In a nutshell: The first iPhone without a physical SIM carte du jour slot was originally expected to be the iPhone xv Pro model forecasted to launch in late 2023 just the latest from the rumor manufacturing plant suggests the change could happen a year sooner. Potential benefits include a more seamless design and improved water resistance, amid others.

An bearding tipster recently divulged to MacRumors that Apple has told major wireless providers in the US to prepare for eSIM-simply iPhones by September 2022. The source provided the publication with a "seemingly legitimate" document that laid out the timeline for the initiative, although notably, said document didn't mention Apple or the iPhone by name.

Per the transition, some US carriers will reportedly start selling select iPhone 13 models without a nano-SIM card in the box in the 2d quarter of 2022. iPhone 13 models sold on Apple's website and at its retail stores already don't include a nano-SIM, just support digital SIM cards called eSIMs that let uses activate service without a physical bill of fare.

Considering the alleged September 2022 appointment, it'due south plausible that Apple tree could get-go phasing out physical SIM card slots as early equally the iPhone fourteen family unit.

An eSIM-only blueprint could bring Apple tree's iconic handset one step closer to former design officer Jony Ive's vision of an iPhone that looks similar a single slab of glass. It would too probable make manufacturing a bit easier and further heighten water resistance.

Apple's next iPhone - or at to the lowest degree, the Pro models - are also rumored to characteristic a 48MP photographic camera with a periscope-mode lens design said to exist in the works for the post-obit year.

Epitome credit iFixit