Adam Kos Once Wi-Fi 6E is one of the innovations brought by the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini. They are the first Apple computers to support this standard. But does it mean something more?
What exactly is Wi-Fi 6E? Basically, this is the Wi-Fi 6 standard, which is extended by the 6 GHz frequency band. So the standard is the same, only the spectrum is extended by 480 MHz (the range is from 5,945 to 6,425 GHz). It therefore does not suffer from channel overlap or mutual interference, has higher speed and lower latency. Among other things, this makes future technologies available, so it is an open gate for augmented and virtual reality, streaming content in 8K, etc. Apple specifically mentions here that the new standard is twice as fast as the previous generation.
It could be interest you
Vratislav Holub As with any new technology, Wi-Fi 6E also pays for the fact that it must first be adopted by a wide range of manufacturers in order to experience the appropriate expansion. And that's a bit of a problem at the moment, because there aren't too many routers with Wi-Fi 6E yet, and they're also quite expensive. Perhaps, but such Samsung is said to be preparing at least Wi-Fi 23 for its upcoming Galaxy S7 Ultra smartphone, which, however, should start to be "used" next year at the earliest. The first Apple device to support Wi-Fi 6E is the 2022 iPad Pro with the M2 chip, the iPhone 14 Pro still only has Wi-Fi 6.
Gallery
What does it all mean?
- First, keep in mind that while all apps will benefit from the faster speeds and lower latency of Wi-Fi 6E, some specific tools, including those within macOS, will require an update to work with this new technology. This means, for example, that with the date of sale of the new computers, Apple will also release the macOS Ventura update to version 13.2, which will address this. Apple has already confirmed that the update will make Wi-Fi 6E available to users in Japan, as the technology is currently unavailable there due to local regulations. So the update should arrive by January 24th.
- It can be expected that Apple will now be pushing Wi-Fi 6E in a big way with every new product update (and it's a wonder it's not already in the iPhone 14). As mentioned above, there is room for AR/VR devices, which Apple should finally present to the world this year, and this is actually a condition for ensuring its smooth operation.
- Historically, the company has sold its routers, but it has backed away from it quite some time ago. But with how 2023 is supposed to be the year of the smart home and augmented reality, it could easily happen that we will see a successor to AirPorts with the presence of this standard.
We are only at the beginning of 2023 and we already have three new products here - MacBook Pro, Mac mini and 2nd generation HomePod. So Apple has kicked it off pretty big and hopefully will continue to do so.
