Overview

• Tim Cook announced on Weibo that mainland China preorders open Friday, October 17 at 9:00 a.m., with deliveries starting Wednesday, October 22.
• China’s industry regulator confirmed trial eSIM service approvals for China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, enabling carrier support for the device.
• The iPhone Air is an ultra-thin model that removes the physical SIM slot and operates exclusively with eSIM.
• Apple priced the entry 256GB configuration at 7,999 yuan for the mainland China market.
• The rollout follows a postponement tied to eSIM approvals, and adoption will gauge how ready Chinese consumers are to switch from physical SIMs.