Pre-orders for the iPhone Air have begun. What new experiences does China's first eSIM phone offer?

Image source: Jiemian News

On October 17th, the iPhone Air officially started pre - orders in the Chinese market.

This iPhone, which Apple calls a "new category", has become the thinnest phone in Apple's history with a thickness of 5.6 millimeters and the first smartphone in the Chinese market that only supports eSIM with its card - slot - free design.

eSIM is not a new concept. Apple first tested it on the iPad in 2014, introduced it to the Apple Watch in 2017, extended it to the iPhone XS/XR in 2018, and launched the eSIM - only version of the iPhone 14 in the US market in 2022.

Arun Mathias, the vice - president of Apple's wireless software technology and ecosystem, told a Jiemian News reporter that in a product as small as an iPhone, every inch of space is extremely valuable. This "eSIM - only" design is the key to achieving a thin and light form and can also free up valuable internal space for optimizing the battery, heat dissipation, and other components.

Arun Mathias gave an example, saying that an iPhone 17 Pro that only supports eSIM can have better battery life, such as an extra two hours of video playback time.

iPhone Air (Image source: Jiemian News)

Beyond hardware performance, Apple's pursuit of the eSIM solution also takes into account the user experience at the software level. Anjali Jotwani, a member of Apple's wireless technology team, pointed out that traveling abroad is a scenario where eSIM is particularly suitable. "Just like in the past, some users who traveled to many countries on business might have to carry a stack of phone cards tied with a rubber band in their pockets."

But now, consumers traveling abroad can use the international roaming plans of domestic operators or directly purchase local eSIM services. Currently, more than 500 operators worldwide support eSIM services on iPhones.

An iPhone Air can support up to two eSIM phone numbers at most. Apple has added a "Travel eSIM" setup process in iOS 26, which supports dual eSIMs being online simultaneously and also allows users to temporarily turn off their domestic numbers and only use the local data eSIM. While the domestic eSIM is turned off, users can continue to use services such as iMessage and Facetime.

Although eSIM technology is already mature, Chinese users still need to go to offline stores to handle the business for the first time. The three major operators in China, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, all support the eSIM activation of the iPhone Air.

According to regulatory requirements, users need to bring their ID cards to the operator's stores to complete real - name authentication and activate the eSIM. Activation methods include NFC readers, QR code scanning, etc. Some users who have evaluated the business handling time have reported that the whole process takes about half an hour. In addition, different operators have certain regulations on whether the user's household registration is local or not for business handling. Apple plans to introduce the "eSIM Quick Transfer" function in the Chinese market in the future to facilitate users to quickly transfer their numbers between old and new phones.

There are reasons why eSIM has not been quickly popularized in the Chinese market. On the one hand, the market is worried that the technology may be remotely attacked, leading to the leakage of users' personal information. On the other hand, it may be maliciously used for electronic fraud and other behaviors.

In response to this problem, Arun Mathias told a Jiemian News reporter that eSIM runs on a security chip and has the same level of security protection as a physical SIM card. At the same time, Apple cooperates with operators and regulatory agencies to establish multiple security verification mechanisms, including offline identity verification and NFC pairing, to ensure that the eSIM is correctly assigned to the user's own device.

Anjali Jotwani added to a Jiemian News reporter that the eSIM cannot be physically removed or transferred to other devices. Even if the phone is lost, others cannot avoid positioning or abuse the number by removing the card, which to some extent reduces the risk of physical SIM cards being used for identity theft.

The launch of the iPhone Air is Apple's another attack on the consumer market with a new product form. After it helps users establish the habit of using eSIM and drives operators to improve service efficiency, the Chinese market may see more eSIM - only versions of iPhone models.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Jiemian News", author: Wu Yangyu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.