Apple will upgrade iPhone 15 Ultra Wideband chip for Vision Pro integration, says Kuo

AppleInsider

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will "aggressively upgrade" its iPhone hardware to better integrate with the new Apple Vision Pro.

Apple Vision Pro with mockup of iPhone 15 Pro

It's only to be expected that Apple sees its Vision Pro as part of the company's ecosystem of devices and services, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims to know the specifics of Apple's hardware plans.

Speaking of both the 2023 and 2024 iPhone releases, Kuo says that "Apple will aggressively upgrade hardware specifications to build a more competitive ecosystem for Vision Pro."

"iPhone 15 will likely see an [sic] specification upgrade of UWB," writes Kuo, "with the production process moving from 16nm to more advanced 7nm, allowing for improved performance or reduced power consumption for nearby Interactions."

AppleVision Pro

1. Vision ProAppleWi-FiUWB

2. iPhone 15UWB16nm7nm

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)

June 19, 2023

"iPhone 16 will likely upgrade to Wi-Fi 7," he continues, "which will be more conducive to Apple's integration of hardware products running on the same local network and provide a better ecosystem experience."

Wi-Fi 7 has been claimed to run almost as fast as Thunderbolt 3, but so far Apple has seemingly shunned the technology.

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omasou

UWB is nothing new. BMW is already moving toward UWB for digital keys. The current implementation where I have to take a card or my phone out of my pocket is a no starter. I'll just keep the key in my pocket and forget about using the digital keys.

https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/bmw-digital-key-plus-ultra-wideband.html

edited June 2023

caladanian

I care much more about water tight car keys for swimming. When your phone or watch is the key so you don’t need a separate physical key even better. 

omasou said:

UWB is nothing new. BMW is already moving toward UWB for digital keys. The current implementation where I have to take a card or my phone out of my pocket is a no starter. I'll just keep the key in my pocket and forget about using the digital keys.

https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/bmw-digital-key-plus-ultra-wideband.html

fred cintra

omasou said:

UWB is nothing new. BMW is already moving toward UWB for digital keys. The current implementation where I have to take a card or my phone out of my pocket is a no starter. I'll just keep the key in my pocket and forget about using the digital keys.

https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/bmw-digital-key-plus-ultra-wideband.html

Nobody is saying that UWB is new, in fact, Apple already uses it on its products since iPhone 11. The post is stating that Apple will upgrade its UWB chip and wifi for better integration with Vision Pro.

strangedays

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will "aggressively upgrade" its iPhone hardware to better integrate with the new Apple Vision Pro.

Odd claim. The VP may be new to us, but it certainly isn't new to Apple. They've been working on it for 8 years, so I'm certain its iPhone hardware is already designed with integration in mind. They're not saying to themselves, "Holy crap, what is this! We gotta better integrate with it!"

Doing so is the entire premise of Apple's famous vertical integration approach to product design. In fact I'm sure this integration is why they demonstrated a macOS desktop & apps being pulled into a VP session.

edited June 2023

macpro

Stereoscopic camera on the pro iPhones soon, seems a logical next step to me.

badmonk

MacPro said:

Stereoscopic camera on the pro iPhones soon, seems a logical next step to me.

Agree MacPro, if you don’t have to wear the goggly-eyed headset when you shot 3D VR video, it will rapidly accelerate adoption.