aceman

Strangely searched and didnt see a thread on this, but I'm thinking of picking up and ipad, and was looking at the apple sim option.

https://www.apple.com/ipad/apple-sim/

From what I can see it lets you get a short term local plan for countries your in, as well as having options for carriers that are already in many countries.

does anyone have any experience with this? It seems relatively interesting, though of course I'm thinking just tethering will be fine most of the time.

mauve

Yes. Works great.

You can go to the Cellular Data plan in Settings and select “Add a New Plan.” It will show the available carriers and you can browse their offerings and sign up with a credit card. Generally, there are nonrecurring options like 2 GB for one month.

The available carriers will change based on what country you’re in. Also, if you sign up for AT&T using the Apple SIM, it’s possible that it will lock the SIM to AT&T only, but I haven’t tested.

You can swap back and forth at will between the Apple SIM carrier (or more than one) and the physical SIM.

aceman

Thanks, that actually sounds pretty awesome.

How are the prices in comparison to getting a local sim?

mauve

It's probably not cheaper, but pricing isn't absurd. I haven't done much comparison shopping but I think I recall a SIM with 2 GB of UK data for 20 Euros. Gigsky via the Apple SIM will charge $35 for 2 GB good all over the UK and Europe.

You can get the list of partners at https://www.apple.com/ipad/apple-sim/ and check them out.

wco81

Hmm I may try this on my 10.5 inch iPad Pro. I didn't know Apple SIM was embedded in my iPad Pro.

I don't mind going to stores and getting one but I'm going to Bali for 5 nights this month and from what I've been reading, it's a real hassle, with no set prices for many sellers and now, you have to register your passport by going to an official store, while residents can buy SIMs and top ups from mini and supermarkets.

So I'm going from the airport to these resorts and I'd have to take a taxi (which is also a hassle) to go to one of the telecom carriers stores to register the SIM for data.

If I can avoid that, it might be worth what they charge.

wco81

Oh never mind:

https://www.gigsky.com/gigsky-apple-sim/#coverage

$50 for 1 GB for 30 days.

aceman

well it varies, $50 for 1gb is the most expensive ME/Africa.

Have actually decided that I'm going to sign up with Google Fi anyway, so a data sim with them will be a hell of a lot cheaper. I guess my main problem now is deciding if I want the sim card ipad or not, since I'll always have my phone with me anyway which I can just tether.

tiev

Depending on the country there are typically several providers, GigSky is just one of them. Just an anecdote, I tried to use my Apple sim in Belize (both Belize City and San Pedro) and I got the message there were no available providers. I verified on my other phone that Belize was a covered country (at least for GigSky), I tried a hard reset and numerous other options and I could not get it to work. I’m not sure if that is an issue local to Belize or not. A second data point, I was in Morocco last month and I got the same message upon landing, however after a day and restarting my iPad I was presented with several options and data packages. I can’t say conclusively whether it was a fluke and just Belize, but it does seem to not always be as seamlesss as advertised. YMMV

draver

The Apple Sim also works in the US for T-Mobile at least. I have used it for their little known $10/5 mo./5Gb plan on two of my iPads. It does require an iPad Air or newer (Air 2, Pro, etc.) or mini 3 or 4 with cellular of course. I've heard it is only supposed to be a one time use, as a trial I suppose, but I'm on my 3rd subsciption on my mini 4 with full speed service.