The razors will be out for iPhone SIMs

Rating: Just cut along the dotted lines

It came as no surprise to learn that in order to connect an Apple iPad to a W-CDMA style 3G network, you’ll need a micro SIM card. Being smaller this will lead to existing iPhone users slashing their existing SIM cards down to size.
Those with long memories will remember that SIM cards used to be the size of a typical credit card. Indeed most network operators still send you a SIM which you have to push out of the credit card to fit inside the handset.

The actual micro SIMs that Apple requires are being sourced from French firm, Gemalto,  and the company has basically admitted that the only difference between the two types is the amount of plastic surrounding the card’s chip.

So expect nerds to start slicing the standard SIM card (15 mm by 25 mm) down to the size of a micro SIM card (12 mm by 15 mm) and swapping it over to the iPad.

GoMo News confidently predicts that special punches which cut a standard SIM down to micro size are being manufactured in China right now.

It’s a puzzle as to why Apple felt the need to fit a smaller SIM card into a larger device. Accusations of restraint of trade are bound to fly, we uspect.

Anyway, here’s a diagram which Andreas Steffen of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland appears to have produced.

Gentlemen. Sharpen your razors.