Sim? Do Verizon iPhones have sim cards?

Just checked and it appears that Verizon 4G devices use sim cards but my old archaic iPhone 4S is only 3G, no sim card. Still, I'm sure the cellphone function will be deactivated. On that note, how does it call 9-1-1? Is that a separate function?

Federal law mandates that all cellphones be capable of calling 911, with or without service, and with or without a SIM.

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe that without a SIM the iPhone will not turn on the cellular radio or attempt to find a tower, unless 911 is dialed. This is borne out by my experience with a couple of old iPhones turned over to my recombinant DNA after the SIMs were removed.

Regardless, this upgrade should give me a cellphone that's primarily a phone and an iPhone that is like an iPod but with GPS and an ability to call 9-1-1. Thanks for the assist.

All righty then, my phone downgrade is complete. The iPhone is still capable of 9-1-1 but now my primary phone is one of the ruggedized models. It being a basic phone it could only manage a 16GB microSD card, but then my iPhone was the 16GB model so no loss in memory for pics and mp3.

Next I'll take what was an iPhone and is now more of an enhanced iPod and see how well location services works. I have a sneaky suspicion the phone still connects (PING) and is visible to the network, it just can't make or receive calls because the number is now assigned to a different unit. I think, maybe, not really sure how that works.

Edit: Location works great. The app "Tom's GPS" came up with an accurate Lat-Long within seconds and the Maps app was also dead-on. As for signal strength, the phone is seeing the network, 3 out of 5 Bars, so despite it not having service associated, it can still ping just fine.

I have my issued phone and a very cheap phone for my own personal use. It says it can handle up to an 8 gb micro sd chip. I have a 64 gb in it, almost full of stuff and it works fine, sometimes a bit slow, but has never frozen up. You may be able to go much higher.

LOL with this phone I'll be years filling a 4GB card let alone the 16 that's in it. Probably didn't need a card at all, but the empty slot needed to be filled. That, and 16GB microSD cards are much cheaper than 64's.

true, they are cheaper. I carry everything on my chip in case I have to bug out. music, photos, documents, medical history, photos, favorite books and stories, insurance, ID, banking, house hold inventory etc etc etc. All in neat little folders in a locked vault. I have the same on flash drive and in another micro sd sewn into the collar of a light fleece jacket I can use for layering or pretty much year round. So no matter where or how I'm evac'd I at least have the important information with me. The little woman does the same with her phone.

Problem I've found as of late is that since there is very little market for non-smart phones there are no good quality non-smart phones. I haven't found a 'dumb' phone which gets as good as reception as my smartphone. If only I could turn off the data plan and just use wifi when its available I could just use the smartphone as a dumb phone with pda capabilities. I've used a PDA since the 90's but finally gave in t a smart phone a few years ago to combine two devices into one.

you might want to look at ZACT, or TING...
Both are sprint resellers- You buy the service that you want.

I am not currently using, reselling, or making money from them.
I am looking at them for my kids, when they get a year or 3 older (oldest is 9, NOT buying a cell plan for a 9 year old.)

You would be limited on phones, but could shape rates to your needs.

***going sideways for moment***
I bought a CHEAP CHEAP android phone- ZTE AWE- for 9 year old.
On Black Friday I picked it up for 19.00, no rebate.
Santa gave it to him as a game player/music player/camera.

With no plan, only place it can call is 911.

For $19.00, it was 200 cheaper than an IPOD.

***sideways done***

I went with one of the ruggedized phones (Samsung Convoy, no affiliation) in an effort to get a better build quality. It's a solid phone and reception seems to be as good as my iPhone.

Unfortunately, although it theoretically can handle email, text and web browsing, its keyboard is virtually non-existent and some characters required for my password seem to be missing so I can't even log in. The screen is small so even if it did have a great browser, reading web pages would be close to impossible. I'll give it a bit more time, then if it still doesn't work for me the Convoy will go into my GHB as a 9-1-1 back-up and I'll pay an extra $10 to bring the iPhone back as primary.

I do like some attributes of the Convoy though -- small and lightweight it carries much easier than a smartphone and is really good with battery power. Every port on the phone has a seal to keep out dust, and I'm sure it can handle rough use. It is not rated as waterproof, but the dust seals should help a bit -- light rain maybe, definitely not submerged.