IPhone 17 Air Will Be Apple's First IPhone To Use Only ESIMs In Europe

IPhone 17 Air will be a special eSIM (eSIM-only) device in Europe (photo: dock. apple)

JAKARTA - The latest rumors indicate that Apple will bring significant changes to the iPhone 17 series in Europe. Unlike previous reports that all iPhone 17 lines will switch to eSIM, now a report from Greece claims that only the iPhone 17 Air model will become a special eSIM (eSIM-only) device in the region.

This step is in line with Apple's efforts to create a phone with the thinst design ever. To achieve a very slim form, Apple is rumored to have to overhaul its internal design, where one of the components sacrificed is a physical SIM card slot.

The use of eSIM is nothing new for Apple. Since the iPhone 14, Apple has completely removed physical SIM slots for the United States market. This transition shows that eSIM is now considered a practical and secure solution.

While some users may still choose physical SIMs, eSIM offers various advantages, such as:

Practicality while traveling: Users can switch operators or activate local packages while abroad without the need to search for or buy a physical SIM card.

Security: eSIM cannot be stolen or lost physically, which makes user data more protected.

However, this transition also brings several challenges. ESIM availability is still limited in some countries and the process of transferring eSIM to new devices is sometimes more complicated than moving physical SIMs.

In addition to eliminating SIM slots, the super thin design on the iPhone 17 Air is also reported to have brought other compromises. Some leaks say that the iPhone 17 Air is likely to only be equipped with one rear camera. This is surprising given that most of the phones in the market, even from the middle to lower class, already carry a two or more camera configuration.

Apple may rely on computing photography technology (computational photography) to cover this shortfall, but actual performance can only be known after the official device is released. In addition, battery life is also rumored to be one aspect that is sacrificed for minimal thickness.

All of these details, both on the use of eSIM in Europe and its compromise specifications, are expected to be revealed at the Apple launch event next week, which will be held on September 9.