iPhone 7 and eSIM: the answer is no

No — and no update will change that

The iPhone 7 has no eSIM. It has no eSIM chip, no EID, and no way to acquire either.

This comes up often enough that it is worth being blunt: eSIM is a physical component soldered to the board. It is not a feature that arrives in a software release, is not something a carrier can enable, and is not hidden behind a setting. If the chip is not in the phone, the phone cannot hold a profile.

Why not

The iPhone 7 launched in 2016. Apple first shipped eSIM in an iPhone in 2018, with the XR, XS and XS Max. Nothing Apple made before those has it.

So the iPhone 7 sits on the wrong side of a hardware line by two years. It is not a limitation of your particular unit, your carrier or your iOS version. Every iPhone 7 and every iPhone 7 Plus ever made is the same on this point.

What to use instead when you travel

The good news is that the iPhone 7 has the thing eSIM replaced: a nano-SIM tray. That keeps every traditional option open.

• A local prepaid SIM. Buy one on arrival at an airport counter, a carrier shop or a convenience store. In most countries this is still the cheapest data you can get, and our country guides cover the specifics — Italy and Thailand are typical. Many countries require ID to register a SIM, so carry a passport.
• A roaming add-on from your existing carrier. Simplest option, rarely the cheapest. Worth it for very short trips where a day pass beats the hassle.
• Tethering from a travelling companion. If someone with you has a modern handset, a travel eSIM on their phone can share a hotspot with yours. One plan, two devices.
• A pocket WiFi router. Takes a physical SIM, shares it over WiFi. Sensible if you have a laptop and a camera along too.

Keep a SIM pin in your wallet. On a phone this age, that is your equivalent of an app.

One point in the iPhone 7's favour that gets lost in this discussion: a physical SIM works with no internet connection, no account, no app and no QR code. In a country where you have just landed and have nothing, that is a real advantage over the phone that replaced it.

Is it worth replacing?

Not automatically. A phone that still holds charge, still runs the apps you use and still takes a physical SIM is not a problem to be solved, and a nano-SIM works in almost every country you might visit.

Replace it if any of these are true for you:

• You want a travel eSIM specifically, for the convenience of arriving connected.
• The battery no longer gets you through a day of maps and photos — the usual failure on a handset this old.
• Apps you rely on have stopped supporting the iOS version it runs. Check the apps you actually use rather than assuming; support windows vary and we do not track them.

If none of those apply, the honest advice is to keep it and buy a local SIM. A working phone you already own is cheaper than every plan on this site put together, and eSIM on its own is a convenience, not a capability you are missing out on.

If you do replace it

The oldest iPhones with eSIM are the XR, XS and XS Max from 2018. Anything newer than those has it too. We do not track second-hand prices, so we will not tell you which represents value — but that 2018 line is the boundary you are shopping against.

Two things to check on any used replacement:

• A carrier lock. A locked handset refuses third-party eSIM profiles even with working hardware. Settings → General → About shows a Carrier Lock line; you want No SIM restrictions.
• Whether it has a tray. Every iPhone 14 and later sold in the US is eSIM-only, with no tray. That may be fine, or it may remove the local-SIM habit you have relied on for a decade.

Check any specific model against the eSIM phone checker before buying, and see /cheapest-esim/ for what a travel plan actually costs once you have a handset that can take one.