The new Apple SIM is pre-installed on iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models," the company states. "The Apple SIM gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short term plans from select carriers in the US and UK right on your iPad. So whenever you need it, you can choose the plan that works best for you, with no long term commitments. And when you travel, you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip."
This means that, more than ever, the consumer’s primary relationship is with Apple not the cellco. Connectivity can be viewed far more like that in public Wi-Fi – picking the best deal for a particular situation from a menu of scarcely noticed provider logos. That is even more the case, since it seems that only iPads bought from the vendor itself will sport the new SIM card (those bought from a particular operator will still have the carrier-specific SIM).
That would seem to be a way to reduce the importance of the cellco channel, by keeping a particularly attractive option exclusive to the Apple stores and websites.
With the multi-operator SIM, Apple could even start to pitch the carriers against one another, presenting special deals at the sign-up stage, suggested one analyst, Ian Fogg from IHS. “The software-managed Apple SIM model moves Apple into a mediation position because for operators to be present on the Apple SIM, operators must negotiate terms direct with Apple, rather than offering their own carrier iPad SIM direct to any end user,” he wrote in a research note.