AT&T locks Apple SIM Cards on new iPads

The second-largest wireless carrier in the US, AT&T, plans to lock SIM cards on new iPads to its network as soon as users signed up for a month of service.

This had been confirmed in a new Apple support document that states, "When you choose AT&T on iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, AT&T dedicates Apple SIM to their network only. If your Apple SIM becomes dedicated to a specific network and you want to choose from other carrier programs, you can purchase a new Apple SIM from an Apple Retail store."

The idea behind the Apple SIM in the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 was to allow users to switch wireless carriers easily with just a tap in the settings, PC Mag reported. The technology had much been hailed universally as a great idea, but not by all.

An AT&T spokesman, in a statement to Re/code said just the SIM card would be locked, not the actual device. So, users would be able to switch carriers as long as they bought a new Apple SIM, which would set them back $10.

The company's multi-carrier SIM is supported by T-Mobile and Sprint, but is not locked to their networks and Verizon offers no support for the multi-carriers SIM at all.

''With us you can change carriers with this iPad any time you want,'' AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel confirmed to Re/code. ''It is an unlocked device. … All [you] have to do is switch out the SIM in the device so it works on another carrier.''

As for why AT&T was locking the SIM card to its network while other carriers did not, Siegel said that it was just simply the way the company had chosen to do it.

Even with that, the latest iPad was still a pretty open device, having a single model working with all four major US carriers and some overseas too, Re/code reported.

The ability to change with just a switch of a SIM was much more open than most devices sold in the US, which typically supported at most a couple different options.