Apple Wants Smaller SIMs

Apple has proposed an even-tinier Subscriber Information Module format to the European standards body ETSI. If adopted it will mean the SIM taking up less space in the phone. But Apple also wants less operator control.

Apple's iPad and iPhone 4 both already use micro SIMs, which lose a lot of the plastic from the traditional SIM. But a newer format might help Apple move gradually away from operator-controlled SIMs altogether, allowing iTunes to become the data loading gatekeeper.

This is not just a struggle over real estate, it is a fight for control of the customer.

Apple proposes even tinier SIMs for future iPhones, iPad