday, and it describes a System, apparatus, and method for controlling access to multiple antennas in mobile devices having multiple SIMs.
As is the case with any other patent, this newly discovered documentation merely proves that Apple has been investigating this particular technology. But it certainly doesn’t mean the iPhone 8 will have dual SIM support next year. That said, dual SIM support would be a very appealing feature for the upcoming iPhone in many markets.
What’s interesting about the patent is that it seems to indicate this type of dual SIM technology, including signal processing and prioritizing, may be needed in the future to handle new and even traditional communication standards.
“Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further, wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-only communications to also include the transmission of data, such as Internet and multimedia content,” the patent reads. “As wireless communication systems evolve, successive generations of wireless communication technologies tend to be developed. Adoption of a new generation wireless technology may be a gradual process, during which one or more previous generations of a similar technology may co-exist with the new generation technology, e.g., for a period of time until the new generation wireless technology is fully deployed.”
Does that mean Apple envisions a future where 5G and 4G will be used to handle different types of wireless communication? We can only speculate, as next-gen communication standards aren’t even here. However, Apple still acknowledges that you may want to use a SIM for personal communications and a separate one for work.
“Some mobile devices have the capability of using multiple SIMs (subscriber identification modules), e.g., allowing users to maintain different wireless services, such as for business and personal use,” the patent says.
Apple will release its next iPhone, likely to be called iPhone 8, in September 2017. This is going to be the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and hence the expectations from the phone are high. The iPhone is also due for a redesign this year given the fact that Apple has used the same design after the 2016 when it came out with the iPhone 6.
A lot of new features have been rumored for the iPhone 8. Here is quick recap:
-- Curved or edge-to-edge display.
-- No home button. This will allow a bigger screen without increasing the size of the phone.
-- Three variants: 4.7-inch iPhone 8. 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus and 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus with AMOLED display.
-- The bigger variants are likely to have dual-camera similar to what the iPhone 7 Plus has.
-- A11 processor.
-- Wireless charging has been rumored.
-- The iPhone 8 will surely be water and dust proof, similar to the iPhone 7.
