The end of traditional SIM cards? Chip designer ARM wants to integrate SIM card into chipsets to save space.

Phone manufacturers have long been frustrated with the relatively spacious SIM card and have always believed that they could use this space for better things like larger battery packs, to name one. Now the chip design company ARM may have a solution to their frustration: an integrated component called an iSIM that's built into the same chip as the processor.

ARM says the iSIM will take up a "fraction of a millimeter squared" whereas the current SIM standard — Nano SIMs — are about 12.3 mm x 8.8 mm in size, excluding the hardware needed to house them. According to ARM, not only will that save space but it will more importantly save on costs as the MCU, cellular modem and SIM identity will be integrated into a single IoT SoC which would significantly reduce device costs. 

The information on the iSIM will be compliant or rewritable by all operators, meaning a user can decide to change operator with a simple phone call. ARM also expects the technology to unlock new levels of cellular IoT integration, enabling new services, business models and revenue streams for all cellular IoT ecosystem players. 

ARM, which doesn’t make chips directly but designs and licenses the underlying architecture behind the processor cores in Qualcomm's Snapdragon, Apple's A-series, Samsung's Exynos and all of MediaTek's chipsets, says it has already sent iSIM designs to its partners and expects to see chips with them become available by the end of the year.