iPhones To Come Without Physical SIM Card Slots Next Year: Everything You Should Know

Apple is mulling to launch some iPhone models without a SIM card slot by next year, in a bid to push towards eSIMs.

Representative image. Courtesy: Getty

Apple is mulling to launch some iPhone models without a SIM card slot by next year, in a bid to push towards eSIMs, says Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. This means that this year's iPhone 14 series would be the last lineup to feature slots that accommodate physical SIM cards. The tech giant already embeds eSIMs within the iPhone and cellular Apple Watch and iPad models, thus, enabling iPhone users to subscribe to network operators.

An eSIM is essentially a digital SIM that allows users to activate a cellular plan from their network carrier without having to use a physical nano-SIM.

However, Apple is now planning to save some real estate on the inside by doing away with the physical SIM card slot as this could let it potentially house bigger batteries. According to Gurman's Power On newsletter, "Apple will give eSIM a bigger push this time around, with carriers preparing to steer users toward the digital, embedded SIM cards rather than physical ones. In fact, Apple has considered removing the physical SIM card slot altogether beginning either this year or next for some models."

With the Apple iPhone 14 series launch less than a day away, a new Apple device was spotted on the Indian certification website Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recently which is purportedly the iPhone 14. However, according to the BIS listing, it is not clear if the moniker is of the upcoming vanilla iPhone 14. The Apple iPhone model that has been listed on BIS bears model number A2882.

Apple is hosting the iPhone 14 series launch event which it is calling the Far Out event on September 7, which is a bit earlier than usual. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is likely to unveil the iPhone 14 lineup and a bunch of other products tomorrow.

ABP Live will be hosting a live blog on the launch of the iPhone 14 series and a bunch of other product announcements by Apple during the Far Out event, with all updates and also update on our social platforms including Twitter and Facebook. For the Indian audience the event would be a late-night one and would typically go on for two hours or a little more, so we can expect it to conclude by 12:30 am.

Products expected to launch at the Apple Far Out event?

The launch of the iPhone 14 series is perhaps the most hyped launch of the year. This year, Apple is likely to discontinue the iPhone mini and the iPhone 14 series may comprise the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max models. In terms of design, we can expect the biggest change in the pricier iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max which are said to do away with the notch in favour of a pill-shaped hole-punch cutout on top.