Despite the 3G version of the iPad being sold unlocked, both that and the iPhone 4 requires a whole new type of SIM card - the micro SIM.
Or does it? That's right, we've been trimming away the mystery of the new micro-SIM.
At first glance, the electronic contact area is no different to that of a conventional SIM, you know, the type that's small enough to fit into a tiny phone never mind the hulking iPad or iPhone 4.
As it turns out traditional SIMs measure 15 x 25mm and have that angled corner. The new micro-SIM is officially 12 x 15mm. That's effectively the size of just the normal SIM contact area.
Apple was just wanting to be clever or it just wanted everyone to be forced to buy new SIMs, either way it's a touch annoying, but with our mighty scissors we can cut them down to size and so can you. SIMples.
How to do it:
Future Publishing Limited provides the information for this project in good faith and makes no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions in this project do so at their own risk.
1. Here's a traditional SIM and its measurements, the only working area is the metal contacts.
2. This is the same SIM with the micro-SIM specifications overlaid. You can use this to trim yours down to size.
3. Here we are cutting our SIM down to size...
4. ...and now it's ready to activate in our shiny new iPad or iPhone 4.
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Your comments (11) Click to add a new comment
bc98
November 5th 2011
11. @bernhardh I agree that is a pain to cut the sim cards down and its probably no longer worth it given the wide array of microsim plans now offered in the uk by nearly all providers -- a good place to compare them is http://uk.ipadsimcards.com
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bernhardh
September 18th 2011
10. I trimmed my SIM card exactly as indicated here, and the SIM card fit into the tray perfectly, but the contacts did not line up. A had to cut away one mm from the left side, ending up with a piece that was so small I had to stick it onto the tray with a piece of sello-tape.
The instructions above might or might not work for you depending on the exact placement of the contacts on your SIM card.
The dimensions of the micro-SIM card are indeed 12mm x 15mm, but you need to cut away about one mm from the left side.
A nice PDF with the exact measurements can be found on http://apcmag.com/card-tricks-why-apple-put-a-microsim-into-the-ipad.htm.
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cbu0154
December 24th 2010
9. This was an excellent bit of info. I cut down a tesco payg sim card to fit a new iphone 4 and it worked!!
Hooray for Tech radar!!
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stevenjohn
November 15th 2010
8. Just to help out people in Spain - I bought sim from Movidata via The Phone Shop for 30€ to use in an iPad. So to repeat, iPad with Movidata sim works perfectly :)) Just add the APN of internettph, reboot and thats it.
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billy.adams
June 21st 2010
7. You'd better look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B0G_qjebJY
This guy also made exact template to cut your SIM. With its help I made my micro sim in 2 minutes, and it fits iPad perfectly.
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shm1ck
June 11th 2010
6. I transferred my existing 3 mobile broadband plan over to a new micro sim, so now I get 7GB a month for $36(AUS) for my iPad, I know this a lot of data but still way cheaper to sign up to a new plan,
You can buy sim adapters on ebay to make a micro sim a normal size and use it wherever u want then.
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grazza
May 4th 2010
5. Just had a friend visit from the US. We cut an Australian 3G mini sim to fit his ipad micro sim. it works a treat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EiEkbQyVEY
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jpypers
May 3rd 2010
4. Before you start cutting your SIM not knowing were to cut. You should take a look at this video at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkyMzn5NkaI
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skyblaze
April 29th 2010
3. Hey, hey bluntegirl. No need to be so... blunt.
(Your thumb is fine, sir)
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bluntegirl
April 3rd 2010
2. your thumb is gross
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amitaggarwal
April 3rd 2010
1. You guys are awesome! ;o)
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