iPhone 15 could be the first iPhone to feature Wi-Fi 6E

AppleInsider

A new analyst note suggests that Apple will be bringing Wi-Fi 6E to the iPhone 15, bringing the device in line with other Apple devices like the Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro.

Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O'Malley shared a research note, seen by MacRumors, that posits Apple will add Wi-Fi 6E support to its upcoming iPhone 15 lineup.

Currently, it's yet to be determined whether support will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro models.

Wi-Fi 6E works on the same 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands that Wi-Fi 6 does but also works over the 6GHz band. This enables faster wireless speeds and less signal interference. To use the 6Ghz band, devices must be connected to a Wi-Fi 6E router.

Wi-Fi 6E isn't new to Apple's current device lineup -- the current generation 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini all feature it.

The iPhone 14 lineup features standard Wi-Fi 6, despite previous rumors suggesting that it would see an upgrade.

The iPhone 15 is anticipated to release at the 2023 fall Apple Event, and analysts have already begun making predictions for Apple's next generation of smartphones.

Some believe the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will feature a 3-stacked sensor and 48-megapixel wide lens, the same as the iPhone 14 Pro models.

Regarding the higher-end iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, some analysts expect that Apple will add a 12-megapixel periscope lens geared toward improved optical zoom.

Both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are anticipated to have an A17 chip built with TSMC's 3-nanometer technology, 8 gigabytes of RAM, and a new titanium frame.

Read on AppleInsider

eightzero

AppleInsider said:

Wi-Fi 6E works on the same 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands that Wi-Fi 6 does but also works over the 6GHz band. This enables faster wireless speeds and less signal interference. To use the 6Ghz band, devices must be connected to a Wi-Fi 6E router.

Cool. Sure would be nice if Apple made a Wi-Fi 6E (airport) router. And offered it with a VPN service.

bala1234

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if its that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

eightzero

bala1234 said:

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if its that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

I'm not exactly sure why that would be consequential or disruptive, but fairly 6E kinda isn't either. Pretty sure iP15 is gonna be USB-C. One thing for sure: Tim will tell us that this is the greatest iPhone ev-ar.

iOS_Guy80

The latest router I’m using from Spectrum is 6E compatible. It will be nice though when they activate their signal to 6E to support it. Will hold off upgrading my 12.9 iPad Pro till then.

jfabula1

Its a whammy…..get iPhone 15Pro and not upgrading your wi-fi transmitter and provider to 6E speeds, which probably mostly will not, you will be stuck in highway 54 still.

dewme

bala1234 said:

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if it’s that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

It all comes down to understanding where the bottleneck is in your connectivity chain. You didn’t mention what throughput you’re getting from your internet service provider and what WiFi version you’re coming from. If you’re getting 2x throughput improvement on downloads by changing to WiFi 6E your old WiFi was the bottleneck. Some people like me are throttled by my ISP performance so changing to 6E would not help me much from a raw performance standpoint. 

The real benefit of WiFi 6/6E and WiFi 7 for me and for most people who don’t have fiber internet is reduced congestion and reduced latency. This will make a big difference in places like malls, stadiums, and high density public and corporate WiFi environments. Also, when you dig into where and how some of the spectacular numbers you can get from newer WiFi technology occur the distances involved are almost laughable. The higher the frequency the greater the impact from obstructions like walls and furniture. Still, reducing wire clutter, not to mention switches and power bricks, still has a lot of benefits in office and home environments. 

Like you, until I have a critical mass of WiFi 6/7 devices I have little incentive to upgrade. Fortunately, I have a modular system and wired backbone that can support up to 10 GbE so I can move to newer access points when the need arises. So far the need just isn’t there.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but Apple's move to USB-C connectors for hardwired charging implies very little to nothing about what communication protocols they will support over those connectors. They could support anything from charging only to USB2 to Thunderbolt 4 and USB-4. We really don’t know. I think Apple would face a lot of backlash if they didn’t support at least Thunderbolt on Pro models, but who knows. The latest base iPad only supports USB 2 speeds on its USB-C connector. Fingers crossed!

rundhvid

iPhone 15 could be the first iPhone to feature Wi-Fi 6E

That is a bold prediction…

iOS_Guy80

dewme said:

bala1234 said:

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if it’s that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

It all comes down to understanding where the bottleneck is in your connectivity chain. You didn’t mention what throughput you’re getting from your internet service provider and what WiFi version you’re coming from. If you’re getting 2x throughput improvement on downloads by changing to WiFi 6E your old WiFi was the bottleneck. Some people like me are throttled by my ISP performance so changing to 6E would not help me much from a raw performance standpoint. 

The real benefit of WiFi 6/6E and WiFi 7 for me and for most people who don’t have fiber internet is reduced congestion and reduced latency. This will make a big difference in places like malls, stadiums, and high density public and corporate WiFi environments. Also, when you dig into where and how some of the spectacular numbers you can get from newer WiFi technology occur the distances involved are almost laughable. The higher the frequency the greater the impact from obstructions like walls and furniture. Still, reducing wire clutter, not to mention switches and power bricks, still has a lot of benefits in office and home environments. 

Like you, until I have a critical mass of WiFi 6/7 devices I have little incentive to upgrade. Fortunately, I have a modular system and wired backbone that can support up to 10 GbE so I can move to newer access points when the need arises. So far the need just isn’t there.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but Apple's move to USB-C connectors for hardwired charging implies very little to nothing about what communication protocols they will support over those connectors. They could support anything from charging only to USB2 to Thunderbolt 4 and USB-4. We really don’t know. I think Apple would face a lot of backlash if they didn’t support at least Thunderbolt on Pro models, but who knows. The latest base iPad only supports USB 2 speeds on its USB-C connector. Fingers crossed!

I have a question regarding 6E and speed. Currently I am on a Spectrum cable Wi-Fi/TV system waiting for the 6E signal to be activated. Our surrounding area is in the mist of a telecom infrastructure upgrade, having an underground fiber-optic network installed by SiFi Networks. Once the initial services are made available to us by GigabitNow, what type of impact would a one Gbps fiber WiFi signal have vs using a 6E or 7 modem 300 Mbps cable WiFi signal?

bala1234

dewme said:

bala1234 said:

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if it’s that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

It all comes down to understanding where the bottleneck is in your connectivity chain. You didn’t mention what throughput you’re getting from your internet service provider and what WiFi version you’re coming from. If you’re getting 2x throughput improvement on downloads by changing to WiFi 6E your old WiFi was the bottleneck. Some people like me are throttled by my ISP performance so changing to 6E would not help me much from a raw performance standpoint. 

The real benefit of WiFi 6/6E and WiFi 7 for me and for most people who don’t have fiber internet is reduced congestion and reduced latency. This will make a big difference in places like malls, stadiums, and high density public and corporate WiFi environments. Also, when you dig into where and how some of the spectacular numbers you can get from newer WiFi technology occur the distances involved are almost laughable. The higher the frequency the greater the impact from obstructions like walls and furniture. Still, reducing wire clutter, not to mention switches and power bricks, still has a lot of benefits in office and home environments. 

Like you, until I have a critical mass of WiFi 6/7 devices I have little incentive to upgrade. Fortunately, I have a modular system and wired backbone that can support up to 10 GbE so I can move to newer access points when the need arises. So far the need just isn’t there.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but Apple's move to USB-C connectors for hardwired charging implies very little to nothing about what communication protocols they will support over those connectors. They could support anything from charging only to USB2 to Thunderbolt 4 and USB-4. We really don’t know. I think Apple would face a lot of backlash if they didn’t support at least Thunderbolt on Pro models, but who knows. The latest base iPad only supports USB 2 speeds on its USB-C connector. Fingers crossed!

To answer specific questions I have a Gigabit connection and have my own modem and mesh wifi router (separate). My earlier router supports wifi 6 and I was able to get 300Mbs download speeds. After upgrading to wifi 6e mesh wifi router I am getting 600Mbs download speeds in some devices.

My enthusiasm for usb-c is not related to communication protocols. Personaly I like usb-c.  I believe (with no supporting evidence) that it will lead to more android converts.

dewme

bala1234 said:

dewme said:

bala1234 said:

I upgraded my home wifi to 6E and sure enough downloads speeds seem to have doubled in compatible devices. But in real life usage I don't know if it’s that big of a difference. So meh... More consequential/disruptive thing will be is it going to be the first usb-c iphone?

It all comes down to understanding where the bottleneck is in your connectivity chain. You didn’t mention what throughput you’re getting from your internet service provider and what WiFi version you’re coming from. If you’re getting 2x throughput improvement on downloads by changing to WiFi 6E your old WiFi was the bottleneck. Some people like me are throttled by my ISP performance so changing to 6E would not help me much from a raw performance standpoint. 

The real benefit of WiFi 6/6E and WiFi 7 for me and for most people who don’t have fiber internet is reduced congestion and reduced latency. This will make a big difference in places like malls, stadiums, and high density public and corporate WiFi environments. Also, when you dig into where and how some of the spectacular numbers you can get from newer WiFi technology occur the distances involved are almost laughable. The higher the frequency the greater the impact from obstructions like walls and furniture. Still, reducing wire clutter, not to mention switches and power bricks, still has a lot of benefits in office and home environments. 

Like you, until I have a critical mass of WiFi 6/7 devices I have little incentive to upgrade. Fortunately, I have a modular system and wired backbone that can support up to 10 GbE so I can move to newer access points when the need arises. So far the need just isn’t there.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but Apple's move to USB-C connectors for hardwired charging implies very little to nothing about what communication protocols they will support over those connectors. They could support anything from charging only to USB2 to Thunderbolt 4 and USB-4. We really don’t know. I think Apple would face a lot of backlash if they didn’t support at least Thunderbolt on Pro models, but who knows. The latest base iPad only supports USB 2 speeds on its USB-C connector. Fingers crossed!

To answer specific questions I have a Gigabit connection and have my own modem and mesh wifi router (separate). My earlier router supports wifi 6 and I was able to get 300Mbs download speeds. After upgrading to wifi 6e mesh wifi router I am getting 600Mbs download speeds in some devices.

My enthusiasm for usb-c is not related to communication protocols. Personaly I like usb-c.  I believe (with no supporting evidence) that it will lead to more android converts.

Thank you.

I'm envious of your Gigabit connection. So yeah, the weakest link in your end-to-end throughput was your WiFi performance. My ISP gets me 300 Mbps (peak) so moving to WiFi 6/6E would not buy me anything from a raw performance standpoint. However, I'm also besieged by having a fairly high level of congestion that's exacerbated by neighbors who crank up their WiFi to maximum power levels and widest channel widths. Having the 6 GHz bands available to me would potentially give me more options to avoid interference. I have no way to see who's camping on the 6Hz channels so I don't really know for sure. 

Truth be told, I have no showstopper issues with my current WiFi 5 setup. The 2.4 GHz spectrum is a dumpster fire because there are really only 3 channels available and the overlap is obvious. But the 2.4 GHz-only devices I have have relatively modest needs so the negative effects of congestion are tolerable. The situation on 5 GHz is much better, but I still have to periodically scan to see what the neighbors are doing so I can avoid interference. My overall WiFi performance is still in the 95%-98% range so everything is cool. But as an engineer I want it to be 99%.

bala1234

Thank you.

I'm envious of your Gigabit connection. So yeah, the weakest link in your end-to-end throughput was your WiFi performance. My ISP gets me 300 Mbps (peak) so moving to WiFi 6/6E would not buy me anything from a raw performance standpoint. However, I'm also besieged by having a fairly high level of congestion that's exacerbated by neighbors who crank up their WiFi to maximum power levels and widest channel widths. Having the 6 GHz bands available to me would potentially give me more options to avoid interference. I have no way to see who's camping on the 6Hz channels so I don't really know for sure. 

Truth be told, I have no showstopper issues with my current WiFi 5 setup. The 2.4 GHz spectrum is a dumpster fire because there are really only 3 channels available and the overlap is obvious. But the 2.4 GHz-only devices I have have relatively modest needs so the negative effects of congestion are tolerable. The situation on 5 GHz is much better, but I still have to periodically scan to see what the neighbors are doing so I can avoid interference. My overall WiFi performance is still in the 95%-98% range so everything is cool. But as an engineer I want it to be 99%.

I upgraded my home infra to mesh wifi around 4 years ago specifically to deal with 'fairly high level of congestion that's exacerbated by neighbors'. And I haven't looked back since. It served me faithfully through multiple moves (including across continents) and would have continued to serve me if I hadn't upgraded. It is expensive but well worth the investment in my opinion.