Questions on SIM, some help please?

[donawalt]

Questions on SIM

If someone could verify my thinking I would appreciate it - I may be confused (or ignorant lol)

I have AT&T Mobile Share Value and an iPad Air 2. Got my iPad Pro 9.7 today. It did NOT have a SIM card in it.

1) I assume that means it has Apple SIM internally, as I see other choices under Cellular?

I took my AT&T SIM out of the Air 2 and inserted it in the iPad Pro 9.7. All works fine. On the AT&T site it shos the iPad Pro 9.7 device replacing the former iPad Air 2.

When I turn on the Air 2, it says "No SIM".

2) So my iPad Air 2 must not have an internal Apple SIM?

3) Should I buy an Apple SIM nano at the store for the Air 2 to help resale value?

4) If I did buy an Apple SIM nano, does it only support temporary/short term plans, or any plan someone would want with supported carriers (AT&T, Verizon, etc.)?

5) Was the SIM I pulled from the Air 2 an Apple SIM? (I bought the iPad from the Apple Store)

Thanks for your help!

 

[OZsMac]

It is a bit crazy, however you are spot on, the iPad Pro 9.7" comes with an internal SIM card that appears to work globally (I'm in Australia and get a few options for services without inserting a SIM card at all).

The iPad Air 2 shipped in the USA with a pre-installed SIM card, so yes it is likely this is the original "Apple SIM", unless you swapped it out at some point.

I'm not sure if you need to swap this out to take advantage of normal plans that aren't activated via the native iPad capabilities. I also believe that using the SIM with some service providers "locks" the SIM to that service.

If it were me, I'd sell it without a SIM, I doubt anyone would care at all. However if you wanted to include a SIM, why not check with Apple if they can offer you a new one that hasn't been used or activated in anyway?

 

[OZsMac]

PS - That's to the good team @ iMore, this might be worth a read - That new multi-carrier SIM card in the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 will lock to AT&T after activation | iMore

 

[donawalt]

If it were me, I'd sell it without a SIM, I doubt anyone would care at all. However if you wanted to include a SIM, why not check with Apple if they can offer you a new one that hasn't been used or activated in anyway?

Thanks OZsMac, that's what I did - I went to the Apple store, and the guy told me he could sell me an Apple SIM, but he could give me an AT&T SIM for free. At least that way it has some SIM in it, they can go get another SIM if they want to, and for AT&T it's ready to go. So I took the free AT&T SIM and tested that it does come up and ask for new plan, part of old plan, or replace another iPad. I then reset the iPad to factory again. The SIM has never been used/activated.