[wkat4242]

What?? I had no idea about this. I have not had an iPhone since the 6 so I haven't followed it that closely. I remember they offered eSIM for dualsim, I had no idea they were eSIM only in the US even for primary SIM use. Wow. This will so not work over here.

> I'm certain the space regained by removing the SIM slot in a US-only variant has been repurposed for...absolutely nothing.

Yeah, after all the specs are no different in any other way I guess?

Samsung is doing something similar here though. They leave out the mmWave antennas. On US models you can see the antenna cutouts on their premium models but in Europe there is nothing in that space, just empty.

It's a shame because while mmWave is not a thing here right now I don't buy my phones for just one year.

[housemusicfan]

Specs typically vary slightly with LTE band support but nothing that would drive large mechanical changes. This was a deliberate move, an A/B test of sorts.

Good point on the mmWave support. I wonder if that's where the antenna is located. I don't care about mmWave, nor does anyone I know, so it doesn't even cross my mind.

mmWave is a dying tech. It will suffer the same fate as WiMAX. If this is the trade off (and it shouldn't be), I'll choose the SIM slot every time.

[toast0]

> mmWave is a dying tech. It will suffer the same fate as WiMAX. If this is the trade off (and it shouldn't be), I'll choose the SIM slot every time.

I think mmWave has a lot more staying power than WiMAX. WiMAX as deployed was an alternative network to general purpose cell phone networks. As a third alternative to CDMA/GSM and upcoming LTE, it didn't make a lot of sense in the market.

mmWave is deployed as augmentation to a network, mostly to increase capacity at hotspots like stadiums and maybe transit centers. Additionally it provides beneficial marketting, because network providers and handset makers can claim their network/device does huge bandwidth even if it's only true when you're the only person in a stadium.

Given that US iPhone 12 and up support mmWave, and that spectrum management is a challenge at stadiums, it's pretty likely we'll continue to see deployments in that space. Even if mmWave doesn't live up to the marketting, moving half the customers to it frees up traditional spectrum for those customers that don't have it.

Is it going to expand much beyond those situations? Maybe to airports and NYC train stations, but probably not beyond that. Is it ever going to be more than a small fraction of time connected for people other than stadium employees? No. Does that mean it's dying? No, it's just a constrained niche. Should you prefer a phone with or without mmWave? Depends on how often you go into situations with high person density.

[housemusicfan]

Is it a meaningful alternative to Passpoint Wi-Fi in the scenarios you described?

[toast0]

Yes, but note that carriers will do all of the above. Use their licensed 'sub-6g' spectrum where traditional cell networks operate; make use of unlicensed spectrum for Passpoint Wi-Fi, use (licensed) mmWave spectrum.

Depending on the venue, they're likely to do a mix of whatever is most cost effective. But more spectrum, if usable by the handsets people actually have in their pockets is helpful.

[kalleboo]

Wi-Fi barely works in a hotel, how is it going to work in a stadium?

[toast0]

Last time I was at a stadium (4 months ago), it seemed to work pretty ok. I suspect that it's setup and maintained by a mobile carrier rather than whoever does IT for hotels is helpful. Most stadiums have a lot of days with minimal activity where you can do an intensive install and tweak session, but hotels are hard to take out of service, so kind of works is good enough.

[wkat4242]

That is where the antenna is located yes, You can see it in this teardown:

https://youtu.be/6CPFYwTOatc?t=304

It's a nice 5-element (in 1 direction of course) phased array. There seems to be no room for a second one so if you use mmWave you'll have to make sure not to cover it with your hand. Non foldable ones usually have two for that reason.

Edit: oops you weren't talking about the flip but the iPhone. In that case, no I don't think the mm wave is where the sim slot was but not 100% sure.