Apple Nano-Sim Card Standard To Be Decided this Month, Could Impact iPhone 5
Posted by Michael Nace on Wednesday May 9, 2012 Under Apple News, Apple RumorsApple is upping the ante on its new Nano-sim card standard, offering a royalty-free license to its competitors in order to get it passed this month. Is this a desperate play to get the new standard adopted in time for a June iPhone 5 launch?
Last week, we wrote an article about the strange sighting of a purported iPhone 5 sim card tray, which looks almost identical to the one being used in the iPhone 4S. This rumor came as a surprise since, as we pointed out, the ETSI, which sets these standards, had been stalling in making a final decision on Apple’s new Nano-sim card design, based on complaints from its competitors.
Now, there are some new developments worth reporting on, since this news could play a major role in whether the iPhone 5 has any chance of being released in June.
According to MacRumors, the ETSI is now set to rule on Apple’s new Nano-sim card standard this month. Even more striking is this bit of news: “As of a couple months ago, however, Apple was fighting with rival phone makers who were pushing their own SIM designs. Apple has even offered a royalty-free patent license to its design in order to convince other companies to sign on.”
This is an incredible move by Apple to push the ETSI’s decision in their favor, and if you think about it in terms of how the adoption of this new standard might impact the chances of an iPhone 5 release in June, you could even say that it is a panic move by Cupertino to get this standard in under the wire — perhaps before WWDC 2012?
MacRumors assumes that: “Being that the new nano-SIM standard hasn’t been ratified, and the fact that Apple would need some lead-time to incorporate the design into the iPhone, it seems likely that the nano-SIM standard would not be ready in time for the next iPhone.” This would be based on the fact that, in the past, sim card designs have taken years to be put into production. However, MacRumors seems to contradict itself, stipulating that: “since the nano-SIM design is being ‘driven by a supplier’ — in this case, Apple — there wouldn’t be a long lag before the new design was implemented.”
So, which one is it?
My gut feeling on this one is that Apple is taking extreme measures to ensure that their new Nano-sim standard is put into place sooner rather than later. With the vote taking place this month, why would Apple be willing to take such a big bath on this new standard by foregoing the possible influx of royalties, just to get the vote passed? If the design was still years away from implementation, Apple would have years to get it ratified.
It very well may be that their “rush” to get their new Nano-sim standard is not because the iPhone 5 will be released in June, but rather in the fall, and they need to get it all sussed out not in order to give themselves enough lead time to put it into full production.
Or, the other possibility is that the iPhone 5 is already in production, and Cupertino is twiddling its thumbs on getting this final piece of the iPhone 5 puzzle completed for the WWDC in June.
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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May 9th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Good stuff!
I read a few bench tests for the new Galaxy S3 amongst others and the IP4s has fallen to around half way dow the list. Granted, these benchmarks have been done before the phone is officially released and there may be a difference between the EU 4 core and US 2 core models but it is quite interesting to see how far behind a phone can fall in such a short time.
Maybe Apple are rallying to at least announce the new iPhone at the WWDC, does your case source in ‘the know’ still say it wlll be June Michael?
This place has been quiet this week especially compared to the same time last week, I am still waiting for one of my comments to be ‘moderated’ from Tuesday 2:59pm blog time! Not sure why as it didn’t contain a link….oh well.
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May 9th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
The week we’ve all been waiting for –> there must be an iPhone. There are so many people who wait for the iPhone 5? but notorisch iOS 6 or Mountain Lion.
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May 9th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I think Apple has the phone designed for either way, I would think.
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May 9th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I agree @Core2 but it may thwart them from releasing what they want to release to keep up with the competition. The last thing Apple fans need is a phone which is another refresh albeit the IP4s sales have been outstanding.
It would seem to me that Apple are losing ground as the weeks tick by and in order to keep up their momentum of innovation, must have cool devices and wow factor technology from both a hardware and software perspective they need to act.
The Samsung S3 and soon to be released Meizu MX Quad Core look like smashing the current boundaries of hardware performance, leaving the IPhone with a little catch up. The only thing Apple have in their favour at the moment is build quality, okay you could argue about the iOS but ICS does seem more stable than previous iterations of Android.
I am long overdue for an upgrade and hope that there will be a new phone announced in June.
Oh June, like the mountains I’m blue,
Like the pine I am lonesome for you……..
On the trail of the lonesome pine – Way Out West – Laurel and Hardy 1937
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May 9th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Lol, seems I started the trend on this site of relating our thought to songs. Any way. It HAS to be the iPhone. Being a tech person, I care about the software and updates to it. But most consumers do not. On the flip side, this is a DEVELOPERS conference. Meaning software is important for them and this could be the release of a totally new IOS that will be revolutionary to a fall iPhone release.
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May 9th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Let’s not forget that Apple has many more products in need of an overhaul like the iMac and Macbook, possibly the iPod.
If there really is going to be an iTV on the horizon and knowing that Apple are ‘forcing’ people to upgrade to Lion and iOS5 it makes sense that they may have an OS platform that brings iOS and OSX much closer together.
There is no doubt that the developers conference will be just that but as their main sales are likely from iPhone, iPad and iPod (love the name iPod) for the short term future they have to push these lines hard. Maybe the days of the desktop and notebook computer are limited but for the time being business will still need them and this is currently dominated by Microsoft.
Although I don’t like to admit it, my educated guess would be that the ‘New iPhone’ will be released in the Autumn, I hope I am wrong.
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May 9th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
If Apple doesn’t have a fully functional prototype by now (including their sim card) then I can’t imagine there will be an iPhone coming next month. It seems really hard to believe that Apple would be scrambling around right now to finish figuring out what pieces of hardware they will stick in the iPhone, test it, get supplier contracts in order, and then get all the individual pieces together to manufacture the actual phone and have enough supplies to meet the tremendous demand there would be in one month.
It just doesn’t seem like the way Apple would do things. It implies that Apple is acting in an erratic manner. I think they are much more methodical than that. Just like the iPhone 4 debacle a couple years ago where an employee supposedly lost it in a bar…they were testing an actual model of the iPhone 4 long before it was announced. Knowing how Apple is so meticulous about even the tiniest details, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a prototype of the I5 right now to fine tune every little aspect and when it’s perfected they will release it in the fall. They can’t afford to release a lemon. Competition is too fierce and demand is way too high for an amazing new iPhone. This report seems to contradict the essence of the Apple way of doing business and the manner in which they provide high quality products.
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May 10th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
That is the point, the competition has the edge right now; can Apple really afford to wait until the end of the year because it wants to “fine tune” its product? The 4s is its patch for the iPhone5; next month’s conference better be announcing the final fix or we will already know that the 2013 conference will be as unglamorous as the previous two.
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