BEIJING (Kashmir English): Apple is going to release iPhone 17 series on 19 September in most countries, but the iPhone Air will not be available in China at launch, mainly due to a delay in regulatory approval for its embedded SIM (eSIM).
According to Apple’s website, all three state-owned mobile network operators in China — China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom — will support eSIM for the iPhone Air. However, the availability of the device in the open market remains dependent on official clearance.
“iPhone Air will be available in China soon”
South China Morning Post quoted Apple as having said that it was working with the relevant authorities to make the iPhone Air available in China “as soon as possible.”
The newspaper cited a message by China Mobile on Weibo, in which the network confirmed that eSIM functionality had been enabled for mobile phones. However, no date for the release was announced.
China Telecom also in a post on RedNote indicated plans to launch its own eSIM service on 19 September, the same day as the global release of the iPhone 17 range. The post was later removed, according to the South China Morning Post.
