Apple no longer activates its proprietary SIM cards for iPads with cellular data<p>You may need to perform some extra legwork to connect an earlier iPad to cell networks.
MacRumors has
learned the company
stopped activations for the Apple SIM in certain iPads as of October 1st. If you're affected, you'll have to either contact your carrier (and likely obtain a SIM card) or use an eSIM in newer tablets. This won't affect you if cell service is already enabled.</p><p>Apple included a conventional SIM with cellular versions of the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, 5th- and 6th-generation base iPads and the
original 12.9-inch iPad Pro. An embedded version of the card was included with 9.7-inch,
10.5-inch and second-gen 12.9-inch iPad Pros. All iPads released from fall 2018 onward support eSIMs.</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>This decision is part of a broader trend. Apple has been shifting toward eSIMs in recent years, and went so far as to
kill the SIM tray in US versions of the
iPhone 14 and
14 Pro. The technology saves the cost and space of including a physical slot, and is more broadly supported than Apple SIM. Still, this could be a hassle if you planned to use cellular data on an older iPad and didn't set up the SIM until </p>
Source:
Apple no longer activates its proprietary SIM cards for iPads with cellular data
