Why can't we buy an iPhone 17 without eSIM in Europe? The iPhone with sim-slot has 2 hours less battery performance than US models. I know its Europe rules where a SIM card tray is mandatory but still. This is a big let down.
Your question is wrong it’s opposite, of what you mean, only option is to purchase one from a country where it had no physical sim, and that would mean the warranty would not be valid in the country you live.
It seems you answered your own question:
"I know it's Europe rules where a SIM card tray is mandatory but still."
Wouldn't the EU have a field day with Apple if they launched a phone in that region and excluded cellular providers on the basis of not providing a SIM slot. Wouldn't be surprised if they considered that anti-competitive. Obviously the presence of a SIM slot reduces the amount of free space available that could be used by the battery.
JohnMoses wrote:
Why can't we buy an iPhone 17 without eSIM in Europe? The iPhone with sim-slot has 2 hours less battery performance than US models. I know its Europe rules where a SIM card tray is mandatory but still. This is a big let down.
We aren't Apple here on this user to user only forum. As such, we don't work for Apple nor have any insider knowledge of Apple decisions. But you're not the first to ask this question and I now have a pretty good idea why. It turns out NOT all EU carriers who support iPhone have eSim capability. Apple would logically want to keep a base of customers happy by selling iPhone with a physical SIM and eSim capability. Again, that's my guess and by no means from Apple, but it makes complete sense.
The only real answer we can give you is because Apple doesn't sell an eSim only iPhone 17 in Europe, with the exception of iPhone Air, which is eSim only.
And if the EU mandates that phones sold in the EU must have a physical SIM tray (I don't if they do or don't tbh), that should be all you need if true.
Yeah, bothers me too. I would like to have at least the option to order the eSim only directly from Apple. For me the extra battery life would be a buy argument since I already use eSIM for a while now.
In general, it appears that you already answered your own question regarding the iPhone 17.
Why can't we buy an iPhone 17 without eSIM?
