iPhone 16 Pro lineup rumored to get Wi-Fi 7, just one year after the last upgrade

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited July 30

Wi-Fi 7 routers are very expensive right now, but if a rumor pans out that the iPhone 16 Pro will have the fast wireless networking technology, they may not stay that way for long.

Renders of the iPhone 16 Pro.
Renders of the iPhone 16 Pro.



It hasn't been that long since Apple implemented Wi-Fi 6e. Apple first included that technology in the iPhone in September 2024, in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

If a supply chain report on Tuesday by DigiTimes is accurate, the iPhone 16 Pro line may get an upgrade. In a discussion more about manufacturer Wi-Fi 7 adoption, the publication says that the iPhone 16 Pro is "widely expected" to get the newer standard, first introduced in 2023, and finalized in 2024.

There's not much to the report as it applies to Apple hardware, beyond that brief mention. With the right hardware on both ends of the network, client and access point, users will get improved latency, and better speeds.

Simplifying a complex topic, Wi-Fi has a series of bands broken up into channels. The width of each channel determines the speed and performance of a network.

Discussing just the 6 GHz band, Wi-Fi can have 60 channels in that band. Wi-Fi 6E has channels as wide as 160 MHz.

Wi-Fi 7 channels in the 6Ghz band are double that, up to 320 Mhz.

There are other advancements in Wi-Fi 7 that boost speed, like Multi-Link operation that can aggregate several frequencies and bands into a single connection. Another big feature that gets a boost in Wi-Fi 7 is what's called quadrature amplitude modulation which can trade range for speed.

On the other hand, to take advantage of the technology today, that is a significant capital investment. A single eero Max 7 mesh Wi-Fi router retails for $600. A three-pack of Eero Pro 6e mesh routers sells for $550.

Other vendors have similar price disparities. A three-pack of Netgear Orbi 980 Wi-Fi 7 routers retails for an eye-watering $2250. Similar models in Netgear's lineup for Wi-Fi 6e are less than half that.

Presumably, with wider adoption, Wi-Fi 7 router prices will decrease. Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6e routers have taken some time to fall.

Rumor Score: Possible

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    dicebier1dicebier1 Posts: 23member
    "It hasn't been that long since Apple implemented Wi-Fi 6e. Apple first included that technology in the iPhone in September 2024, in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max." ...... Should read......September 2023.
    edited July 30
  • Reply 2 of 8
    nubusnubus Posts: 556member
    iPhone 16 Pro is likely to use Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 (specs: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/technology/modems/snapdragon-x75-5g-modem-rf-system).
    X75 does include both 5G Advanced and Wi-Fi 7. This is a major upgrade compared to the X70 used in iPhone 15 Pro.

    Wi-Fi 7 should be nearly 5x faster and use less battery. 6E is nice for apartments and crowded networks. 7 is a major leap forward.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    ThatKomputerKatThatKomputerKat Posts: 1member
    Wow. Those prices. I bought a TP-Link Deco BE16000 three pack for $850 from Costco a few months ago. Is there some significant difference?

     Edit: looks like Costco out of stock now.
    edited July 30
  • Reply 4 of 8
    apple4thewinapple4thewin Posts: 191member
    ThatKomputerKat said:
    Wow. Those prices. I bought a TP-Link Deco BE16000 three pack for $850 from Costco a few months ago. Is there some significant difference?

     Edit: looks like Costco out of stock now.
    It seems like a reddit post from 10 months ago says that it is about half the speed/size as other ones. My area says it can be shipped
  • Reply 5 of 8
    apple4thewinapple4thewin Posts: 191member
    From what I remember hearing wifi 6e is great for the partially open 6ghz band but 7 is actually worth the upgrade mainly for the faster speeds/ bigger size
  • Reply 6 of 8
    jccjcc Posts: 335member
    Some of the fastest home internet speed is only 1 gb. Why would we need this? Just plain 6 is plenty fast thank you…
  • Reply 7 of 8
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,429moderator
    jcc said:
    Some of the fastest home internet speed is only 1 gb. Why would we need this? Just plain 6 is plenty fast thank you…
    It improves local transfers. Backup to NAS or from one device to another (e.g AirDrop) over wifi can be as fast as a wired drive.

    Apple could sell a plug with built-in storage that can backup multiple devices quickly and optionally background sync with iCloud. Then people who only use iOS devices can backup/restore from the plug.
    Dany26
  • Reply 8 of 8
    Dany26Dany26 Posts: 1member
    Marvin said:
    jcc said:
    Some of the fastest home internet speed is only 1 gb. Why would we need this? Just plain 6 is plenty fast thank you…
    It improves local transfers. Backup to NAS or from one device to another (e.g AirDrop) over wifi can be as fast as a wired drive.

    Apple could sell a plug with built-in storage that can backup multiple devices quickly and optionally background sync with iCloud. Then people who only use iOS devices can backup/restore from the plug.
    I’m not sure if it makes much difference to a NAS as far as transfer goes on the internal network if you don’t have 10 gbps speeds from the provider. I do know if a NAS had the right drives and could change the network card Ziply like we have in Western Washington offers up to 50gbps at like $900 a month which is insane speed but would take a lot of equipment to access it and routers only just now have 10gbps inputs. Could be useful for internal transfers or streaming on network though. 
Sign In or Register to comment.