iPhone 17 Air is eSIM-only — in Europe too

iPhone 17 Air: the first eSIM-only iPhone sold in Europe too

With the iPhone 17 Air (officially the iPhone Air, widely called "iPhone 17 Air"), Apple is for the first time selling an iPhone in Germany and across Europe with no physical SIM slot at all. The ultra-thin body simply leaves no room for a nano-SIM tray, so the Air is eSIM-only worldwide.

But claims that "all iPhone 17 models are now eSIM-only" are not true. The key difference:

Model (bought in Europe)	Physical nano-SIM	eSIM
iPhone 17 Air	❌ no	✅ yes (eSIM only)
iPhone 17	✅ yes	✅ yes
iPhone 17 Pro	✅ yes	✅ yes
iPhone 17 Pro Max	✅ yes	✅ yes

The regular iPhone 17 models keep their SIM tray in Europe — only the Air is the outlier. In the US, Apple has sold every model eSIM-only since the iPhone 14 (2022); Europe is now partly following suit with the Air.

What it means for travellers

If you own an eSIM-only iPhone, you can't insert a local plastic SIM abroad anymore — so a travel eSIM becomes the natural way to get affordable data. And it's actually more convenient than before:

• Your home number keeps running as your first eSIM profile.
• The travel eSIM is added as a second profile — both active at once (Dual eSIM), switch in seconds.
• No fiddling with tiny SIM cards, no losing your home SIM on holiday.

The Air stores several eSIMs, so you can keep a separate profile for each country you visit.

Quick check: To see whether your iPhone supports eSIM, dial *#06# — if an EID (32 digits) appears, an eSIM chip is built in.

Find the right travel eSIM

For an eSIM-only iPhone, all you need abroad is the right travel eSIM. Our provider comparison lists Airalo, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi & co. sorted by country, data volume and price. Not sure your device is compatible? The interactive device finder answers in seconds.