When Apple reveals the iPhone 17 lineup in just 10 days, there’s one U.S. feature that is basically guaranteed to go international after three years.
Since the iPhone 14, Apple has only supported eSIM for cellular connectivity in the United States. In most other countries, Apple has continued to include physical SIM trays in iPhones. In China, Apple has even supported two physical SIM cards on one iPhone.
Apple is widely expected to adopt the eSIM-only feature in some or all iPhone 17 models in September. The ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air is especially primed to drop the physical SIM tray where internal space is dramatically reduced.
Both Ming-Chi Kuo and The Information have discussed the eSIM-only design coming to international models, specifically for iPhone 17 Air. More recently, MacRumors has reported that Apple is preparing retail employees to support eSIM-only iPhone models.
The site reports that “retail employees at Apple Authorized Resellers in the EU are required to complete a training course related to iPhones with eSIM support by Friday, September 5.”
The training completion date comes just days before the iPhone 17 arrives.
Apple will hold its big fall event on September 9. We expect to see iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 will also be announced, and AirPods Pro 3 have recently been added to the list of product expectations.
9to5Mac will be in attendance to bring you hands-on coverage of all the new hardware so stay tuned!
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