UK iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max – eSIM-Only Availability and Battery Differences

Wantesim wrote:

Well I was going to go for the I phone 17 pro max but as its sim only and you cannot buy e sim in the uk I’m not upgrading what’s the point of paying the same price for a smaller inferior battery it’s near enough the same as last gen very annoying Apple.

You are misinformed. A UK variant iPhone 17 won't be SIM only. It WILL have a SIM Slot, but it will also have the ability to use eSim as well. And the comment that you'd be getting an inferior battery seems a bit extreme. It will be slightly smaller as a physical SIM tray does take some space away, but the battery could hardly be considered inferior. And really, do people consider only the battery size as a reason to upgrade? What about ALL the other terrific features on the new iPhones?

All four major UK mobile network operators — EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone, fully support eSIM functionality for compatible devices. In addition to these, several other providers offer eSIMs, including Giffgaff, Honest Mobile, iD Mobile, Lyca Mobile, Sky Mobile, Spusu, Tesco Mobile, and VOXI.

He’s not misinformed at all, the EU/UK Pro models have a smaller battery due to the SIM tray, which means ~2 hours less battery life. Since the iPhone Air is eSIM-only worldwide (including the UK), it makes no sense. We pay the same as US buyers, have to deal extra bulk of the Pro but without the full benefits .and that’s a valid complaint.

iPhone 17 units originally sold in the UK have a physical SIM card slot and about an hour less battery capacity than the USA ones. There isn't an option to get them without the slot.

(261276)

Well I was going to go for the I phone 17 pro max but as its sim only and you cannot buy e sim in the uk I’m not upgrading what’s the point of paying the same price for a smaller inferior battery it’s near enough the same as last gen very annoying Apple.

so what your saying i still have to have a sim tray even though i would be using the e sim option and the battery would not have the same capacity as the us version and yes i do consider the battery as a main reason for buying a £1200 mobile phone

i own the 16 pro max which is a 4685mAh and the 17 pro max with sim is 4823 mAh and without is 5088 mAh which i think is a great improvement i would like the best improvement i don't think thats much to ask for.

Then tell Apple. This is a user to user only forum. The battery is a tad larger in the 17 Pro Max even in a UK variant, but there is only so much space to put the battery in. So it is what it is. In real world use, it won't really make much of a difference. It will still have an all day battery and then some. And with the new A19 Pro chip, more CPU and GPU Cores and significantly increased RAM, the new phones will run cooler, faster and should last longer on a charge.

If you want to complain to Apple about this, use this link --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

BobMcBurger wrote:

Buying a phone because of the battery is a completely valid reason, especially when you’re paying over a grand for it, and it doesn’t ignore all the other features the device offers.

Dismissing the slightly smaller battery on the UK models as trivial ignores that you could be getting an inferior device simply because of your region. People are entitled to consider specs like battery size when deciding whether an upgrade is worth it.

Of course people are entitled to consider and actually should consider specs when deciding to upgrade. If it's not worth the upgrade to you, that's fine. I don't care if you upgrade or don't upgrade. I'm simply suggesting the difference in real world use will be negligible and there are other notable upgrades the new phones offer over the current generation. But just like I posted above, if you aren't pleased about the battery in a UK variant, complain to Apple and I even provided a link you can use. Complaining to other users on a user to user only forum, gets you nothing.

Hello,

I was also planning to upgrade from a 16 PM to a 17 PM UK model. Only to find out the battery size is not the same as the US version and other selected countries due to being an ESIM only model.

Yet the IPhone Air is ESIM only and can be purchased in the UK.

Can someone please explain this?

Deputy_D wrote:

Hello,

I was also planning to upgrade from a 16 PM to a 17 PM UK model. Only to find out the battery size is not the same as the US version and other selected countries due to being an ESIM only model.

Yet the IPhone Air is ESIM only and can be purchased in the UK.

Can someone please explain this?

No, no one here can explain this. This is a user to user only forum, which no one from Apple participates. As users only, none of whom work for or have any connection to Apple, we are not privy to why Apple chooses to do anything. I can guess why and that would be the iPhone 17 Air is so thin, that putting in a dedicated SIM Card slot would have removed too much space, which a phone that thin needs for a battery which can provide enough power to for all day use. But that's just my guess. I'm willing to bet it's a pretty good guess, though.

Apple decided to save the space on the iPhone Air to make the unit smaller, and so they could put in a larger battery on the Canadian and USA models; in general, they do what they think will be more important to customers in any given market.

(261282)

The end of the last comment from lobsterghost1 looks like this on my screen.

I cannot see a number or brackets here. Can you please post a screenshot of what you see regarding a number and brackets on your screen?

Deputy_D wrote:

Hello,

I was also planning to upgrade from a 16 PM to a 17 PM UK model. Only to find out the battery size is not the same as the US version and other selected countries due to being an ESIM only model.

Yet the IPhone Air is ESIM only and can be purchased in the UK.

Can someone please explain this?

The iPhone 17 Air, which is eSim-only worldwide, is much thinner than the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. Getting rid of the eSim tray may have been part of what allowed for the thinness.

The iPhone 17 Air also has significantly smaller battery runtime than the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, unless you purchase and use the optional external MagSafe battery pack.