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Apple postpones iPhone Air release in China as CCP keeps a tight grip on eSIMs

MacDailyNews

Sep 12

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Available in four beautiful colors, the new polished titanium on iPhone Air has an elegant mirrored finish.

Apple is likely to postpone iPhone Air shipments in China, its thinnest model yet, as it addresses regulatory hurdles with local authorities regarding the embedded SIM. On Friday morning, Apple updated iPhone Air ordering details for mainland China, changing the original launch schedule to “release information to be updated later.” Previously, pre-orders were set to begin at 8pm Friday local time, with deliveries starting September 19th.

The Chinese Communist Party’s strict control over eSIM technology in China stems from a combination of regulatory, security, and surveillance priorities, particularly through the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Unlike physical SIM cards, which require in-person verification and can be easily monitored, eSIMs enable remote activation and carrier switching, posing challenges to the state’s oversight of telecommunications.

Coco Feng for South China Morning Post:
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At 5.6mm thick, the iPhone Air requires an eSIM. [There is no physical SIM tray.] The other new models introduced earlier this week – the basic iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max – are still set for release [in mainland China] from September 19, as pre-orders begin Friday evening, according to Apple’s website.
Apple representatives told Chinese media that it was “working closely with regulatory authorities to bring it to China as soon as possible”.
Apple said all three state-owned telecommunications network operators – China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom – would “provide eSIM support [with] specific timing subject to regulatory approval”. It previously only tapped China Unicom for the function.
China Mobile posted on microblogging site Weibo on Wednesday that the company had “enabled eSIM services for mobile phones”, but that details regarding the launch date “would be announced separately”.
In a post on the social media platform RedNote earlier this week, the Beijing branch of China Telecom announced that it would launch the eSIM service on September 19, the original shipping date for the iPhone Air. The post has since been removed.

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MacDailyNews Take: The CCP’s lust for control belies an acute lack of confidence. If their ideas were strong, they wouldn’t need to eliminate vectors for differing viewpoints.

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