With the approval of China Unicom and China Mobile to conduct commercial trials for eSIM mobile phones, and after Tim Cook officially announced that the eSIM version of the iPhone 17 Air will be released next week, the Chinese smartphone market has officially entered the eSIM era.
On the evening of October 13, Apple CEO Tim Cook officially announced in a Douyin Apple Store live broadcast that the highly anticipated pure eSIM model iPhone Air will start pre-orders on October 17 and will be fully released on October 22.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/54e7bac4-c2a4-4af6-92fb-17f7965f473f.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/54e7bac4-c2a4-4af6-92fb-17f7965f473f.png"/>
On the 13th, China Unicom and China Mobile successively released announcements, stating that they have officially obtained approval to conduct commercial trials for eSIM mobile phone operating services. This breakthrough by the operators paves the way for the launch of the iPhone Air and signifies that the domestic smartphone market has officially entered the eSIM era.
As the first Apple phone to completely eliminate the physical SIM card slot, the iPhone Air will provide domestic consumers with a convenient mobile communication service experience that does not require a physical card and allows for online activation. Analysts pointed out that Cook personally appeared in the live broadcast to announce the news, highlighting Apple's emphasis on the Chinese market.
It is understood that the Chinese version of the iPhone Air offers three storage versions: the 256GB version is priced at 7,999 yuan, the 512GB version at 9,999 yuan, and the 1TB version at 11,999 yuan. Consumers can pre-order through multiple official channels, including Apple's China official website, Apple Store App, Tmall, and Douyin flagship stores.
<h2>Operator eSIM Services Officially Approved</h2>
On October 13, China Unicom and China Mobile successively released significant news, announcing that they have officially obtained approval to conduct commercial trials for eSIM mobile phone operating services. China Unicom stated that this breakthrough is a milestone achievement in its ten years of technological accumulation in the eSIM field.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/f971557f-bfc7-4e52-ad6f-ef39fe7454a0.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/f971557f-bfc7-4e52-ad6f-ef39fe7454a0.png"/>
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/951ea9e1-6efe-470d-b745-61c94292ba8a.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/951ea9e1-6efe-470d-b745-61c94292ba8a.png"/>
Just a few hours later, Apple quickly followed up. Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared in the Douyin Apple Store live broadcast to personally announce this significant news, demonstrating its importance to the Chinese market.
According to [Daily Economic News](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=Mzg3NTA5MjkyNQ==&amp;mid=2248479842&amp;idx=1&amp;sn=863727262f2e2028aef5bea842900192&amp;chksm=ccd60e071d7494a8a8d3346c62472fbdd66c91d5a39ec2685e53253bababf83d6d12f25a8fc9&amp;mpshare=1&amp;scene=23&amp;srcid=1014LHQyMDQ04VIjyNuWSV4D&amp;sharer_shareinfo=dd0cbd5bcc1914536689f0d300
According to the report (b4422c&amp;sharer_shareinfo_first=dd0cbd5bcc1914536689f0d300b4422c#rd), China Unicom officially launched the national reservation channel for eSIM services on the same day, with the number of reservations exceeding 60,000 and still rapidly growing. Users can make reservations for eSIM services through China Unicom's WeChat public account, APP, or offline service centers. China Mobile also announced that users can go to service centers to handle eSIM mobile services.
This policy breakthrough resolves the biggest obstacle faced by the iPhone Air since its release in September. As a phone that completely eliminates the physical SIM card slot, the iPhone Air relies entirely on the carrier's eSIM services, and the official approval of carrier services has cleared regulatory hurdles for its domestic version launch.
eSIM, or embedded SIM card, differs from traditional physical SIM cards as it is directly embedded in the device chip, allowing communication functions without the need to insert or replace physical cards. The device completes carrier network configuration through over-the-air download technology, greatly enhancing the device's waterproof and dustproof performance.
This technology enables a slimmer design and simplifies the user experience. With the official launch of the iPhone Air, domestic consumers will experience the convenience brought by this new technology on a large scale for the first time. An Apple spokesperson stated:
<blockquote>
&#34;We believe customers in mainland China will love the iPhone Air and hope they can experience it soon.&#34;
</blockquote>
<h2>iPhone Air Technical Specifications and Design Highlights</h2>
As Apple's phone product named &#34;Air,&#34; the iPhone Air showcases significant features in design and technology.
By removing the physical SIM card slot, the device achieves an astonishing thickness of 5.6mm, with the middle frame made of 5-level aerospace-grade titanium, and both front and back covered with ultra-ceramic panels.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/f95622eb-6ccf-426c-8c2a-25df70bf53e8.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/f95622eb-6ccf-426c-8c2a-25df70bf53e8.png"/>
In terms of performance, the iPhone Air is equipped with the new A19 Pro processor, with its GPU peak performance reportedly three times that of the A18 Pro. It also includes Apple's self-developed N1 chip and C1X modem, supporting next-generation connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
The display and camera configurations are equally impressive, featuring a 6.5-inch 120Hz ProMotion display with a peak brightness of 3000 nits. The rear has a 48-megapixel fusion camera, while the front has an 18-megapixel selfie camera, maintaining flagship-level imaging capabilities

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China Unicom and China Mobile were approved on October 13 to conduct commercial trials of eSIM mobile phones. A few hours later, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced in a Douyin live broadcast that the first pure eSIM model, the iPhone 17 Air, will start pre-orders on October 17 and will be released on October 22. The model completely eliminates the physical SIM card slot, has a thickness of only 5.6mm, and offers three versions: 256GB/512GB/1TB, priced at 7999-11999 yuan

- China officially enters the eSIM era as China Unicom and China Mobile receive approval for eSIM mobile service trials, coinciding with Apple's announcement of the iPhone Air's release.  
- The iPhone Air, which eliminates the physical SIM card slot, will be available for pre-order on October 17 and fully released on October 22, offering a seamless online activation experience.  
- This development marks a significant milestone in mobile technology, enhancing device design and user convenience while paving the way for widespread adoption of eSIM services in China.

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The domestic eSIM issue is settled, Cook officially announced on Douyin: iPhone 17 air will be released next week