
(That’s also true if the SIM card in your phone phone hasn’t been activated.)Ī SIM card’s unique identifier also gives carriers some control over users who don’t pay their bills. Absent a SIM card, you just can’t place calls or do anything on the network other than make emergency calls.

Remove the SIM card from your phone, however, and you’ll find that your device is little more than an expensive brick. If everything checks out, you have a fully functioning smartphone. It tells the carrier who you are and where you are, and identifies whether it can operate on the network. The card is essentially placed into a phone where it communicates with your carrier network. SIM card functionality is a pretty simple process. You’ll find some carriers do that when you upgrade an older phone. We should also note that a Mini SIM can be converted into a Micro SIM by cutting the plastic in the larger Mini SIM.

The smaller the SIM, the less room it takes up in increasingly thin smartphones. SIM card sizes differences matter greatly to device makers.

The eSIM, which we’ll discuss below, is a software SIM that doesn’t require a card. The Micro SIM is even smaller at 0.6 x 0.5 inches, and the Embedded SIM is the smallest of all of them at 0.5 x 0.3 inches. The Mini SIM is decidedly smaller at 1 x 0.6 inches. For instance, the Full SIM measures about 3.3 x 2.1 inches. The main difference between those SIMs is size. There are a variety of SIM cards that could be used on carrier networks, including the Full SIM, Mini SIM, and Micro SIM.There are also Embedded SIMs and newer eSIMs. So, you can easily bring your device from one network to another without much trouble. Luckily, many of today’s most popular smartphones, including Apple’s latest iPhones, all feature universal support for GSM and CDMA networks. Instead, you’ll need to have a CDMA-ready SIM card and have it activated by Verizon to get it to work. If you move from an AT&T-enabled device to Verizon, which lives on CDMA, however, that process won’t be simple. If you’re on a GSM network like AT&T or T-Mobile, you could technically take your AT&T SIM card, pop it into a T-Mobile-enabled device, and start using your phone on AT&T’s network after informing AT&T of the change. Remember how we said that there are two dominant networks in the U.S.-GSM and CDMA. Do SIM cards work on any carrier network? (and most carriers around the world), and CDMA is used by Verizon and Sprint. GSM networks are used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. SIM cards are installed in all phones across GSM and CDMA networks. Based on a SIM card, carriers can identify what country you’re in, what network you’re connecting to, and your SIM card ID, which identifies you on the network.

Interestingly, SIM cards were developed in 1991, and although their sizes have changed, their functionality has stayed the same.
