Insomnisquirrel t1_itzqmq3 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 2:25 PM

Reply to comment by FreakDeckard in iPhone 14 No SIM Card Implications by Ok_Drive1036

Airalo is significantly more expensive than purchasing a SIM in many countries though. I just looked up their plan options for a country I regularly fly to for work and they charge $24 USD for their largest option - a 5 GB/mo plan. Meanwhile with a physical SIM I can pay $5 for unlimited everything on the exact same carrier that Airalo uses.

randybruder t1_iu1q1ms wrote on October 27, 2022 at 10:13 PM

"Significant" is just a matter of perspective. It's significantly more expensive, 4.8× the price. Or it's an insignificant extra $19 on a vacation that costs over $1K, or work trip where a company worth working for would cover the cost for you.

Like yeah, it sucks that the 1Phone 14 limits you to more expensive options, but overall it's not something I'm going to get significantly worked up over.

FreakDeckard t1_itztvh9 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 2:47 PM

I think yours is a niche use case. I suggest you to buy a smartphone with a sim or a portable router

Insomnisquirrel t1_iu01ry1 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 3:39 PM

Looking at other countries available and pricing, I don't think its particularly niche. Outside of Western Europe, pretty much every country is vastly inflated in price compared to a traditional SIM. If you're just going from the US to somewhere like France, sure, but anywhere beyond W. Europe its 3-5x more expensive. Of the dozen or so countries I've worked in, only Czechia has a roughly equivalent eSIM price. I doubt I'll be upgrading from my 12 anytime soon because of this.

FreakDeckard t1_iu029xb wrote on October 27, 2022 at 3:42 PM

You know, I think that all things considered, physical sims are bound to disappear sooner or later. eSims only have advantages from a technical point of view: they are like an email account and have fewer security problems. So sooner or later even the cheaper travel sim providers will adapt