SIM card

[sim]

noun

1. Subscriber Identity/Identification Module: a removable card inside a cell phone that stores data unique to the user, as an identification number, passwords, phone numbers, and messages.

SIM Card

acronym

1. subscriber identity module card; a small card used in a mobile phone to store data about the network, telephone number, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of SIM card¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

With smartphones, where Apple leads others often follow - so it launching an iPhone this week without a traditional SIM card is raising questions over the future of a very familiar piece of phone tech.

From BBC

It will only operate with an eSIM - which allows users to switch networks or plans without resorting to a fiddly fork to open a tiny SIM card tray.

From BBC

Analyst Kester Mann, from CCS Insight, told BBC News that Apple's announcement "marks the beginning of the end of the physical SIM card".

From BBC

But even Apple isn't abandoning the physical SIM card altogether.

From BBC

While it's true that the other new iPhones it announced this week - the 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max - will be eSIM only in a number of markets, in the majority of countries they will retain physical SIM card slots.

From BBC