iPhone 17 May Drop Physical SIM Support in More Countries

Apple may be dropping traditional physical SIM card support on iPhone 17 in additional countries this year. Expanding from the exclusive eSIM support of iPhone 14 in certain countries, more regions may have to forgo the use of a SIM card slot.

According to MacRumors, retail employees at Apple Authorized Resellers in the EU are being required to complete a training course regarding iPhones and eSIMs. A recent report states that sources indicate these employees must complete the cource by Friday, September 5th, the week before Apple’s “Awe dropping” iPhone 17 event.

If Apple is approaching Authorized Resellers in the EU in a broad sense, up to 27 new countries (including France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands) may see the switch to eSIM-only support on iPhone 17.

It’s said that the course is being offered by Apple’s SEED app. The app is used by employees at official Apple Store locations as well as Apple Authorized Resellers in global markets. With this in mind, there may be other regions in which employees are being trained on this course and thus additional locations that may be switching to eSIM-only support.

In 2022, Apple launched the iPhone 14 series. In the US, all iPhone 14 models ditched the physical SIM slot and opted to use eSIMs only. Currently, the US is the only market to exclude support for traditional SIM cards.

In August, it was reported that the iPhone 17 Air (Apple’s new ultra-thin device) may ditch the SIM card slot to compensate for its thin chassis. Majin Bu, a credible leaker, claimed that iPhone 17 Pro devices may still include a physical SIM tray in select markets.