OPINION : TheiPhone 14was reveal last week with Apple announcing a somewhat surprising variety to the designing . None of the mannequin sell in the US will come with a SIM tray .
Apple ’s logical thinking for this is thateSIMis faster , more dependable and allows for multiple cellular plans on a single equipment .
A few days ago , Chris Smith shared his qualms with thisas someone who lives in the US and regularly exchange out his SIM when he bring down the UK .
However , this could also present a hurdle for users outside of the US . Here ’s how Apple ’s determination to remove the SIM tray could put a blockage to any non - Americans hoping to snag an iPhone 14 for cheap .
It ’s a little hidden fact that it ’s cheesy to buy the iPhone in the US than it is to do so in the UK or Europe .
For example , the iPhone 14 will be £ 849 in the UK and the iPhone 14 Plus , £ 949 . Prices for theiPhone 14 Prostart at £ 1099 , while the top - of - the - line iPhone 14 Pro Max will cost you £ 1199 .
Compare that to the US prices and you ’ll see the iPhone 14 price $ 799 , the 14 Plus is $ 899 , the 14 Pro is $ 999 and the 14 Pro Max is priced at $ 1099 . Those numbers may seem deceptively interchangeable to the UK prices at a glance , but change the dollars into pounds and the starting terms for the iPhone 14 drops to around £ 692 and the Pro Max to around £ 952 .
That means you could potentially write up to £ 247(-ish ) on your next upgrade by flying to the US . Of course , the US frame does n’t count in revenue enhancement but , even with the extra cathexis , the iPhone should work out cheaper in North America .
This is a loophole shopper have accept vantage of in the past times . I spent a year studying in the US and personally know a few Europeans who hold off until they flew overseas to upgrade their iPhones , taking reward of the lower prices available to US buyers .
Generally talk , it ’s probably only worth the wait if you project to be in the US anyway . Though one Twitter user did do the maths back in 2017 and learn it ’d becheaper to fly to New York , buy the iPhone X there and fly back to Paris or Amsterdamthan it would be to purchase the earphone in Europe in the first home , a plan that comes with the added bonus of spending the day in New York .
So , how will the jump to eSIM bear on those unforced to travel to the US for a better deal ?
To put it simply , it ’ll make it harder to vouch a economy .
There ’s a rationality Apple has n’t wipe out the SIM tray in the UK or Europe yet . Where many carriers in the US are disposed to offer eSIM plans , not everyone across the pond is on the same page , with budget carrier in particular still stuck on physical SIMs .
Three , VOXI , Giffgaff , Smarty and Tesco Mobile are just a lowly act of the more low-cost connection not prepared to offer eSIM en masse at this point in metre .
This intend that , reckon on your circumstances , it may now be cheap to buy the iPhone 14 in the UK at a premium and sign up for a cheap plan than it is to elevate your iPhone while in the US and be stuck pay up the high prices proffer by the the like of EE , Vodafone , O2 or Virgin Media – the four UK networks that support eSIM – when you come up back home .
