Tim Cook lowered his status and personally promoted Apple's new products.

On the night when Cook appeared in the Douyin live - streaming room, the three major telecom operators officially announced the launch of the eSIM mobile phone service.

The foundation of the live - stream is basic, but the live - stream guests are not.

On the evening of October 13th, Beijing time, Apple CEO Tim Cook personally appeared in the Douyin live - streaming room of the Apple App Store. He officially announced that the iPhone Air will start pre - sales at 9 a.m. on October 17th and will be officially launched on October 22nd.

01 The three major operators officially announce the arrival of eSIM

Behind Cook's visit to China, what the market is most concerned about is that on the evening of October 13th, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom officially announced that they had obtained the approval for the commercial trial of the eSIM mobile phone service. Users can apply for it through offline business halls or online reservations.

The eSIM (Embedded SIM card) technology, as the name implies, is a virtual SIM card embedded inside the device. Different from the traditional physical SIM card, it doesn't require a physical card slot, thus saving space in device design. For consumers, the most intuitive experience of using an eSIM card is the convenience of “changing the phone without changing the card”.

Since the iPhone Air was released together with the iPhone 17 series in September this year, the launch time of its Chinese version has not been determined. The main reason is that the iPhone Air has removed the physical SIM card slot and completely relies on the operators' eSIM services.

However, with the successive official announcements of the three major operators, it can be said that the last obstacle to the launch of the iPhone Air in China has been solved.

China Unicom said that the breakthrough in eSIM technology is an important milestone after ten years of technological accumulation in this field. This approval provides policy support for operators and device manufacturers and paves the way for the launch of the iPhone Air.

However, the real popularization of eSIM still takes time, especially in the domestic market, where users' acceptance of this emerging technology is still in the cultivation stage. Apple's launch of its first all - eSIM model is bound to accelerate the promotion and application of this technology in the Chinese market and provide a strong demonstration for the industry.

For Apple, the launch of the eSIM - exclusive iPhone Air not only means that global travelers can switch operators and packages more conveniently but also points out the future development direction for the entire communication industry - gradually getting rid of the constraints of physical SIM cards and moving towards a card - free era.

In addition, Apple also revealed that iPhones purchased from its official website that are not connected to the operator's network are all contract - free phones. “You can use any network that provides services for iPhones.”

02 iPhone Air, a rare breakthrough

At the Apple press conference in September, the iPhone Air was not named with a number. The original iPhone 17 Air has changed its name this time.

It is the thinnest phone in Apple's history, with a thickness of only 5.6 millimeters, even slimmer than a pencil. Cook talked eloquently when introducing the product and said that the iPhone Air is so thin and light that it seems to fly away.

Although it sacrifices battery capacity for thinness and lightness, its performance and signal have not “shrunk”.

The iPhone Air is equipped with a brand - new A19 Pro processor, has an Apple - developed N1 chip built - in, and is upgraded to the C1X baseband, resulting in lower power consumption. The power consumption of the baseband has decreased by up to 30%. Therefore, it is also known as the iPhone with the strongest energy - efficiency performance in Apple's history.

The final price of the Chinese version of the iPhone Air is 7,999 yuan for the 256GB version, 9,999 yuan for the 512GB version, and 11,999 yuan for the 1TB version. This price is between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro series.

03 Cook's visit to China

Cook's visit to China this time not only shows Apple's CEO's attention to the Chinese market but also represents a deep interaction between Apple and Chinese consumers. On the evening of October 13th, Cook himself appeared in the Douyin Apple Store live - streaming room and announced the pre - sale and launch dates of the iPhone Air. This move is also regarded as a sales breakthrough for Apple in the domestic market. Many netizens commented that it's not that they can't afford guests, but that Cook is more cost - effective. Earlier in early September, the official flagship store of Apple Store entered the Douyin Mall, planning to sell the entire range of Apple products such as iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. As of now, the number of fans of this store has exceeded 3.29 million.

Cook's first stop was the 10th - anniversary tour exhibition of Labubu in Shanghai. He had a conversation with Long Jiasheng, the “father of LABUBU”, and Wang Ning, the founder of Pop Mart, and was given a specially customized Labubu holding an iPhone.

Technology blogger Eva reported that during the exhibition, Long Jiasheng showed Cook his creative inspiration and different artworks and introduced the creative background of the Labubu family. Interestingly, in front of the wall full of Labubu, artist Long Jiasheng demonstrated how to create paintings with an iPad Pro.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Phoenix Tech”, author: Jiang Fan, editor: Dong Yuqing. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.