Phones are handheld computers now. Why aren't laptops phones? I know you can use VoIP or tether to a phone, but why don't laptops have LTE or 5G modules and SIM card slots as a standard?
That is absolutely an option, you can spec out multiple laptops with cellular radios. It isn't standard because it costs extra and most people aren't going to pay an additional bill for another cell line. Typically they're more common to enterprise environments with people out in the field a lot.
Hotspots are probably still the more common option though, at least in my experience.
I really wish you could buy sim cards in like, packs of 2-3 and have multiple sims for your devices using the same plan / line.
So your phone, laptop, tablet, etc can all share the same data and potentially voice/text service if they have the right software.
But an extra SIM card with data is only like £6 a month on a monthly rolling account, all one would have to do is have one or two less lattes to make up for is and it's all good.
I would love to see more connectivity options in our devices, including tablets!
Maybe where you live, some other places are much, much more expensive.
If you want one, you could probably find a decent refurbished Thinkpad on eBay or something. Just make sure the radio it has is compatible with whatever spectrums your carrier uses. Tablets also have options for cellular radios.
You can also just buy a new one, but refurbs are good deals if you're on a budget.
Just use the money saved by takin' away my CD drive
Because most people don't need it.
This is a thing, but its not very popular outside of corporate machines as I would guess most people don't want to pay for an extra phone data plan specifically for their laptop, and the manufacturers want to cut costs for their laptops. It usually isn't available to normal consumer line laptops though, like I said, its mostly only supported on business line laptops.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_WAN
Yeah, most people don't really need it because most people have Wi-Fi at home and most people use their laptops at home. Business users may actually need to use them on the go and potentially in places with no Wi-Fi. But even most business laptops only get used at the office, at home, or maybe on a train (those also tend to have Wi-Fi).
So it's optional for business laptops and not even available for most consumer laptops because if a business can save 20 euros per device on a thousand devices every 3 years, they absolutely are gonna take that option and a lot of home users are already buying 200-300 euro laptops that are basically good for nothing. They ain't gonna pay extra. Unless it's a gaming laptop, but those are tethered to the wall at home 90% of the time too.
Really, the only people who really need it are those who have to go work in the field somewhere sometimes.
In Denmark, you can buy an additional "data sim" with the same number for your tablet or car. I don't have it and never checked if you can just call but you can definitely use telegram or whatsapp for audio/videocalls
There are loads of laptops with mobile data. For calling its the phone company stopping it
Because it costs extra for little benefit. LTE was a choice for my notebook. I just set my phone to wifi tether, saved me $200.
Edit: or did you mean being able to make calls from your computer? I looked into this a while ago, since digitized call processing is just VOIP on a large scale. In my country at least, the providers only sell whole packages of numbers, usually to companies where you can rent one for use with your run-of-the-mill VOIP software. Of course it's nonetheless thightly regulated, because of regional and limited numbers and against abuse.
Those used to be things in the early 2000's; cellular cards with sims that went into a PCI slot. Surely they still exist?
At least in Finland we had USB cellular data adapters (I belive that's the full term) back in the 3G/maybe early 4G days. I haven't checked if they're still a thing.
(Never had one myself. Got a WiFi dongle instead because the city had a decent municipal WiFi coverage.)
I had one in 2010 in Germany. Was basically a UMTS modem plus some really shitty phone software
Because not all use cases call for it.
If you are working in a city with wifi everywhere you don't need a LTE module.
If you are a mobile worker like a field tech thn it makes more sense to have an LTE module.
At the ISP I worked at we did that. Office monkeys has laptops with no LTE while us field engineers did have LTE modules.
You would need a massive pocket
Because most places you'd use it already has free WiFi (home, office, train, coffee shop, etc), and everywhere else you can just tether from the phone, so there's no point paying a separate bill just for the laptop.
But you can still get a laptop with lte, it's an option if you need it. My x1 yoga has a sim slot. Or you can get a usb dongle.
There are different cellular networks and frequencies in different places so computer manufacturers can't pick one module and expect it to work everywhere. If you're paying for service, you'll want to get the most out of it by having a modem that's up to date and maximally compatible with the network. So it makes sense to get a plugin device or a WiFi mobile hotspot from your carrier. A WiFi mobile hotspot can additionally be used with other devices.
Also mobile network hardware updates at a decent pace so it's nice to be able to update those single purpose devices at their own pace independent of your laptop upgrade.
And then carrier and FCC certification are an extra hassle for laptop makers.
Localized parts are really a thing for electronics. (See keyboards)
I know Dell offers optional cell capabilities in some models. Just like the heated steering wheel in a car, this usually is an option you want to get at purchase. Expansion slots can offer the same capabilities.
One thing about having a computer on a mobile connection that's not as great as you might think: it's easy for something like a software update to blow through a ton of data and cost a lot of money.
Something like a removable "mobile chip" for a laptop could address this problem. Framework could probably pull it off, but I don't know if the market incentives it.
Framework already released the specification for the add-ons. So some other folk can also make it if they want.
If you were using your laptop as your only communication device, you'd need it switched on all the time you were awake. Not convenient.
They are. Skype, Signal, Telegram, whatever other million chat apps. The only thing stopping you using the big cell networks is the telcos stopping it to sell their access, and phones. And some of them may allow it for a fee, but I don't care enough to find out.
RIP Skype
It was decent before Microsoft had to "dogfood" it, rewrite it with their own shitty code, by incompetent programmers.
My old Thinkpads and even my first iPad had SIM slots. I kinda miss that as it’d be much more handy now. LTE and the precursors were painful to use at the time.
There are laptops that come with LTE chips... they're just not popular. You're right though, there is the increasing mentality of "always online" that some people just expect to have. I'm not one of them but I can see why the technical argument could be made. Broadband home routers are starting to show up with support for this already and so it's only a matter of time. As another commenter said, it will drive up the price for artificially no reason...
I've got a little netbook from ages ago that takes a 3G SIM, I used it occasionally as phones didn't really do tethering back then, no real need now I can tether.
I was gifted a 4g router for my birthday or Christmas or something. It was the better solution for me because one plan gets me internet access on however many devices I attach to it where I would otherwise need a sim card for every tablet and laptop I use.
If you choose to pack a portable monitor+kb+dock combo, you can use your phone as a computer instead with Dex or similar. Seems more practical to me in 2025.
I prefer the laptop-size screen and keyboard vs miniaturized versions of them
Nexdock
I plug my phone into a DEX dock under my desk that connects to a 22” monitor and a normal keyboard and mouse. I think the other person was offering that type of solution already exists.
If you need internet on your laptop you can use this thing called a hotspot.
Or a dongle, or use the phone you already have on you as a hotspot.
The phone is also a hotspot yes.
Because it doesn't fit in my pocket.
There's just little call for circuit-based voice calls any more. Those connections are more sensitive to network issues, and I'd bet most voice calls are some form of VOIP anyway. If you really need circuit-based calling, you can still do it over IP using a service like jmp.chat
Pretty sure Linux supports eSims and some older laptops support Sim cards, you can add one to your PC as well. Personally I just use secure ways of communicating but it would def be useful when your traveling.
There’s a certain vocal tech crowd that is trying to get Apple to put a damn modem in their MacBook Pros, especially since they’ve created their own.
Yes you can hotspot but that’s just one more thing to have to do. There is zero reason not to offer it as an option at this point.
It is an option. Search for cell phone laptop modem and you will find hundreds of cards to install to give you cell phone service.
Literally every internet device has a modem. You just change it from one with a wifi antenna to one with a LTE(cellphone) antenna.
This question was born entirely out of ignorance of the devices existence, not an actual lack of the device existing. I had one in the freaking 90's.
Does no one remember tablet pcs, which are just low end laptops without a keyboard, that come pretty standard with cell phone service, including iPads???
Laptops no longer have extension slots. You used to be able to buy cards for specific purposes and slot them in. Modern laptops have lost this, and most laptops are not self-serviceable, so any cellular modern you get today is going to be an external peripheral.
Where are you finding laptops with integrated cellular chips?
Give me a scenario outside of where computers are already in use as telephones (like callcenters and such) where it would be beneficial to use the laptop instead of the phone.
[In the Apple ecosystem for example, when phone and laptop and any other device are connected to the same WiFi, all of them ring and you can take the call from any device, and make a call feom any device. ]
The point is you need wifi or a hotspot. It would be so much easier to take your laptop with you on journeys if they had 5G connection. (Not for the phone functionality but much rather for the data)
Because you basically never have the case of having a laptop but no phone. And then you can tether via Bluetooth, WiFi and/or USB-C.
I had a Microsoft surface laptop with a SIM card that allowed me to make calls. I never used it. It was not practical. I tested it once, yes, but no.
I think it's designed for US mostly and data is too expensive in there, even with the phone they need to use WiFi or go bankrupt
You’ve never used a website that was awful on mobile but not on a desktop? 🙋♂️ I have, and do, daily, for work. It’s definitely better on an iPad but still not touch friendly and that presents certain challenges and workarounds. You still don’t get full functionality.