Buried in other announcements today, Apple has introduced Apple SIM, a single pre-installed SIM card that “gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from select carriers in the U.S. and UK right on your iPad.” Pre-installed on Wi-Fi + Cellular versions of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple SIM provides a list of participating national carriers—currently only AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the United States, with EE in the UK—that the user can choose from without having to swap SIM cards. Verizon apparently does not yet support Apple SIM.
Additionally, although the feature is currently quite limited, Apple suggests that some international data plans will be accessible with the Apple SIM when users travel: “you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip.”