iPhone Air orders in China may be delayed due to eSIM issue

Apple's iPhone Air launch may be delayed in China due to regulations around its eSIM-only nature, the South China Morning Post announced. Apple's mainland China site now states that "release information [will] be updated later," where previously it said that pre-orders would start at 8PM on September 19. The Beijing branch of China Telecom has also pulled a post from the RedNote social media platform announcing that it would launch its eSIM service this month. All other iPhone models (the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max) will launch as scheduled next Friday.

Due to its slim 5.6 mm thickness, Apple decided to make the iPhone Air its first model with no physical SIM card option. However, it has always sold iPhones in China with SIM card support that allows customers to easily link their identity to a cellular phone ...