TECHNOLOGY: eSims introduce a single point of failure

Thursday, April 17, 2025

https://www.androidauthority.com/esim-vs-physical-sim-experience-3539851/

I was ready to ditch physical SIMs forever — then my toddler threw my phone off a balcony

  • I was ready to declare physical SIM cards obsolete until disaster struck!

By Adamya Sharma

April 5, 2025

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Just before writing that wholly different article, my iPhone 15 Pro, on which my primary number was registered as an eSIM, met a dramatic end. While on holiday, my toddler decided my phone would look cool skydiving from a ninth-floor balcony. Spoiler Alert: It didn’t stick the landing. Not only did the iPhone’s screen shatter to pieces from one corner, but the grade 5 titanium frame literally tore from the antenna band. Not to mention the internal damage to other crucial components.

After mourning the loss and explaining to my child that phones aren’t actually meant to fly, I faced a new problem. I needed a new phone. And fast. Apple told me the phone can’t be fixed and will need to be replaced. Shedding tears of desperation, I swallowed the bitter pill and coughed up to buy the iPhone 16 Pro.

But here’s the catch. You can’t just pop into a store, grab a phone, and swap out the SIM anymore when you’re only using an eSIM. Sure, transferring an eSIM is usually as easy as scanning a QR code, but what happens when your old phone’s display is completely dead?

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Never thought about this.  Clearly, there needs to be a backup solution for an eSim.

I’m waiting.

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IPHONE: IOS telling other iphones to reboot and lock up?

Thursday, November 14, 2024

https://www.androidauthority.com/confiscated-iphones-reboot-en-masse-3497803/

Mobile
Feature or bug? iPhones confiscated by cops reboot en masse

  • iOS in the BFU state is significantly more secure, making unauthorized data extraction much more challenging.

By Mahmoud Irani
5 hours ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-11-08>>

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TL;DR

  •     iOS 18 is reportedly causing confiscated iPhones to reboot after a day of inactivity or disconnection from the cellular network.
  •     After restarting, these iPhones seemingly send signals to other nearby iPhones to trigger the same behavior.
  •     It’s unclear whether this is a new iOS 18 security feature or merely the reboot bug that impacted certain iPhones a while back.

*** and ***

The company has long offered system-level features that prevent thieves and law enforcement officers from easily accessing user data on a locked iDevice. 

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Well this seems like a good feature, since thieves seem to be everywhere and not all police have to obey a Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights, if they have them in their jurisdiction.

It’s a good admonishment to Users to restart their phones when thieves or police are about,

FWIW

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