During the early hours of September 10th, Beijing time, Apple unveiled its latest lineup of iPhone models, including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its pioneering foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. Among these, the iPhone Duo is priced starting at 15,999 yuan, marking it as the most expensive iPhone iteration in Apple's storied history. A notable feature of this model is its lack of support for physical SIM cards; instead, it exclusively relies on eSIM technology. An eSIM, or embedded SIM, is a SIM card integrated directly into the device's chipset, providing communication and location-based services. It enables network connectivity via apps or cloud-based solutions, offering heightened security.
In mainland China, users of the iPhone Duo (model number A3721) can activate their eSIM by undergoing identity verification at the offline stores of the three major carriers. Presently, the iPhone models available in China that support eSIM technology include the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Air. It's important to note that only these locally purchased models can accommodate eSIM profiles from mainland carriers, whereas iPhone models bought overseas are incompatible with services provided by mainland carriers.