Apple iPhone 17 Series Goes eSIM-Only in 12 Countries

Apple announced its new iPhones a couple of days ago. The Apple iPhone 17 models have arrived, consisting out of four devices. Well, the iPhone Air technically doesn’t have a ‘17’ in its name, but that phone is a member of its series too. In any case, the iPhone 17 series devices come in both eSIM only and nano SIM + eSIM models, except for the iPhone Air, that variant is eSIM-only globally.

The iPhone 17 series devices are eSIM only in 12 countries; iPhone Air is a different story

In any case, it turns out that the US is not the only country where the eSIM-only model is being sold. That model is being sold in over a dozen countries, none of which are countries in Europe, though.

The iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max come in eSIM-only variants in 12 countries. Those countries are: Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

So, you won’t find a version with a physical SIM card in those countries, unfortunately. The nano SIM variants of the iPhone 17 models do get best of both worlds, kind of. You can use a physical SIM, but also an eSIM, if you want. You’re out of luck if you need two physical SIM cards, though.

In China, the three iPhone 17 devices don’t support eSIM at all

In China, the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max support nano SIM cards only. The iPhone Air is eSIM-only, too. All other regions that we haven’t mentioned do come in a nano SIM variant with eSIM capability included.

Apple made the iPhone Air eSIM-only probably because of its thinness. The phone is only 5.64mm thick, and every little bit of space counts. Besides, Apple has been pushing eSIM for years now, so much so that it made its new phones eSIM-only in a number of countries.

Moving forward, with upcoming iPhone models, that number will likely grow.