The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are coming in a couple of months, and some interesting info just surfaced. According to Mishaal Rahman, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro could be eSIM-only devices… at least in some markets.
At least some Pixel 8 & Pixel 8 Pro units could actually be eSIM only
He noticed something very interesting in the CAD-based renders @OnLeaks shared. Those renders surfaced a while back, but this detail managed to escape pretty much everyone.
Mishaal Rahman noticed that SIM card slot trays are missing on the left side of the devices. The Pixel 6 and 7 series featured those lots in CAD-based renders, but that’s not the case for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Do note this info with a grain of salt, though. Why? Well, Mishaal talked to Steve (the person behind the @OnLeaks account). He said that “sometimes his CADs don’t include every detail, so instead of taking a guess and being wrong, he’ll ignore those missing details”.
The Pixel 8 Pro that surfaced had a SIM card tray
On top of that, in a video that @Za_Raczke leaked, of the Pixel 8 Pro, there seems to be a SIM card tray on the left side. That doesn’t confirm that one will be available in all markets, though, so we’ll have to wait and see.
As you all know by now, the iPhone 14 units, all of them, are eSIM only in the US. That’s not the case in almost every other market, though, as eSIM is still not as popular. In Europe, for example, models with SIM card slots are being sold.
Misaal says that it would make sense for Google to ditch SIM card slots in the US, though. Not only did Apple already do it, but Google has been working on making it possible to transfer eSIMs between devices, and on top of that, convert a pSIM to an eSIM.
If these new features get announced by the company with the Pixel 8 series, it would make sense for the devices to be eSIM only, at least in the US.
2023-08-21 15:07:34