Apple is working on a smaller standardised SIM card

SMARTPHONE AND TABLET MAKER Apple could be making thinner devices in the near future due to work on a smaller standardised SIM card.

Apple submitted plans for its smaller SIM card to the European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI) and received the backing of a number of major mobile operators including Orange, according to Reuters.

It will take at least a few months for the development and approval process to be completed, and it could potentially take much longer if there is disagreement over the SIM card by different companies in the industry. There is a broad concensus among members of the standards commitee, however, which should help accelerate things.

An ETSI spokesman said that it could take up to a year or more once the standardisation process has begun, but he said that the go ahead for that has not yet been given.

Since Apple is attempting to get the SIM cards standardised it could mean other companies will start using them in the future. This is a very different approach to what we're used to with Apple, as it usually restricts its developments to its own products, such as its proprietary Magsafe power connectors.

A smaller SIM card will mean devices can be made smaller and thinner than ever, which is vitally important in the handheld device industry. Many companies promote their tablet or smartphone as "the thinnest in the world", but this could put Apple back to the top of the list and force rivals to adopt the smaller standardised SIM card.

Orange welcomed the news that Apple is working on this, but it qualified its remarks by saying that the new SIM card standard must support the requirements that are already in place on existing SIM cards, which it said are extremely important to operators.

We are likely to see the first products containing the smaller SIM cards some time next year, possibly starting with the Ipad 3. This will probably be used as a big selling point in comparison with older models and rival tablets. µ