Apple Removes SIM Card Tray on All iPhone 14 Models in U.S.

Wednesday September 7, 2022 11:09 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple today announced that all iPhone 14 models sold in the U.S. do not have a built-in SIM card tray and instead rely entirely on eSIM technology.

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Tech specs on Apple's website confirm the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max are not compatible with physical SIM cards and instead have dual eSIM support, allowing for multiple cellular plans to be activated on a single device.

An eSIM is a digital SIM that allows users to activate a cellular plan without having to use a physical nano-SIM card. eSIM availability is rapidly expanding, but the technology is still not available in all countries, which explains why iPhone 14 models will remain available with a SIM card tray outside of the U.S. for now.

Apple's website has a list of carriers that support eSIM technology around the world. In the U.S., this includes AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon, Xfinity Mobile, Boost Mobile, H2O Wireless, Straight Talk, C Spire, and some others.

The new iPhone 14 lineup consists of the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, with all four devices available to pre-order this Friday, September 9 ahead of a September 16 launch. For more details about the devices, be sure to check out our announcement coverage.

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Top Rated Comments

archi penko

14 months ago

Absolutely ridiculous. What if an American wants to travel to Indonesia and get a local sim?!

What if an Apple exec has to travel and gets a 1 week local travel sim for data

How is this practical, when you have to travel, and the world has not converted yet?! Smh

Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)

_Spinn_

I’m not sure I like this.

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

menist

Carrier took back control, now they can charge for each esim swap you make ?.

Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)

beermode

So traveling now sucks.

JPack

Sucks to be in the U.S. RIP privacy. Can no longer use pre-paid SIMs.

I'll continue buying the dual SIM tray version in Hong Kong.

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)

v0lume4

Back to the dark ages. I remember when Verizon finally adopted SIM cards and I was ecstatic. Calling to activate was the biggest pain in the rear. And it didn’t even work some of the time.

DOA for me.

Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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