Apple has won a battle over the standard for a smaller SIM card, use of which would leave more room for other components in future phone designs.
The new nano-SIM cards will measure 12.3×8.8mm, and have the same thickness as current micro SIM cards. “The SIM standard which is officially known as the fourth form factor (4FF) will be 40% smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, at 12.3mm by 8.8mm by 0.67mm, according to ETSI. It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs. The new design will offer the same functionality as all current SIM cards” The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) said
With modern mobiles becoming even smaller and slimmer than ever, space is at a premium. Hence the decision to shrink down the SIM. Nokia and Motorola proposed a design with different specs which they thought technically superior to Apple’s. Nokia claimed Apple’s design didn’t meet ETSI’s standards, saying it would get stuck in a micro SIM slot, and could lead to plenty of headaches for consumers.
Apple and Motorola also wanted a push mechanism for inserting the SIM, but Apple’s tray design won over. (It’s like the one currently found in the iPhone.) Though Nokia can’t be that against the SIM tray, seeing as it implemented it in its latest flagship, the Lumia 900.