Wi-Fi 7 Technology Is Coming to Apple iPhone Next Year: Here's What You Need to Know

Urian B., Tech Times 20 June 2023, 02:06 am

Not many people know that the world is currently using the Wi-Fi 6 technology, an upgraded version of the Wi-Fi 5 standard.

In 2024, the iPhone will reportedly adopt the Wi-Fi 7 tech, and ahead of its launch, the new wireless networking technology was revealed in a report.

Wi-Fi 7 Capabilities Give Users More than What They Get With the Wi-Fi 6

A report by 9to5Mac revealed that Apple reportedly plans to bring Wi-Fi 7 support to the iPhone next year. It also reported what Wi-Fi 7 is and what changes it comes with compared to the current Wi-Fi 6.

The outlet noted that it was Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who revealed that Apple is aiming to adopt Wi-Fi 7 support on the iPhone as early as next year, which could bring significant improvements to speed and reliability and the ability for various Wi-Fi 7 devices to interact with one another.

One of the notable expansions of Wi-Fi 6 compared to Wi-Fi 5 was the expansion of stream numbers to 12 across the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. According to Netgear, the number of streams on Wi-Fi 5 is limited to 8 in the dual-band configuration.

Users Expected to Experience 4x Faster Peak Data Rates of Over 40 Gbps

One of the notable improvements of Wi-Fi 7 is its peak data rates of over 40 Gbps, which is 4x faster compared to the Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. It was also said to be around 6x faster compared to the even older Wi-Fi 5.

Aside from the speed, it was reported that the Wi-Fi 7 would introduce Multi-Link Operation technology, which would allow devices to send and receive data from multiple radio bands simultaneously.

It will reportedly double the multi-user MIMO numbers from eight to 16. MIMO, or Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, is a wireless technology that uses multiple transmitters and receivers to transfer more data simultaneously.

Other Features that Users are Expected to Get With the Upgraded Wi-Fi 7

According to Dong Knows Tech, one of the notable benefits of the Wi-Fi 7 includes a broader channel of up to 320 MHz, which doubles the Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E offerings.

It was also reported that Wi-Fi 7 would offer better optimization for smart devices regarding latency, response time, and efficiency. It was further noted that it could provide upgraded capacity for public places such as airports, office buildings, and stadiums.

However, it was specified that the Wi-Fi 7 would not improve the range components previously offered by the Wi-Fi 6E. The increased effective range will still be slightly improved, but less major than with the Wi-Fi 6E offering.

To experience the Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, users would still have to upgrade their entire Wi-Fi router system, which could be costly for some users, especially for high-level system integrations with large coverages.

Wi-Fi 7 technology is necessary to accommodate the increasing data demands of technology nowadays, including virtual reality, which requires high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi performance. The changes in Wi-Fi 7 were reportedly designed to accommodate that.