Here’s how Android 13 tipped to kill the SIM card

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Dual-SIM capability for eSIMs may have been discovered by Google.

Android 13 — release date, features and more
image credits: android authority

Despite the fact that the eSIM has been commercially accessible for six years, it has yet to be widely used.

A secure element built in a device’s motherboard that can download carrier information has clear advantages over a traditional SIM card. The SIM tray can be removed to reduce the device’s permeability or to create room for a larger battery or other parts. Even though today’s nanoSIMs are small, that extra room may be put to better use. Every little bit counts.

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However, while eSIM technology is supported by a large number of phones, practically all of them have it in addition to the SIM card tray, limiting its usefulness. That’s in part owing to the fact that eSIM isn’t supported by all carriers, although that image has improved greatly in recent years thanks to Apple’s acceptance of the technology. Dual eSIM functionality is currently available on the iPhone 13, and Google is apparently working to add it to Android 13.

Mishaal Rahman of Esper believes that Google is planning to enable many carriers connect to a single eSIM in the next OS release. He loves diving into Android 13 code to discover new capabilities.

Currently, there are just a few choices for Android users who wish to connect their smartphones to several carriers. None of these solutions, however, is especially beautiful. One option is to get a phone with a physical SIM card slot and support for eSIM, or they may use an eSIM only phone and have to switch carriers on a regular basis.

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He claims to have noticed references to “multiple enabled profiles” (MEP) in Android’s open source and developer websites, which might indicate a possible adoption in the upcoming version of Android 13.

An earlier patent application by the business in 2020 described this technique, which divides a physical interface into many digital connections. MEP can potentially handle current devices with a single eSIM chip that are linked to a modem, according to Rahman.

In the current version of the SIM Manager software included in the Android 13 developer previews, Google has started to build new MEP APIs, but they have not enabled MEP support on any Pixel devices yet, Rahman says.

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He goes on to say that a future beta “perhaps locked behind a feature flag” might bring it to Pixel devices.

For the time being, the nanoSIM is still the most common type of SIM card. Even if you don’t want different carriers on your phone, this might be a big step towards the day when you don’t have to fiddle with SIM card removal tools anymore.

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