As Calob found out when he switched from the iPhone to the Galaxy Nexus, different standards for SIM cards aren’t a fun thing to deal with. Calob’s iPhone used a micro SIM card, but since his Galaxy Nexus used a regular (technically classified as mini) SIM card, he had to try to make an adapter, or make a trip to the AT&T store and get a new SIM card for his plan.
Now, Galaxy Nexus users upgrading to the Nexus 4 (or anyone who uses a regular mini SIM and plans on getting the Nexus 4) will be facing the same problem that Calob was, only in reverse. The new Nexus 4 uses the same microSIM as the iPhone, which means that most users will need to get a new SIM card to go with the new smartphone. There is however, another option, and that is to cut your existing SIM card down to size.
Newegg sells a micro SIM card cutting tool, which you can use to easily punch out micro SIM cards from your existing SIM. If you don’t want to spend about $5 dollars, then you can always try cutting the SIM yourself, using this helpful template.
While it is a minor inconvenience, the switch to a micro SIM hopefully won’t be too big a deal. In fact, for T-Mobile users willing to wait a bit, a micro SIM can be had for free, and anyone else can easily make their own. Oddly enough, though, this time Android users will be faced with compatibility issues when updating, while those users who are moving from an iPhone to the Nexus 4 will actually be able to make a fairly seamless switch.
You can also go to a local T-Mobile store and sweet-talk them into letting you have a micro-SIM for free. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work their new nano-SIMs, which they won’t let you walk out the door without a contract.
I highly recommend getting a SIM card cutter. The one that is linked in the post even comes with adapters that you can put the microSIM in and use as a miniSIM.
This article is misleading. By saying that the Nexus 4 has the same sim as the iPhone, you are not being specific enough. iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s use the microsim, whereas any iPhone prior to the 4 uses the full sized sim. The iPhone 5 uses a nano sim which is smaller than the micro.
Saying that users switching from an iPhone to a Nexus 4 will have no trouble completely ignores that switching from an iPhone 5 to a Nexus 4 requires an adapter to convert the nano sim back to a micro sim.
I’m an iOS and Android developer so this is my situation. I’ll be using the nano sim from my iPhone 5 with an adapter to fit in the Nexus 4. Just thought others might find this useful.
Thanks Matt. I have an iPhone 4 and was hoping that I could just switch Sims.