Apple has given up on releasing an iPhone with an integrated SIM card. However, the company might soon launch an iPad 3G with an integrated SIM card, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
Currently, both the iPhone and the 3G version of the iPad use a micro SIM card, provided by mobile carriers such as AT&T in the U.S. and Vodafone and O2 in Europe. With an integrated SIM card in an iPhone, Apple could cut the mobile carriers from the sales process, as users could buy the device directly from Apple and choose a carrier later.
However, according to "a senior source at a mobile operator", this did not sit well with the carriers. "Apple has long been trying to build closer and closer relationships and cut out the operators. But this time they have been sent back to the drawing board with their tails between their legs", the source said.
On the other hand, it's far easier for Apple to introduce the integrated SIM with the iPad 3G, since that device is not subsidized by mobile carriers. According to The Sunday Telegraph, Apple plans to launch the integrated-SIM variant of the iPad either before Christmas or in early 2011.
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