The Chinese version of iPhone Air will start pre - sales this Friday, officially kicking off the "card - free era" in China.

“Pre - orders for the Chinese mainland version of the iPhone Air will begin on October 17th, and it will be officially launched on October 22nd.” On the evening of October 13th, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared in the Apple Store live - stream on the Douyin platform and personally announced this news. Currently, the official Apple China website has officially updated this launch information, confirming the news.

Image source: Apple official website

This smartphone, which only supports eSIM, is finally going to meet Chinese consumers. Its arrival coincides with a historic moment in the Chinese telecommunications industry - China's three major telecom operators have simultaneously announced the launch of a commercial trial of eSIM mobile services, marking that the Chinese mainland has officially entered the "card - free" communication era.

Image source: Unobjective Laboratory

In terms of price, the Chinese mainland version of the iPhone Air offers three storage configurations: the 256GB version is priced at 7,999 yuan, the 512GB version at 9,999 yuan, and the 1TB version at 11,999 yuan.

Currently, the pre - order channels for the iPhone Air cover Apple's official channels and multiple partners. Consumers can pre - order through the Apple official website, the Apple Store app, the official Apple Store Tmall flagship store, the official Apple Store WeChat mini - program, the official Apple Store Douyin flagship store, and the channels of the three major telecom operators.

The official Apple Store Tmall flagship store opened the pre - order channel for the Chinese mainland version of the iPhone Air on the evening of October 13th. Consumers can search for "iPhone Air" on Taobao to register in advance so that they can participate in the purchase as soon as the pre - sale begins.

The most "Apple - like" product in recent years

As Apple's innovative product this year, the iPhone Air has made bold breakthroughs in design. The overall thickness of the device is only 5.6 millimeters, making it the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made. To achieve this extremely thin and light design, Apple has completely removed the physical SIM card slot and relies entirely on eSIM technology for network connection.

Image source: Unobjective Laboratory

In terms of hardware configuration, the iPhone Air is equipped with a new A19 Pro chip, which uses the second - generation dynamic cache architecture. The peak performance of the graphics processor can reach three times that of the previous - generation A18 Pro.

Both the front and back of the device are covered with ultra - ceramic crystal glass panels, and the middle frame and core structure are made of grade 5 aviation - grade titanium alloy.

In terms of the screen, this device is equipped with a 6.5 - inch 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate display, which supports the always - on display function with a minimum refresh rate of 1Hz and has a peak brightness of 3000 nits.

Image source: Unobjective Laboratory

The camera system consists of a 18 - megapixel front - facing camera and a 48 - megapixel rear - facing main camera. The equivalent focal length of the rear - facing camera is 26 millimeters, and the aperture is F/1.6. The iPhone Air also integrates Apple's self - developed N1 chip and C1X modem, fully supporting Wi - Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and the Thread network protocol, further improving the connection performance and the synergy ability with smart home devices.

Although the battery of the iPhone Air has the smallest capacity among all the new iPhone models this year due to the thin body, thanks to the battery adaptive function of iOS 26 and the software - hardware synergy of the self - developed chip, the actual measured battery life of the iPhone Air is comparable to that of the iPhone 16 Pro. Users who have high requirements for battery life can separately purchase the official external battery launched by Apple for the iPhone Air to increase the battery life.

Image source: Unobjective Laboratory

The eSIM technology finally lands in China

With the launch of the iPhone Air, China's three major telecom operators have also simultaneously achieved a major breakthrough in eSIM services. China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom have recently announced that they have officially obtained approval to conduct a commercial trial of eSIM mobile services and have launched relevant services.

This policy change means that the telecom operators with the largest market scale and the largest number of users in China have officially opened the "gate" of eSIM, pushing the Chinese telecommunications industry to take a crucial step towards "embedded connection" on the eve of 5G - A and 6G.

The eSIM technology allows devices to directly embed virtual SIM cards, and users can connect to the mobile network without inserting a physical card. Apple officially stated that all iPhone Air devices sold in the Chinese mainland without being connected to a telecom operator's network are contract - free phones, and users will not be restricted by a particular network provider or multi - year service contracts.

The three major telecom operators have their own characteristics in handling eSIM services, but the unified requirement is: Users must go to offline stores to handle the services.

China Unicom has opened an online pre - registration channel. According to the detailed information released by China Unicom, during the commercial trial phase of the eSIM mobile service, it is supported to be handled at offline self - operated business halls. Users need to bring their valid identity documents (including ID cards, household registers, passports, Hong Kong and Macao pass permits, residence permits, and permanent residence ID cards for foreigners) and eligible Chinese mainland version eSIM mobile phones to handle the service.

China Mobile and China Telecom have reminded that currently, the valid identity documents supported only include ID cards and permanent residence ID cards for foreigners. Hong Kong and Macao compatriots must hold resident residence permits, and users who handle the service must be over 18 years old, have no more than 5 telecom cards under their names, and all numbers should have no arrears records.

It should be noted that currently, the three major telecom operators only support writing eSIMs into Chinese mainland version mobile terminals with network access permits. Even if overseas version phones support the hardware, they cannot write the eSIMs of the three major telecom operators.

Each Chinese mainland version eSIM mobile phone can be bound to a maximum of 2 numbers, that is, at the same time, there can be a maximum of 2 valid numbers under each eSIM mobile phone. Within each natural month, the number of newly opened numbers for each eSIM mobile phone should not exceed 2.

For users who travel internationally frequently, Apple has officially confirmed that the Chinese mainland version of the iPhone Air supports roaming in more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

Apple's official website states in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section: "For global travel, your telecom operator may provide convenient and affordable international roaming package options. In addition, when you travel outside the Chinese mainland, you can also activate the travel eSIM."

All iPhone models are globally - compatible phones and can be used almost anywhere. Users can conduct international roaming through the GSM network in more than 200 countries and regions around the world. This feature makes the Chinese mainland version of the iPhone Air have good network compatibility during international travel, eliminating users' concerns about using eSIM phones abroad.

Guide to handling eSIM

Users who are planning to buy the iPhone Air and use the eSIM service need to understand the following handling process:

To handle the eSIM service, users must bring their valid identity documents and eSIM mobile phones to the self - operated business halls of the telecom operators.

China Unicom emphasizes that during the service handling process, the device information of the eSIM mobile phone needs to be verified to ensure that the phone has the hardware and system conditions to support the eSIM service. After the service is handled, the eSIM number needs to be downloaded to the phone on - site to ensure the normal use of relevant functions of the eSIM mobile phone in the future.

In terms of real - name authentication, users can bring their valid identity documents, including ID cards, passports, permits for Hong Kong and Macao residents to travel to the Chinese mainland, permits for Taiwan residents to travel to the Chinese mainland, residence permits for Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents, etc., to the self - operated business halls of the telecom operators to handle the service.

If you need to convert an existing physical SIM card to an eSIM, you can also handle it at the self - operated business halls of each telecom operator, including services such as converting an existing physical SIM card to an eSIM and switching eSIM terminals.

Summary

With the implementation of the eSIM services of the three major telecom operators, eSIM will become the "default configuration" for newly connected mobile phones in the future, and physical SIM cards will gradually be phased out.

The popularization of eSIM will bring multiple benefits. For terminal manufacturers, after saving the space for the SIM card slot, they can stack larger batteries and stronger heat dissipation systems. Foldable screens, thin and light laptops, and AR glasses will be the first to benefit.

For telecom operators, eSIM brings "incremental connections". China Mobile currently has more than 2.5 billion connections. After the popularization of eSIM, it is estimated that from the "one - person - multiple - terminals" scenario, there will be a net increase of 300 million to 500 million connections in 2027, and the ARPU value will also increase simultaneously. The chip and module industries will also benefit. The core of eSIM is a security chip + a remote configuration platform. Domestic manufacturers such as Unisoc, Huada Electronics, and Fudan Microelectronics have mass - produced automotive - grade eSIM SoCs.

The eSIM technology brings not only a change in the card - opening method, but also a reshaping of the telecommunications industry ecosystem. The industry generally expects that in 2026, the country will issue an official commercial license for eSIM, and at that time, eSIM will become a must - choose for network access like VoLTE; By 2030, physical SIM cards may completely withdraw from the historical stage.

From "inserting a card" to "card - free", the Chinese telecommunications industry is taking a crucial step towards "embedded connection" on the eve of 5G - A and 6G.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Unobjective Laboratory". Author: Lu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.