Differences in the US version of the iPhone 17

The space freed up by removing the SIM slot on the iPhone 17 series will be used for the battery. Photo: REWA Lab .

Apple began releasing iPhones with eSIM capabilities in 2018, but it wasn't until this year that the space freed up by removing the physical SIM slot was fully utilized. As a result, the iPhone 17 without a physical SIM card has a higher battery capacity. In many countries, including the US, Apple only sells the eSIM version.

A SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a term referring to an integrated circuit used to store a phone's identification number and other data. In the early days of mobile phones, people typically stored contacts on the SIM card instead of on the phone itself.

The size of SIM cards has gradually decreased over time, from the original version, about the size of a credit card, to the nanoSIM, the currently common version, which is only about the size of a fingertip (12.3 x 8.8 mm). However, phone manufacturers still want to make them even smaller.

SIM cards are gradually being replaced by eSIMs. These are software-based SIMs stored on a circuit board. A key advantage of eSIMs is the elimination of the hassle of changing SIM cards, the worry of losing them, or damaged contacts, and the removal of a SIM tray slot on the device.

Apple began offering eSIM on the iPhone XS and XR in 2018. However, it wasn't until the iPhone 14 series that the company discontinued support for removable SIM cards on models sold in the US.

With the iPhone 14, 15, and 16, the US market models (eSIM-only) offer no real advantage over models for other markets. Apple simply added a piece of plastic to the SIM tray slot.

This year, Apple took full advantage of this detail. They redesigned the internals to dedicate that valuable space to the battery. As a result, the iPhone 17, which only supports eSIM, has a slightly larger battery capacity compared to models with a physical SIM tray.

Based on an analysis by a YouTube channel that disassembled the iPhone 17, combined with other sources, MacRumors reports that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models that only use eSIM have larger battery capacities than the versions with physical SIM slots, by 3.7%, 18.7%, and 8.6% respectively.

Although the difference may be modest, 9to5mac predicts this is a compelling reason to switch to eSIM versions worldwide starting with the iPhone Fold and iPhone 18 series launching next year.