According to reports coming from on the on-going Computex 2017 trade show, Intel is posed to adopt e-SIM for laptop computers. Now, what does that mean for an average computer user?
It simply means future laptops shipped with Intel processor inside will be able to connect to 4G LTE network, without requiring a physical SIM card — instead the laptops will use an e-SIM, mounted along with an in-built modem on the laptops’ motherboard.
Normally, computers that were able to connect to Internet, without external modem through USB, usually have SIM slot or SIM tray, on which physical SIM card is slotted to provide network service to the in-built modem.
Understanding how e-SIM works
As earlier stated, an e-SIM serves the function of a regular SIM card; but instead of having a SIM tray or SIM slot that hosts a physical plastic SIM card, a device with an e-SIM has a SIM chip already built into its modem.
So all a user needs to use Internet on the device is to just power on the device, enter his phone number and get connected to the network of his ISP.
At present Intel is working on implementing e-SIM on the XMMTM 7260 modem and the upcoming XMM 7360 modem. And when everything is in place, future laptops will be able to be always connected.
Microsoft will work on ensuring the Windows OS supports e-SIM, and a report from Computex 2017 stated that T-Mobile, AT&T, Vodafone and other international service will be supported.
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