Apple’s thinnest phone ever! iPhone 17 Air prototype revealed to have no physical SIM card slot

 iPhone 17 Air is the thinnest model in Apple’s history, with a thickness between 5mm and 6mm. In comparison, the iPhone 6 is currently the thinnest mobile phone in Apple’s history, with a thickness of only 6.9mm. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus released this year are 7.8mm thick.

It is reported that the iPhone 17 Air prototype does not have a physical SIM card slot because the body is too thin , and Apple engineers have not yet found a way to insert a SIM card tray, which means that the iPhone 17 Air may be the first iPhone that only supports eSIM worldwide.

For the US market, the fact that the iPhone does not have a SIM card slot will not have any impact, because starting from the iPhone 14 series, the US version of the iPhone has removed the SIM card slot and supported eSIM.

However, the Chinese version of the iPhone does not support eSIM technology, which means that the iPhone 17 Air may not be sold in mainland China. It is also possible that Apple will design a separate iPhone 17 Air with a SIM card tray.

In Apple’s view, eSIM is safer than physical SIM cards because the eSIM cannot be removed when the iPhone is lost or stolen. When using eSIM, you do not need to obtain, carry and replace physical SIM cards.

In addition, the iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with a self-developed 5G baseband. Due to cost control and the need for ultra-thin body, the iPhone 17 Air will not support 5G millimeter wave technology.

It is understood that although millimeter wave technology can provide higher data transmission speeds and greater bandwidth, it also has some obvious disadvantages. For example, millimeter waves have weak penetration capabilities and are easily affected by obstacles. Even tiny objects such as leaves or raindrops may block signal transmission.