Posted on by Terry White

SIM to MicroSIM back to SIM

With the introduction of the iPad WiFi+3G and now the iPhone 4, one thing as a gadget guy that has become more challenging is moving my SIM cards around between devices. As I test various devices whether they be 3G MiFi devices, 3G USB data cards, iPhones or Androids, I want to be able to simply use the same wireless accounts and go back and forth as I please. After all that is the advantage of GSM devices over CDMA. However, the iPad and iPhone kinda screw that up because they use MicroSIMs and all my other devices use full size SIM cards. The good news is that technically there is no difference between the SIM and the MicroSIM other than the physical plastic around it. The pin layout and contacts are the same. 

Cut My SIM to the rescue

Since a MicroSIM is nothing more than a regular SIM card with the excess plastic cut away, I ordered a Cut My SIM MicroSIM cutter. The device resembles a hole punch and you just insert full size SIM in, press down and out pops a microSIM from the bottom. They even provide two SIM converters to use in case you ever wanted to put your MicroSIM back into a device that uses full size SIM cards. Since I didn't want to risk screwing up a working SIM card, I first tried it on that had been deactivated. I cut it, popped it back in the converter and put it back in the phone and although it wasn't an active number, the phone did recognize it as a SIM card again. Next I tried it with the SIM card from my iPhone 3GS and put the newly cut down MicroSIM in my iPhone 4. No problem! It works! Later this summer when I test the Android phones (and maybe the tablets) it will be great just using the same SIM/MicroSIM card to go back and forth between the two devices.

You can get Cut My SIM here from their site. ($25) Due to the heavy demand, there will likely be a delay before yours ships.

If you're starting out with a MicroSIM and just want to go to a regular SIM size using the converter trays, you can get those here.

See their video of the process here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zedkHEUA8b0

10 Replies to “SIM to MicroSIM back to SIM”

  1. Reminds me of the days when we would punch half square cut-outs in floppies to able to use the otherside as storage.

  2. I currently have an iPhone 4, so if I had an iPad WiFi+3G, could I take the MicroSIM out of my iPhone 4 and put it into the iPad WiFi+3G and use my data plan that is registered with my iPhone 4 on my iPad WiFi+3G. I know that I wouldn’t be able to receive the phone calls on my iPad that were supposed to be going to my iPhone 4, but I am just wondering about the data.

    -Scott

  3. To continue with Scott Wasserman’s question, would I be able to duplicate the necessary contents on my iPhone 4’s MicroSIM card for an iPad with WiFi+3G? That way I won’t have to constantly swap out cards.

    1. Hi David, confused: what contents? While SIM cards can contain data such as Contacts, I’m not sure what would be gained by storing the on the SIM card vs. just syncing via iTunes or wirelessly via MobileMe. If you’re talking about account information for the data connection, yes that is already on the SIM card. Since both the iPhone 4 and iPad use MicroSIMs there’s nothing stopping you from trying a swap now.

  4. Terry,
    First, I hope you’re doing well, Terry! (I should have had a greeting in my first message. Sorry.)

    I wonder if there is a way to obtain a clone of the MicroSIM from my iPhone to use in an iPad with 3G. If there is, I might buy an iPad 3G. Otherwise, I might just go with one that has just WiFi.

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