AT&T defeats the purpose of Apple SIM by locking it after activation

News
By
published

Way to go, AT&T

iPad Air 2
The Apple SIM is available only on the LTE iPad Air 2

Despite the lack of heraldry that accompanied it, the Apple SIM was one of the coolest new things Apple announced alongside the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 this month.

So it's too bad that AT&T is ruining iPad Air 2 users' Apple SIMS the second they're activated with the US carrier's network, as MacRumors reported.

The Apple SIM is supposed to let users choose short-term plans from a variety of carriers directly from their shiny new LTE-enabled iPads.

The idea is that you can switch between plans and carriers basically at will, which is especially helpful for users who travel frequently and/or are repelled by commitment.

Get off my lawn

But AT&T has ensured that users who sign up for one of its plans using the Apple SIM won't be able to switch to a different carrier on the same device without ponying up for a new SIM, which entirely defeats the purpose of Apple's latest innovation.

The carrier's party-crashing first came to light on Twitter, and Apple later confirmed it. An AT&T spokesperson then told Re/code that "it's just simply the way we've chosen to do it."

Well good freaking luck with that.

AT&T just became the dude who arrives at the party, flips on all the lights and plugs in his own tunes, to everyone else's chagrin. Currently Sprint, T-Mobile and UK carrier EE also support the Apple SIM, and none of them have chosen to be "that carrier."

Via Engadget

TOPICS
Michael Rougeau
Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.

Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.