After delay: iPhone Air comes to China
After Apple had to postpone the introduction of the Chinese variant of the Air due to a lack of approval, the regulatory process is now complete.
iPhone Air in its color selection.
(Image: Apple)
Actually, the iPhone Air has already been on the market since September 19th. However, this did not apply to the People's Republic of China. Due to regulatory problems, which apparently had to do with the omission of the SIM slot, the device was initially postponed. The waiting time is now almost over. In a post on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo.cn, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the start of pre-orders is this Friday (October 17th) and that delivery of the devices can be expected in the coming week.
First mobile phone in China only with eSIM
For a long time, it was speculated how Apple would implement the China version of the iPhone Air. Because: In the Middle Kingdom, it is still common for smartphones to have slots for physical SIM cards. However, in the iPhone Air, Apple needs every millimeter and therefore decided to use the embedded SIM, eSIM for short, worldwide, which is installed on the device via software. Apple then apparently succeeded in persuading the Chinese telecommunications regulation to grant approval.
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However, this took time. When pre-orders for the iPhone Air began, the announcement soon came that the approval was not yet available. The process is now complete; whether Apple had to make software changes or it was simply a bureaucratic delay is unclear.
Other current iPhones still with physical SIM
The iPhone Air is the only model in this year's iPhone lineup that relies solely on eSIM in all markets. For the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, it depends on the respective market. For example, there are no longer SIM slots in the USA (where this has been the case for several years) or in Japan (new this year), but there are in Europe. The devices then have a physical SIM as well as an eSIM, or you can store two eSIMs simultaneously.
However, the SIM card slot in the iPhone 17 models has a direct disadvantage for the first time: Apple now uses the space in the eSIM-only models to slightly increase the battery. This means US iPhones run two hours longer in Apple's video test than EU devices. Anyone who absolutely wants an eSIM-only iPhone must purchase it abroad; there is no choice in this country.
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