TECH NEWS – This move could set an international trend for the Cupertino-based company, which may confirm it within days.

Apple is taking a bold step with the iPhone 17 product line by reportedly making eSIM the default option in the EU. Physical SIM cards have remained the standard solution in many countries outside the United States until now, but this may soon change. The most significant indication of this change is Apple’s decision that retail and reseller staff in the EU must complete eSIM training by September 5. The company wants staff to finish the training before the September 9 iPhone 17 announcement, making it difficult to view this as a coincidence.

The timing suggests that Apple is preparing to launch the iPhone 17 exclusively with eSIM technology in Europe, a move that may soon extend to global markets. Apple has already switched completely to eSIM in the United States since the release of the iPhone 14, and none of its models support physical SIM cards. The question is when this change will come to Asia, as this region relies heavily on physical SIM cards.

Models with only eSIMs have one advantage over models with physical SIM cards: more internal space for other purposes. Eliminating the physical SIM card could also enable the company to standardize and simplify its hardware globally. It should be noted that the EU has 27 member states, so it remains to be seen whether the company will omit certain regions in favor of others. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the iPhone 17 Air will likely be eSIM-only everywhere.

Apple designed this model without a SIM tray in order to keep it as thin as possible. It’s one of the compromises the company had to make to maintain the phone’s ultra-thin profile. The design has certain advantages as well; one less opening improves the device’s water and dust resistance. Additionally, eSIMs offer better security because they cannot be removed from the device.

Source: WCCFTech, MacRumors