M4 iPad Pro and iPad Air Now eSIM Only–Will iPhone 16 Follow?

ipad pro m4

Apple’s latest M4 iPad Pro announced this week debuted a new super-thin design, while also an OLED display for the first time.

In order to get the max 16GB of RAM and fastest M4 configuration, Apple is forcing customers to pay more for 1TB and 2TB versions. These versions are also the only ones that can get a nano-texture display to lessen glare.

One major change to these M4 iPad Pros? The ditching of the physical nano SIM card tray, now moving exclusively to eSIM for cellular models.

“iPad Pro uses eSIM technology and is not compatible with physical SIM cards,” says Apple Canada’s website. This also applies to the updated iPad Air.

With the SIM card tray going the way of the Dodo bird on the iPad Pro, many suspect we are getting closer to an eSIM-only future. Will the iPhone 16 line up this year move to eSIM only?

Apple’s website lists the following wireless brands in Canada that officially support eSIM. We’ve put the brands in brackets below that support eSIM but are not listed on Apple’s website:

  • Bell, Virgin Plus, Lucky Mobile
  • Rogers, Fido (Chatr)
  • Telus, Koodo (Public Mobile)
  • Eastlink
  • Freedom Mobile (Videotron)
  • SaskTel

Videotron’s Fizz has yet to support eSIM.

Personally, I don’t think we’re quite ready to move to eSIM only for the iPhone yet. It might happen in the U.S. first, but Canada being Canada, not everyone will be on board just yet. What do you think?

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