When buying a new phone or smartphone, we first of all look at the moments that are most important to ourselves. For some, this is design, while others pay attention to the technical characteristics. However, almost no one is ever interested in what slots a new gadget for SIM cards has. At this stage, you may encounter the problem of how to cut a SIM card under a micro-SIM using improvised means, because you already want to use the device, but the card simply does not fit into it. In this article, we will look at several methods on how you can cut your card without damaging it.
Using a ready-made micro-SIM as a template
The easiest option would be to find a friend who already has a ready-made card of the size we need. With the current trends in reducing the size of everything and everything that concerns technology, it will be quite easy to do this. This will simplify the first way to solve the problem, how to cut a SIM card for a micro-SIM.
After that, you will need to combine your card with the cut one so that the cut control corners and chips completely coincide, and circle the outline. To cut off the plastic, you can use any means at hand, be it a knife, scissors, or even a needle heated over a lighter. When trimming, try to match the outline as much as possible. Do not be afraid to cut, because you will not be able to hook the chip, and accordingly the card will remain intact in any case.
This was the first way to cut a SIM card under a micro-SIM with your own hands. But what if no one has a ready-made card of the right size? The second method will come to the rescue, for which you need a computer and a printer.
Printing a template
If no sample was found to cut a SIM card for micro-SIM, the template can be found on the Internet, downloaded and printed. This method requires a computer and printer on hand. In addition to them, you will need a clean sheet of paper and good glue or double-sided tape.
The downloaded template should be printed in such a way as to maintain the dimensions and proportions. The template will indicate exactly where all the lines should go. Using glue or double-sided tape, glue the cut-out printout evenly onto your card and cut it along the lines shown in the template.
After completing this procedure, it is advisable to remove the glued paper from the card so that it does not accidentally remain in the slot when the SIM card is removed and does not spoil it. Now you already have two ways in your arsenal of how to cut a SIM card yourself for micro-SIM. However, this is not all, because there is a third and simplest method, which, however, will require small financial costs, but has its advantages.
Using a special cutter (hole punch)
If you know that this card to be cut is definitely not the last, and in the near future you will have to carry out this manipulation with several more cards, then you should think about buying a cutter. It is a small press, which contains knives that cut the card exactly to the required size.
With it, you don't have to transfer sizes for a long time, look for templates, and more. Often, these cutters, or hole punches as they are called, have the ability to cut cards to any modern size. In addition, after trimming, a whole plastic frame remains, into which, if necessary, the trimmed SIM card can be glued back. The cost of this device is quite low, and you can find it in almost any mobile accessories store. Its purchase will save not only money on trimming at service centers, but also your own time, because the process itself takes 5 seconds at most. This is the third and easiest method on how to cut a SIM card for micro-SIM. But there is one more, which can rightfully be called strange, but deserves the right to exist.
Cutting with a heated mold
The Chinese, developing cutting devices, went even further and made a budget cutter. It is a metal shape on a spoke, which should be warmed up on gas or a lighter, then gently attach to the card and melt the desired part of it.
Quite sophisticated, but still practical and fast way. It is perfect for those who do not want to overpay for the cutter, but would not mind speeding up and making the cutting process easier. Now, faced with the question of how to cut a SIM card under a micro-SIM, you will know at least four options. And you can choose the most suitable for you among them.
Conclusion
Do not be afraid to manipulate your equipment. In almost any case, your card will continue to work unless you hook the chip itself. Knowing how to cut a SIM card under a micro-SIM with your own hands, you will save a small part of the family budget, as well as your time, which can be spent on going to the service center.
If you are unlucky, your hand trembled and the card was damaged, then you should not worry too much either. In the official salon of your operator, you will be given a duplicate of it. Some operators do this for free. In addition, modern cards are already pre-cut according to all necessary standards, so all that remains is to break out of the mount the one suitable for your smartphone.
The desire for miniaturization is a fairly characteristic and typical feature of our modernity, especially in electronics. This trend has not been spared by such a world-famous corporation as Apple. Now it offers consumers a new type of device - iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 3G and some similar ones, in which SIM cards are used, which are reduced by literally a few millimeters in size. The improved format cards are called nano-SIM and Micro-SIM.Their development began in 1998, and the final version was approved only in 2003. Initially, they were intended for smaller electronic devices, but soon specialists, in pursuit of reducing the size, found their application in ordinary mobile phones.
The standard SIM card familiar to us has a format of 25 by 15 by 0.76 millimeters. The new version (Micro-SIM) is almost half the size - 15 by 12 by 0.76 millimeters, and the dimensions of the nano-SIM are quite impressive: with the same thickness, its length is 12.3, width is 8.8 millimeters. But, if, in fact, the actual format of the chip has not actually changed, the developers simply removed the extra plastic around it.
Today Micro-SIM is used in the iPhone 4 / 4S and iPad operating systems in NTS smartphones and tablets, in some models, and Nano-SIM in tablets with iPhone 5 and iPad mini.
It should be noted here that Micro-SIM, in comparison with conventional SIM cards, significantly expands the capabilities of an electronic device. So, for example, she is capable of:
Support access to the card simultaneously for several applications, as a result of which it is possible to transmit streaming data over two or more channels at once;
- prevent hacker attacks on a mobile device, since cells and a card are mutually authenticated;
- save extended phone book;
- to perform additional security functions, since with its use it is possible to create a multi-level PIN-code with a universal code, as well as a local code or codes for individual applications.
To use such a card, you will also need a new phone. But buying it is only half the battle, because the subscriber sometimes does not want to change his tariff plan, that is, he does not want to lose certain benefits, favorable conditions from the mobile operator. It turns out that there is a way out: it is quite possible to make Micro-SIM out of a standard SIM card. There are two ways to accomplish this task. Let's consider them in more detail.
How to make a Micro-SIM with your own hands?
Method one: changing the card at the operator
Today, without any problems, it is possible to order the service of replacing a regular SIM card with a Micro-SIM at the office of your mobile operator. Sometimes an office worker can offer an additional service in the form of a set of "SIM-pair", which, in addition to the coveted "micro", will include a standard card. It is noteworthy that the second SIM card is also allowed to be activated, that is, if necessary, it can be inserted into somewhat outdated phone models.
However, there are obstacles here. The main one is that today not all operators are ready to provide such services. If, say, in the customer service centers of the telecom operator MegaFon, a standard card is replaced with a Micro-SIM absolutely free of charge, then in other offices it is quite easy to meet with a refusal. And, secondly, such a replacement entails certain financial costs, because sometimes it is necessary to purchase the corresponding phone model under the card.
Method two: cut a standard card to Micro-SIM format
The whole operation looks pretty simple: a regular card is cut to fit a Micro-SIM. True, for this purpose, you should purchase a special tool, the cost of which starts from about eight dollars. Outwardly, it resembles an ordinary stapler, into which the usual Mini-SIM is inserted. One click - and you get the required, strictly consistent format.
On the other hand, there is practically no point in purchasing a tool that will certainly be used only once. Therefore, many users with such a problem immediately contact service centers. Usually, it is available there not only to perform high-quality trimming, but also to receive an adapter in the form of a kind of bonus, that is, the remainder of the old card. It may still be useful: it is easy to insert an already made Micro-SIM into it, and if necessary, use this set in old-style phones. By the way, such adapters are sold by service centers separately - at a price of approximately 100 rubles per set, which includes two pieces.
It is possible to cut off the standard SIM card on your own, at home. To do this, you need to "arm yourself" with a well-sharpened knife or sharp scissors, a pencil, a ruler and a template in the required format. Sizes are not difficult to find on a computer network (they are also mentioned in this article).
It should be noted that SIM cards are generally used by all mobile operators to identify subscribers... Thanks to this, any subscriber can easily and quickly change cell phones, tablets, without changing his phone number, but simply by moving his SIM card to another phone. Now there are several form factors of "sim cards": regular and micro-SIM.
All SIM cards include microprocessor with software and IMSI data(international mobile subscriber identifier), serial number, temporary information about the network and services available to the user, as well as some other data (for example, the phone book), access to which can be protected by a system of PIN codes.
Surprisingly, the SIM cards we are used to are actually called mini-SIMs. A full-size SIM-card is similar in format to a bank card - their dimensions are exactly the same: 85.6x53.98x0.76 mm . All familiar "SIM cards" that we use in mobile phones, mini-SIM, "break out" of such a card. Pay attention to the kit that you purchase upon connection. The size of a standard SIM card of mobile operators is 25x15x0.76 mm.
Micro-SIM is the newest version of the subscriber module, differing from all previous sizes - 15x12x0.76 mm... For the first time, it was talked about back in 1998, but the final version of the form factor was agreed only at the end of 2003. The main purpose of creating a micro-SIM was called the possibility of its use in miniature devices for which ordinary SIM cards are too large. True, what kind of devices they could be, no one specified. Probably some kind of spy stuff.
The launch of mass production of micro-SIM was organized at the suggestion of Apple. All of her new devices could only work with miniature SIM cards.
Externally, micro-SIM and regular SIM differ only in size. Basically, to use a regular SIM card in an iPad or iPhone 4G, you just need to carefully cut it to the size of a micro-SIM... It will work just as well as a factory one, and this straightforward "file-up" method is suggested as the easiest solution. Now almost all operators in the world and in Russia change standard cards to micro-SIM for free... To do this, just go to the service office and write an application.
Meanwhile, not everything is so simple. Despite the complete identity of the chips themselves, the micro-SIM specification provides for a number of new functions that SIM cards of other formats do not have. Primarily, we are talking about supporting the simultaneous access to the card of several applications through virtual channels... This means that data over the operator's network will be transmitted in parallel streams, and not sequential, as was the case before.
New specifications describe enhanced security, in particular, the system of mutual authentication of the card and the cell to which it connects. This allows you to prevent IP spoofing - a fairly common method of hacker attacks, which consists in intercepting a subscriber's IP address and then using it either to enter secure networks or to substitute a real IP address in order to obtain the necessary data on the attacker's device.
The emergence of hierarchical system of PIN-codes with universal PIN-code, application code, and local code. By analogy with computer operating systems, the universal code grants full system administrator rights, and all others - limited rights to perform some specific actions. Obviously, such a measure should prevent not so much accidental damage to the data stored on the card (and on the connected device), as malicious attacks aimed at gaining control over the terminal, including using unauthorized software.
And, finally, the fourth new function inherent in the micro-SIM specifications is support for an extended phone book of increased volume, which allows storing the second names of subscribers, groups, and e-mail addresses on the SIM card.
How to make a micro-SIM from a regular SIM card
id = "sub0">Manufacturing technology is very simple. To do this, we need sharp scissors, a sharpened pencil, a ruler with millimeter cutoffs. It should be borne in mind that all work must be carried out extremely carefully and carefully.
Stage 1. We measure the length and width of a standard SIM card. "Sims" in our phones have the following dimensions, mm: 25 x 15 x 0.76. We are required to finish them up to the micro Sim standard: 15 x 12 x 0.76. It is not worth focusing on the thickness of attention - it is the same for both standards of SIM cards.
Stage 2. We mark the cutting lines. Draw a 15 x 12 mm rectangle around the metal chip and mark the lines with a pencil.
It is worth noting here that some SIM cards have an oversized chip - in this case, you need to cut it into metal, however, the chances are then that the SIM will survive this approximately 50/50.
Stage 3... Cut with scissors. Slowly cut off the excess plastic on the sides. Women's nail scissors are ideal for the operation - they are quite miniature, and at the same time, very powerful. After cutting, you need to compare the size of the received SIM card with the SIM card slot of your iPad or iPhone 4. If the SIM card is larger, carefully cut it further with scissors.
After that, your micro-SIM is ready.
For our part, we would like to note once again that subscribers of MTS, Beeline and MegaFon can exchange their regular SIM card for micro-SIM completely free of charge at customer service centers. With the rest of the operators, the situation is somewhat more complicated, and here you can use a handicraft method of manufacturing micro-SIM
Not always a new thing immediately brings joy to the owner of the purchase. It happened once with a lady I knew. She was presented with a brand new iPhone4 for her birthday - there was no limit to her joy. But at the moment when the newly-made owner expressed a desire to notify her friends about this, all the pleasure from the gift was overshadowed by one small nuance - the size of her SIM card does not fit the size that her new device perceives. It is good that her younger brother was well versed in technical matters. It was he who told us about how to cut a SIM card for a micro SIM. And we, in turn, will share this information with you, so that in the future no one will have the disappointment of being unable to test the new phone model in action.
Before carrying out any manipulations with the card, you need to understand what it consists of. The composition of an ordinary SIM card is very simple: a chip and a plastic plate on which it is fixed.
The most important thing during the transformation of the card is not to hook the first part - it is it that contains all the information that the communication device reads from it. If it is damaged in any way, then you can safely go to the service for a new number.
But the plastic part of the card has nothing of the kind - it serves only as a platform on which the chip is fixed and in modern models of gadgets there is no longer any need for it.
SIM card formats for smartphone
The technological process does not stand still and the equipment is constantly updated. The tastes of users of all kinds of devices are becoming more sophisticated, and therefore the manufacturers are constantly faced with the task of accommodating as many chips as possible into the device, but along with this, the dimensions of the device itself are becoming thinner and smaller each time.
Types of sim cards Hence the need to save space wherever possible. And initially it affected the size of SIM cards.
In addition to the usual map already known to us, there are a couple of species that you have probably already heard about:
But this was a small lyrical digression, and now we will talk about how to get a micro-SIM card from a simple SIM card on your own.
Micro SIM card transformation at home
In order to get a microsim from a standard card, several things are necessary:
- SIM card;
- Precise ruler;
- A simple pencil or pen;
- Sharp scissors;
- Good eye and clear calculation.
Attention! If you are not confident in your abilities and doubt that something will come of it, it is better to immediately abandon this idea. Uncertainty can damage an important part of the card - the chip, after which there will be only one way out - a new SIM card and a new number.
Thus, everything you need is at our fingertips. The dimensions of the new card are already known, it is 15 mm by 12 mm, you just need to clearly establish the places where you need to cut the plastic.
To do this, draw a rectangle with the above dimensions on the old map. Do not forget to mark the place where the corner cut will be - this is necessary so that later you can correctly insert the SIM card into the phone.
After the boundaries are drawn, we proceed to the procedure for cropping the map itself. It is very important to use sharp scissors - manicure scissors are best suited in this matter. When using them, you can carefully cut the plastic of the SIM card without damaging its information part.
Reference! In order to correct your work (if suddenly there are extra millimeters left on the map), you can use sandpaper or such a wonderful female device as a nail file, which will adjust the SIM card to the required dimensions.
There are a couple more options for how you can cope with this task, you can learn about them from the following sections of the article.
Second micro sim card - as a sample
It is likely that you already have a micro-format card in your arsenal, but you want to transfer the second operator to it. Then the task is generally simplified at times - use the existing micro SIM card as a template.
It will be helpful to review:
To do this, put the template card on the one you want to cut, so that the chips and control slices of the SIM card are in place, and then circle the card along the contour.
Internet map template
Do not despair if suddenly a second microsim is not at hand - the Internet will always come to the rescue. So that you don't have to worry about searching for a long time, we have provided a template below:
You just need to print it and cut it out of paper, keeping the proportions and dimensions. Next, use glue to glue the template onto the card and, again, carefully cut off the excess plastic.
If hands are afraid
There is a saying: the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. But what if it is not the eyes that are afraid, but the hands? In this case, it is worth using a special device such as a cutter.
This stapler can carry out any trimming of SIM cards to the desired format, while leaving the remaining plastic outline in the form of a frame. It can then be used if suddenly there is a need to insert a cut-off card into a regular phone that does not accept new formats of SIM cards.
You may ask, why buy a whole unit for trimming perhaps a single card. Indeed, the purchase looks far from expedient. After all, this device is in every connected salon of any operator. And for a nominal fee, or even free of charge, you will change the card from large to small, and you yourself will not have to do anything.
How else can I change my SIM card?
There is another device that will help you avoid going to your operator's service center or buying a device (it was mentioned earlier).
This device is the fruit of Chinese developments (how much this miracle of technology costs can be found in any hardware store or online store), which looks like a metal shape. It needs to be heated over a fire and attached to the SIM card, after which the desired section of the card will be melted. We remind you that all manipulations must be carried out very carefully so as not to damage the chip on the card.
Reference! For those who still did not manage to avoid defects, we recommend contacting the nearest service center, where you will be given a replacement for your card, but for this, an application for the restoration of the SIM card is required and documents confirming identity are presented.
conclusions
Faced with the problem of an informal SIM card, you should not immediately take such drastic measures as changing the number. You can turn an old card with outdated dimensions into a modern and compact micro card with your own hands.
A SIM card is a mandatory attribute of any phone. Without it, this device is just a toy. It is the SIM card that is the repository of all the necessary data: the name, the owner's phone number, which allows you to save all the information when you change the phone.
But most importantly, a connection with subscribers is established through it. The owner's phone number is not stored on the SIM card itself, but is assigned via IMSI when registering the SIM card in the network.
Types of SIM cards
- The first SIM cards were the size of a bank card and were used in the earliest cell phones. Are now obsolete
- The next sim card model, which is currently used in most devices, is a mini-sim. Its dimensions are 5 * 15 * 0.76 mm
- The micro SIM card has appeared relatively recently. It is used in phones of the new Samsung series, in all Nokia Lumiya devices and in some Blackbury models. The decision to replace a regular SIM with a micro was made as a result of the development of technologies to reduce the weight and size of the phone, while retaining all the functionality. Its dimensions are 15 * 12 * 0.76 mm
- And the last version of a sim card is a nano sim card. Its dimensions are 12.3 * 8.8 * 0.67 mm
All SIM-cards are issued in the form of bank-sized cards, which can be used in old-style phones. For use in modern devices, it is envisaged that the Mini / Micro SIM card can be removed ("broken") from a full-size card once.
By purchasing a long-awaited novelty, you don't want to buy a new SIM card and lose all contacts that have accumulated over the past years. And why? After all, from an ordinary SIM card, you can make a microsim card with your own hands.
Micro SIM card from mini card
To do this, you need to take an old SIM card and, using a ruler, draw a rectangle with the dimensions of a micro SIM card around the chip. 15 * 12. Then, with scissors or a sharp knife, cut off the excess along the measured lines. Everything.
There is another way to make a micro SIM from a regular card:
- Before starting work in any photo editor, make a drawing of a micro sim card. Also, the full-size image can be downloaded from the web.
- Then print it out, cut it out neatly and use tape to attach it to a regular sim
- Make a drawing on it, outlining the cut template, and cut off the excess
- In order to do this, it is better not to use nail scissors, since they have bent ends and a straight line will not work
- The best option is a knife
- It should be noted that the chip of the card must be inside the template
- After cutting, you can file the edges with a file to make them smooth
Nano SIM card from mini card
But the owners of the iPhone 5S will have to suffer longer. The fact is that these devices provide for the use of not even a micro sim, but a nano sim card. In fact, the size of the chip remains the same in all types of cards, only the amount of plastic surrounding it decreases.
In order to make a nano sim from an ordinary one, in addition to scissors and a ruler, you will also need sandpaper. The fact is that the thickness of the nano sim card is less than that of the mini. Therefore, after trimming the excess plastic edges, you will need to take the sandpaper and erase the excess from the side opposite to the chip.
If there is no desire to engage in the "invention of the wheel", then there are several options for doing this.
- Purchase a card of the appropriate size with your phone. And in order not to transfer contacts, it is worth using the "contact storage" service, which is provided by any cellular operator, and from a new number send a mailing to the contact list
- Ask sales consultants to make a map reduction on the spot. The cost of this procedure is around 100 rubles.
- Purchase an adapter. The adapter is used by the SD card case method. The card must be placed in the appropriate slot and inserted into the phone
As you can see, there is nothing difficult about changing the map. Precision and attentiveness is all it takes. And, of course, ten minutes of free time. By the way, if after cutting the SIM card the phone does not see the network, wait a while (about a minute). Most likely, during this time, the signal will go through the card and you will be able to use it.
