The iPad Air 2 Finally Lets You Easily Switch Between Carriers

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Whether using a smartphone or tablet, wireless users have typically been tethered to a single carrier, constrained by their mobile device’s cellular band limitations and its SIM. No longer—well, at least with the iPad Air 2. While Apple didn’t highlight it in its Thursday keynote, the iPad Air 2 has a new SIM that could change the way you think of cellular network access.

The company details its new SIM, dubbed the “Apple SIM,” in its iPad Air 2 wireless section, saying “[it] gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from select carriers in the U.S. and UK.” This allows you to choose the plan that works best for you, whenever you need it, without ever needing to enter a carrier retail store.

Unlike phones, which require ubiquitous cellular connectivity, the need for tablet cellular access comes and goes. For much of the year, you may use it only at home, or at the office, where Wi-Fi is fine. But you may take it on vacation, or business trips, too—places where a cellular connection becomes convenient.

Say you’re jet-setting around the country. You’ve got an AT&T iPad with AT&T cellular access, but you’re traveling to places where T-Mobile or Sprint have better coverage. It’s a bummer to be stuck with cellular access you can’t even use. With the Apple SIM, you can choose short term packages that fit your needs. If for one trip, you’re headed to Sprint territory, you can opt for that package. If T-Mobile has a short-term deal you want to take advantage of, you’re free to do that, too. You can even find plans from local carriers once you arrive at your destination. You don’t have to think about it beforehand.

Apple is able to do this because the iPad supports 20 different LTE bands (different carriers offer coverage on different bands) as well as both GSM and CDMA. This means one iPad could theoretically work on any network in the U.S. (and abroad). Often devices are either GSM or CDMA only, which limits the carriers it can operate on.

For now, Apple SIM works with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the U.S., and EE in the UK (the iPad Air 2 also works on Verizon, but will need a Verizon SIM). Hopefully the number of participating carriers will eventually grow. In the meantime, just having this degree of carrier freedom in a mobile device is amazing.