A few days ago, reports emerged from the Brazillian website saying that Apple will remove the physical SIM card slot from the iPhone 15 Pro models in 2023. However, a new report comes from the folks at MacRumors, suggesting that the big change will come earlier. As a result, the smartphones coming under the upcoming iPhone 14 should be the first to leave the physical SIM slot behind in favor of a full eSIM solution.
The new report states that Apple has advised major US carriers to prepare for the launch of eSIM-only smartphones by September 2022. This adds that Apple will start the transition from some iPhone 13 models sold in the second quarter of 2022. Of course, we still don’t know if this will be a change coming for all countries where Apple sells the iPhones. After all, eSIM is not a reality in some countries. So, the company may still offer a physical SIM solution for these regions. Otherwise, these countries will need to push forward the changes in order to keep selling iPhones. Especially, when Apple has the power to start trends. We may see other companies adopting the same strategy as soon as Apple ditches the physical SIM solution.
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Apple iPhone 14 series will come with only eSIM support
It’s an interesting advancement for a company that took a while to offer dual SIM support. However, this is something that we could see coming. After all, rumors about eSIM support on iPhones have been floating since a few years ago. Moreover, Apple already uses this fully in the Apple Watch series. Back in 2018, Apple’s iPhone XS and the iPhone XR were the first to come with dual SIM card support worldwide. They pack a primary nano-SIM and secondary eSIM support working with certain carriers. Of course, the feature depends on regional availability and carrier support. Software-wise, the iOS 12.1 update was the first to support dual SIM and eSIM functionality. Now with iOS 15.1, this is pretty much well-established.
Of course, there are still several months to come before the iPhone 14 series release. The rumors say that these iPhones will bring the biggest changes since the iPhone X reveal in 2017. The new handsets may adopt a punch-hole solution, leaving the wide notch solution behind. Apple will also bring, after so many years, an in-display fingerprint scanner that marks the return of Touch ID on iPhones. Rumors say that the company is also ditching the iPhone 14 mini in favor of a new bigger model dubbed iPhone 14 Max.
A new iPhone SE 3 is also expected for the first half of 2022. As usual, the iPhones will be in the rumor mill until their release in September 2022.
