Getting the iPad mini 7 with 5G cellular? The new model is eSIM only. Make sure to check in with your carrier, too.
iPad mini 7 Drops the Physical SIM Tray and Goes eSIM Only
Apple dropped the physical SIM tray from the iPad lineup with the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air models. Today, it is doing the same with the new iPad mini with A17 Pro.
Do keep in mind the tenth-generation iPad continues to be available with a physical SIM tray.
If you are planning to get the cellular iPad mini 7, there won’t be a physical SIM tray on your device. This means you cannot pop in that SIM card you have lying around to use cellular data.
There is a chance your carrier may not even support eSIM. Though many offer support, but it’s surprising how some carriers don’t feel the need to offer such a thing. If that’s your carrier, stuck in the past, you may want to reconsider the iPad mini, or your carrier.
Definitely the carrier.
I would have preferred it if Apple kept the physical SIM tray and offered eSIM support, too. That way, customers get to choose how they want to access cellular data. But, it seems as though Apple believes eSIM is the future and they’re going all in.
With eSIM, you can actually buy a data plan using several different apps from the App Store. It’s a convenience you simply can’t get with a physical SIM card. This means you can start your data plan no matter where you are, too.
Did you ever think about downloading a SIM card onto your device? Welcome to 2024.
Apart from eSIM, getting a cellular iPad mini makes so much sense even if you don’t plan on using the feature. It’s something you can always use down the line when the need arises. Because, it’s very liberating to use an iPad wherever you feel like it without having to connect to a Wi-Fi network.
And speaker of Wi-Fi, the iPad mini 7 supports Wi-Fi 6E, compared to Wi-Fi 6 on the iPad mini 6. That’s a huge leap forward, though I would have preferred Wi-Fi 7 at this point. But hey, it’s still a way faster standard.
