Apple iPad to use new microSIM card standard

Apple iPad

Any hopes that you had of using your existing SIM with your new Apple iPad have been dashed. It will use a micro SIM card rather than the standard SIM card most of us are used to. Known as as a Third Form Factor (3FF) SIM card, it is about 50 percent smaller than the traditional card.

3FF SIM cards were designed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute for devices too small to accommodate the regular SIM card. Clearly, the iPad does not fall into that category.

So why did Apple decide on this SIM card format? Could it simply be to prevent users from simply using any SIM card with their unlocked 3G iPad?

3FF SIM cards are also headed to T-Mobile for use in a watch-style personal locator device called the nu.m8.

It remains to be seen if carriers will offer 3FF SIM cards directly to consumers.

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