Wi-Fi 6e will apparently be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro as a leaker with a modest but positive track record has leaked internal blueprints. This is probably due to Apple’s decision not to include the A17 chipset in the regular iPhone 15.
Twitter handle “unknown21“Concerns the leaker, who has a short but solid track record of disclosing Apple-related information.
as told by MacRumorsA new set of documents published by Unknownz21 indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro is set to be the only Apple product to support Wi-Fi 6e. The following document was included along with other documents that were provided to MacRumors to verify the veracity of the story.
credit: unknown21 via MacRumors
Models are identified in the diagram by their letter and number combinations. The iPhone 15 comes in four different colors: D3y for the regular iPhone 15, D2y for the iPhone 14, D8x for the iPhone 15 Pro, and D7x for the iPhone 14 Pro.
An earlier analyst report also suggested that Wi-Fi 6E would be released alongside the iPhone 15, though it was unclear whether it would be limited to the Pro model. However, there are additional clues that suggest Apple may be limiting an open Wi-Fi standard to only its high-end products.
We do know that Apple used the A15 CPU from 2021 to power the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, not the A16 from 2022 that it used on the Pro models. So, if Apple sticks to its current approach, the A16 will power the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, while the A17 will be reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple usually implements its own Wi-Fi standards based on the capabilities of its proprietary chipsets.
Why is this a big deal, you ask? Futureproofing!
Wi-Fi 6e is backward compatible with Wi-Fi 6, so it operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, but it drops out of support for the 6GHz band. The result will be less signal interference and faster wireless rates. Access to the 6Ghz band requires the operation of a Wi-Fi 6E router. Wi-Fi 6E is already implemented in a number of Apple products, in particular in the M2 processor line. These include the Mac Mini, Mac Pro and the iPad Pro.
The change isn’t good for future-proofing the cheaper iPhone, but it won’t have an immediate impact on buyers. But the good news is users don’t expect to see any difference anytime soon as Wi-Fi 6e routers are still very expensive.
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