iPhone 17 and iPhone Air are latest phones to push eSIM — here’s why I don’t want to give up physical SIM cards

In case you hadn’t noticed, Apple has declared war on the SIM card. Or at least, it escalated the war that technically began with the release of iPhone 14 in 2022, when those models launched as eSIM-only phones in the U.S.

Not only has Apple expanded the reach of eSIM-only iPhones, it’s also given them an advantage by adding a little more battery capacity to eSIM-based iPhone 17 models.