The dangerously small iPhone 5 nano-SIM: Trimming, unlocking, and adapters

Taken from: http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/136709-the-dangerously-small-iphone-5-nano-sim-trimming-unlocking-and-adapters

In the last few days, Apple has moved millions of iPhone 5 handsets. Apple didn’t radically alter the look of the new iPhone, but there is something new on the inside: The iPhone 5 is the first phone to adopt the recently approved nano-SIM standard. Apple pushed this design hard, much to the chagrin of other device makers. Now that the nano-SIM is in the wild, there are some things you ought to know about it.

What is a nano-SIM?

In late 2011, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) began sorting through possible designs for a next generation SIM standard, the so-called fourth form factor (4FF). All the big players in the wireless industry listened to what the ESTI wanted in a new, smaller SIM and submitted proposals. Apple was in the thick of things early as it wanted the smallest SIM possible for the iPhone 5.

RIM, Nokia, and Motorola favored a more radical rethinking of the SIM card. Their proposed SIM designs have been technically more advanced, and included the ability to be inserted and ejected with push-push systems. They were also designed to be easily removable with a fingernail — no tray required.

Apple’s winning design is much more an evolution of the micro-SIM. It basically trims off all the excess plastic around the contacts, but keeps the same shape. Because this is essentially just the contacts with no plastic, there is no space for the catch needed for push-push mechanisms. The size of the Apple nano-SIM is a more serious concern. The ETSI originally wanted to make sure that the 4FF standard was shaped in such a way that consumers would not be able to cram it into a micro-SIM slot, making it virtually impossible to remove. The Apple nano-SIM that eventually won out is small enough to do this, and if you turn it sideways, it even looks like it should fit into a micro-SIM slot. It’s exactly what the ETSI didn’t want.

Making your SIM fit in the iPhone 5

In the iPhone 5 at , the SIM card you get will be in a tray that you have to pop out with the Apple’s included tool. You could use the SIM that comes with the phone, but what if you want to use your own micro-SIM? As with the mini-SIM before it, you can carefully trim down your SIM card to fit in your new device. This is one of the practical upshots of Apple’s design — it’s backwards compatible.

You can use the iPhone’s SIM tray as a guide for trimming off the excess bits of your larger card. Surprisingly, even older SIM cards with wider gold contacts will work. You can cut into the edge of the contacts without damaging the card. The nano-SIM carriers are providing with the iPhone 5 is a little thinner than micro-SIMs, but the tray is deep enough to accommodate most cards.

Some companies are already making SIM cutters to slice off the excess plastic to make your card into the perfect nano-SIM. Most of these devices cost a few bucks, but you will be assured of not accidentally cutting into your SIM contacts. However, these are still hard to find and scissors are everywhere.

What if you want to take your iPhone 5 nano-SIM and go back to a micro-SIM phone? We already know that you can fit a nano-SIM into a micro slot, basically destroying your phone. What you need is an adapter, which you might as well get if you’re going to buy a SIM card cutter. These are simple plastic inserts that your nano-SIM can be docked into, making it fit into larger micro-SIM slots — kind of like one of those SD cards that can have a micro SD card slotted into them.
If you’re planning to unlock an iPhone 5 for use on other carriers, like T-Mobile in the US, you will have to trim your SIM. Most carriers aren’t offering nano-SIMs just yet, and some international carriers might not have them for months. If nano-SIM doesn’t take off in other devices, you might have to continue cutting down SIMs.