Apple rolls out iPad eSIM support in China

iPad on a table

Apple has made an incredibly minor update to the iPad, with the tenth-generation model now gaining eSIM support in China.

Rumors circulated on Tuesday that Apple would make an iPad announcement, which failed to materialize. After introducing a new Apple Pencil, it turns out that Apple did do something iPad-related, but only in China.

In Apple's announcement about the Apple Pencil in its regional newsroom covering China, the company mentions a small change to the tenth-generation iPad. According to the press release, the Wi-Fi + Cellular model will gain support for eSIM for the first time.

Consumers in China were able to get a Wi-Fi + Cellular model of the iPad, but it used a SIM rather than an eSIM. Under the change, eSIM support will be added to the cellular-equipped model under the model number A3162.

Preorders for the eSIM-equipped iPad will open on October 19, with a release date of October 25. Only the China Unicom service is available for the eSIM in mainland China.

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3 Comments

twolf2919 144 comments · 2 Years

About 1 year ago

This is weird - we purchased an iPhone 15 Pro Max for my wife to take back to China as a gift when the intended receiver told us that iPhones from the US no longer work in China since they didn't have a physical SIM tray and Chinese couldn't use eSIMs. So we returned the iPhone and got something else. If Apple is making an iPad with eSIM for China, did I misunderstand our Chinese relative?

Xed 2868 comments · 4 Years

About 1 year ago

twolf2919 said:

This is weird - we purchased an iPhone 15 Pro Max for my wife to take back to China as a gift when the intended receiver told us that iPhones from the US no longer work in China since they didn't have a physical SIM tray and Chinese couldn't use eSIMs. So we returned the iPhone and got something else. If Apple is making an iPad with eSIM for China, did I misunderstand our Chinese relative?

You probably understood them fine, they probably are still under the notion that eSIMs aren't supported in China. That may even still be the case for certain deice types.

Note that this write up is from August of this year.

https://esimgohub.com/is-esim-available-in-china/

twolf2919 144 comments · 2 Years

About 1 year ago

Xed said:

twolf2919 said:

This is weird - we purchased an iPhone 15 Pro Max for my wife to take back to China as a gift when the intended receiver told us that iPhones from the US no longer work in China since they didn't have a physical SIM tray and Chinese couldn't use eSIMs. So we returned the iPhone and got something else. If Apple is making an iPad with eSIM for China, did I misunderstand our Chinese relative?

You probably understood them fine, they probably are still under the notion that eSIMs aren't supported in China. That may even still be the case for certain deice types.

Note that this write up is from August of this year.

https://esimgohub.com/is-esim-available-in-china/

I'm not sure I understand you. The article you reference agrees with what my in-laws in China told us - that eSIMs won't work for them. I had seen this article before returning the precious iPhone to the store (this was opening weekend, so I was lucky to have gotten one). And as the article suggests, my wife's iPhone - which uses an eSIM from her telecom here in the US - worked fine, so they are definitely supported there. I guess the sticking point for Chinese folks is getting them, not whether they'd work.