Does Apple iPhone 16 support eSIM and dual SIM cards?

Looking for one of the new iPhone 16 devices? You’ll need to make sure you can connect it to your network, and we know that eSIM and dual-SIM support have become very confusing over the past few years — especially for Apple users! You might be wondering how the new iPhones handle all this. Does the Apple iPhone 16 have eSIM and dual-SIM? We’ll tell you everything you need to know about it!

Does iPhone 16 have eSIM?

Yes, all versions of the Apple iPhone 16 series support eSIM. This includes the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

What does change between markets is the availability of physical SIM card support. The US versions of all these iPhone 16 models will not support a physical SIM card at all. SIM card slots are completely absent.

There are, however, different versions of the iPhone 16 series. The international models will come with a physical SIM card slot and an eSIM. The only model that doesn’t support eSIM is the Chinese version, but it will come with two physical SIM card slots, which many of you may prefer.

If you want to get a clearer picture of each model and its SIM/eSIM configuration, here is the table:

Yes, the iPhone 16 series supports dual SIM functionality, regardless of which version you buy.

The US versions of the iPhone 16 can support two eSIM profiles at the same time. The international model can support one physical SIM card along with an eSIM profile. Alternatively, you can use two eSIM profiles, just like the US model.

Chinese versions of the iPhone 16 allow two physical SIM cards to operate simultaneously. No eSIM support.

Apple continued this tradition with the iPhone 15 and 16 devices, so there’s no going back, at least here in the U.S. In the U.S., all new iPhones lack physical SIM support and rely solely on eSIM technology.

Luckily for most of you around the world, only US residents are affected by the whole eSIM-only mess. The rest of you will have physical SIM card slots.

That said, we can also assume that many of you have already switched to eSIM. And even if you haven’t, we don’t see most users having issues, apart from a possibly wobbly activation process. Otherwise, users will enjoy their phones just as they would with a real SIM card. This is because most users don’t swap phones and SIM cards all the time.

There is one group of people who may be hurt, though. Travelers often use SIM cards from other countries to avoid roaming charges or stay connected where they otherwise wouldn’t. And while you might think that simply getting an eSIM profile from that country is the answer, many countries still haven’t quite caught up with eSIM technology.

This brings us to the next option: You can import the iPhone 16 from another country. Of course, this may have some warranty implications, but it’s definitely something you can consider.