China Unicom has reportedly issued a notice confirming support for the iPhone 17 series’ eSIM (embedded subscriber identity module) functionality. The iPhone 17 Air, with its ultra-thin 5.5 mm design, is expected to eliminate the physical SIM card slot entirely in favor of eSIM technology. Earlier, China Unicom released its 5G AI Terminal White Paper, which specifies that smartphones with eSIM must come preloaded with a domestic certificate and offer full lifecycle services, including account activation, replacement and recovery. Currently, operators are conducting internal testing of the eSIM feature on the iPhone 17 Air. For Chinese users, eSIM-related services may initially need to be processed at offline service centers. [IThome, in Chinese]
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