The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max have no SIM tray when bought in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan or the six Gulf states, and a nano SIM slot everywhere else. The iPhone Duo, the foldable Apple announced on the same day, has no tray in any market.
What Apple announced
Apple announced three phones on 9 September 2026, in press releases for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo.
| Model | From | Pre-order | On sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro | $1,199 | 12 September | 18 September |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | $1,299 | 12 September | 18 September |
| iPhone Duo | $1,999 | 16 October | 23 October |
All three run the A20 Pro chip. The Pro models carry Apple’s C2 modem and come in 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. The Duo opens to a 7.6 inch inner display and folds to a 5.4 inch outer one. Twenty more countries get the Pro models on 25 September, and twenty-eight more get the Duo on 30 October. There is no standard iPhone 18 in this lineup.
Where the iPhone 18 Pro has no SIM tray
Apple’s press release lists twelve countries and territories, and its support page adds Puerto Rico:
the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands; Canada and Mexico; Japan; and Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The list is the same as for the iPhone 17. What matters is where the phone was bought, not where you live or where you are going. A Pro bought in Germany keeps its tray when you carry it to Japan, and a Pro bought in Tokyo has no tray in Berlin.
In mainland China the Pro takes two nano SIM cards, a nano SIM and an eSIM, or two eSIMs.
Which iPhones still have a tray
| Model | No SIM tray | SIM tray |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max | The thirteen places above | Everywhere else, with two nano SIMs in mainland China |
| iPhone Duo | Everywhere | Nowhere |
| iPhone Air | Everywhere | Nowhere |
| iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max and 17e | The same thirteen places | Everywhere else |
The iPhone Duo has no tray anywhere
Apple’s press release says: “iPhone Duo features an eSIM-only design worldwide that saves internal space to maximize battery capacity.” Every line on a Duo is an eSIM, including in mainland China, where Apple lists it among the eSIM models.
The tray became battery
Apple is explicit about the trade. On the eSIM-only Pro models, “these models feature an even larger battery, taking advantage of the space formerly occupied by the physical SIM to provide two additional hours of video playback”.
That puts the eSIM-only iPhone 18 Pro at up to 36 hours of video playback and the Pro Max at up to 45. The same phone with a tray gets two hours less.
What this changes when you travel
The airport SIM counter stops being a fallback. A phone with no tray cannot take a local SIM card, so the plan has to be sorted before the trip.
Two eSIMs still give you two lines. Your home number stays on one, reachable for calls, texts and bank codes, while a data-only travel eSIM on the other carries the data. That is the dual SIM arrangement most travellers use, and it needs no tray.
Apple attaches one condition: “Use of an eSIM requires a carrier that supports eSIM and a wireless service plan.” An eSIM-only phone still needs a plan from someone.
A phone bought from a carrier can also be locked to it, and a locked phone refuses another company’s eSIM, tray or no tray. Check under Settings, General, About: Carrier Lock should read No SIM restrictions. If it does not, ask the carrier to unlock the phone before you travel. Is my phone eSIM compatible covers the other checks.
Setting up an eSIM before you fly
Install the eSIM at home on wifi and leave it switched off until you arrive. Installing an eSIM on an iPhone walks through the screens, and what to do before you fly covers the order. Atli sells 1 GB for seven days and 3 GB for thirty days in every country it covers.
To see how much a plan has left, check your data usage with the provider. The phone’s own counter does not reset when a plan starts.
Apple’s 9 September press releases and its support and spec pages, checked 17 September 2026. Prices are US launch prices.
