Apple Postpones Release of New iPhone Air in Mainland China

(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. delayed the launch of its new iPhone Air in mainland China, citing regulatory approval issues.

When pre-orders for the new models began on Friday, the company’s China website would not let customers in the region order the new, thinner device. Instead, a message reads: “Release information will be updated later. All models will be released after approval.”

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The iPhone maker previously said that the new product would become available in the region Sept. 12 for pre-order and on Sept. 19 for general availability, matching the US and other major markets.

WATCH: Apple introduced its iPhone 17 lineup, adding an all-new skinnier Air design, updated AirPods and Watches. Samantha Kelly has all the detailsSource: Bloomberg

An Apple spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A launch in China is far more complex for the iPhone Air than it is elsewhere. Unlike the US, China is mostly reliant on physical SIM cards and hasn’t widely adopted eSIM technology, which the iPhone Air uses because of its thinner frame.

When the iPhone Air was announced, Apple said that the device would initially only be available through a single Chinese carrier — China Unicom — and would require users to visit a physical carrier store to activate their eSIM and start using the device.

The company’s website has also added that other carriers like China Mobile Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. would eventually support the iPhone Air and eSIM. Apple’s other new iPhones — the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max — launched as planned in the region and include physical SIM cards locally.

Separately, in the US, home deliveries for some iPhone 17 Pro Max models slipped to a window of Oct. 6 to Oct. 13, potentially indicating strong initial demand for the device.

New orders now arriving later include the 17 Pro Max cosmic orange model in 256-gigabyte, 512-gigabyte and 1-terabyte storage capacities. The silver version with either 256GB or 512GB of storage has also seen new orders get pushed to next month.

The iPhone Air, the smaller 17 Pro and the standard iPhone 17 did not show any meaningful US delays 45 minutes after pre-orders opened.

(Updates with details about iPhone 17 Pro Max shipments starting in the eighth paragraph.)

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Apple Postpones Release of New iPhone Air in Mainland China

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