The iPhone 8 needs to have innovative features to topple the Samsung Galaxy S8 off the pedestal once it is finally released. However, that is no easy task. Apple is looking at turning the flagship smartphone into something that the company refused to do for a long time now. The iPhone 8 may finally be a dual-SIM device.
Most of the smartphone manufacturers have introduced dual-SIM versions of their products. To this day, Apple is the only remaining company which refused to put two SIMs in its phones. Rival Samsung has already done it with the Galaxy S7 Edge. While this is not a ground-breaking feature, providing iPhone owners the ability to use two SIMs will be a major factor in choosing their next smartphone.
As BGR noted, many people use more than one SIM card which is why they prefer dual-SIM phones. Sometimes, these people have no other recourse but to use two phones which can be difficult to carry in pockets or bags. A dual-SIM iPhone finally resolves that annoying need to use two phones.
Apple has a few new patents that were recently published that points to future iPhones having dual-SIM card slots. One patent, titled "methods and apparatus to support Global platform usage on an embedded UICC (eUICC)", does not directly translate to Apple using dual SIMs but it does try to figure out a way for the tech giant's smartphones to use two numbers.
Despite this recent rumor, some quarters still believe that Apple will not put a dual-SIM card slot in the iPhone 8. The same people believed that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will also not be a dual-SIM device. They were partly correct. Samsung will release a dual-SIM version the Galaxy S8 in some countries though it hasn't been revealed yet which ones will they be. Many do believe that U.S. and U.K. will not have this version. As for the iPhone 8, a past rumor indicated that it will have dual-SIM capabilities as part of Apple's plan to enter the Chinese market. If this one proves true, Apple will go the way of Samsung and only offer dual-SIM versions in selected countries.
The main obstacles with dual-SIM iPhones are the carriers. These networks want iPhone users to stick to their products and not use other carriers. As Tech Radar explained, this is simply because these networks profit highly from international plans. Such profit will quickly dissipate if the user utilizes another SIM card.
