Years before eSIM came along, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs wanted to produce an iPhone without a SIM card slot.
Recently, there have been rumors that Apple will offer eSIM-only iPhone models, without a physical SIM card slot. However, years before this technology appeared, Steve Jobs wished that the first iPhone did not have a SIM card slot.
The story was revealed by former CEO Tony Fadell, who was recently interviewed by journalist Joanna Stern at a special event for the Computer History Museum.
iPhone Xs max.
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According to Mr. Fadell, in the early days of the iPhone’s development, Steve Jobs had the idea of removing the SIM card slot from the device. In the words of the “father of the iPod,” Jobs told the engineers and designers working on the iPhone that “we don’t want another flaw.”
The Apple co-founder used Verizon as an example to claim that an iPhone without a SIM card slot would be possible because the carrier is better known for its CDMA network rather than GSM. In fact, CDMA phones do not require a SIM card because they are directly connected to the service provider’s network.
Fadell then mentioned that he had to use market data to convince Steve Jobs that using CDMA instead of GSM for the iPhone wouldn’t work because the technology was less widely adopted. This was just one of those times when Apple engineers had to deal with Jobs’ decisions.
iPod and Apple Retail Stores
Once again, Tony Fadell also tells stories about the evolution of the iPod. The first was the idea of opening an Apple Retail Store, which was the basis for Apple’s business model and, more importantly, for everyone to know about the iPod.
Fadell explains at Apple that they believe the best people to sell a product to are the people who made it. At the same time, the company needed a dedicated space to tell the story of its products and show people why they needed to buy these products. This is why Apple Retail has become so powerful.”
In his new book “Build,” Fadell shares other stories about his work at Apple. He revealed that Steve Jobs did not like the iPod compatible Windows PC. Then former Google CEO Eric Schmidt convinced Jobs that the web app was the right choice for the iPhone.