Qualcomm: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has ‘commercially usable’ integrated SIM

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has the first ‘commercially usable’ iSIM, according to Qualcomm, manufacturer Qualcomm claims. The American chip designer has been putting an iSIM in his socs for several years, but they have not yet been used.

The iSIM in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 now has the same GSMA certification as e-SIM, the separate chip that manufacturers place to replace a physical SIM card, says Qualcomm. The e-SIM has been in use for several years, but no manufacturer has yet used the iSIM.

That iSIM has been in socs of the 8 series since the Snapdragon 888. With iSIM, a separate chip is no longer needed for the e-SIM, but it is in Qualcomm’s Secure Processing Unit in the soc. This works with Thales’ iSIM operating system.

According to Qualcomm, the iSIM is complementary to the physical SIM card and the e-SIM and the three will therefore coexist. There are no manufacturers or providers yet who will support the iSIM. It is unknown if that will still happen.

Qualcomm iSIM, 2022