Apple made a controversial move this year by removing the SIM card slot from U.S. iPhone 14 models, and surprisingly, there’s still a gap on the motherboard for the SIM tray that the company has plugged with a plastic spacer.
This isn’t entirely surprising, considering that all non-American iPhones still feature SIM card slots, but it’s funny to see that a small useless piece of plastic has replaced the functional SIM card tray. It looks similar in size to a shallow keyboard key.
Alongside this tiny piece of plastic, iFixit also discovered that the iPhone 14 models (but not the iPhone 14 Pro models) have been rebuilt internally to make them easier to repair their front and back.
Beyond that, it will be interesting to see what Apple does next year and if all global iPhone models feature the same spacer. In its repair guide, iFixit hopes that Apple will fill this space with a MicroSD card reader in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breath given the tech giant’s track record.
I’m personally hoping for a small compartment where I can store a single mint.
Image credit: iFixit
Source: iFixit
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