More on the iPad micro-SIM

We’re still waiting for news on UK iPad pricing (though vague on-sale dates have been announced) and we suspect the delay is tied to Apple still talking to mobile operators about which one is going to offer similarly cheap PAYG data deals as US networks.

This perhaps explains why we’ve also yet to hear any official word about micro-SIM availability in the UK — the smaller-format SIM card used (for reasons known only to Apple) by the iPad.

The micro-SIM is functionally identical to the SIM, but its smaller size makes it better suited to tiny devices that are short on internal space — not something that the 10” iPad is likely to suffer from.

The move does mean that the iPad cannot be used with any old data tariff though, which means that Apple’s newest gadget isn’t as “unlocked” as it makes out — which isn’t to say we wouldn’t love to be proved wrong by all five UK mobile operators offering micro-SIMs as an option to all customers.

Fortunately, micro-SIMs simply use less plastic and the contact area is the same as a SIM’s. So, it looks like it should be possible to simply cut a SIM down to the appropriate size and pop it into the iPad for a true test of its unlockedness — as this diagram usefully illustrates.