MacRumors is reporting that the iPhone 17 “Air” and other models will go eSIM only in more countries. This rumour pops up every year stating that the next bunch of iPhones will drop the physical SIM in many countries, in addition to the US.

My first reaction is to dread the day this will happen, but then, on second thought, this isn’t going to be as bad as it sounds. I have been lucky enough to do a bit of travelling in the past few years. And have used an eSIM in every single country apart from one – Egypt. Again, I am sure I was offered an eSIM but only took out a physical one at the airport because the customer service assistant told me that the physical SIM would be better at maintaining faster speeds. On hindsight, I don’t think that’s how it works, but still, I know if I had an eSIM-only iPhone, it would not have mattered.

This only brings more advantages. I could get rid of the SIM tray ejector tool that stays in my travel wallet and get an eSIM before I even travel – which is what I do now, as buying an eSIM with a data connection is actually cheaper.

What Apple intends to do with the added space gained from removing the physical SIM tray? I don’t know. I hope it brings in some advantages (maybe a bigger battery, or better haptics). As of now, it’s just wasted space, because there are effectively two different versions of the iPhone – one with a physical SIM tray and one without. When Apple fully drops the physical SIM tray, then it can utilise the extra space for something more meaningful.

I look forward to the day someone at Apple gets on stage during the iPhone keynote and has the “Courage” moment of why they removed the physical SIM tray.

After all, everyone was dreading the rumour of Apple removing the 3.5mm audio jack. But it turned out great for both Apple and its customers.