An improved U1 chip in the iPhone 15 family and support for Wi-Fi 7 on iPhone 16 should optimize the integration with the new Apple Vision Pro headset.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple will “aggressively upgrade” the iPhone’s hardware specifications to support an ecosystem around the Vision Pro headset.
The iPhone 15 family should use an improved version of the U1, Apple’s ultra-wideband chip that lets its devices work and integrate better.
In 2024, the analyst predicts, the iPhone 16 family will bring even faster networking with support for the Wi-Fi 7, the upcoming version of the wireless protocol known as IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT).
Kuo: An upgraded U1 chip coming to the iPhone 15 family
The U1 chip debuted alongside the iPhone 11 family, bringing precise positioning and spatial awareness features to the smartphone.
The U1 is also used in the AirTag, HomePod mini, the second-generation HomePod, and Apple Watch Series 6 and later. Apple uses the U1 for features like an improved AirDrop experience, Precision Finding, Handoff, etc.
All iPhones from the iPhone 11 to the iPhone 14 have the same U1 chip, but that could change this year. Kuo says the iPhone 15 family will use an improved version of the U1 chip to make AirDrop, Handoff and similar features perform even better and deepen the Vision Pro’s integration with the Apple ecosystem.
“The ecosystem is one of the key success factors for Vision Pro, including the integration with other Apple hardware products, and related main hardware specifications are Wi-Fi and Ultra Wide-Band,” Kuo wrote on Twitter.
The new chip will use a new production process, moving from 16 nanometers to the more advanced seven-nanometer technology. The chip will run faster and consume less energy by making transistors smaller.
Wi-Fi 7 coming to iPhone 16
Wi-Fi 7 was designed to fix common networking problems like network congestion, latency contributing to lag, constant buffering, etc. Wi-Fi 7 is exciting in the context of Vision Pro, augmented reality, and virtual reality.
Kuo expects the iPhone 16 family to upgrade Wi-Fi support to Wi-Fi 7, which he believes to 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 is also 4.8× faster than Wi-Fi 6 when used with a Wi-Fi 7 router, with the Wi-Fi Alliance mentioning data transfer speeds of “at least 30” gigabits per second.
According to Apple’s support page, the iPhone 14 models support a souped-up version of Wi-Fi 6, called Wi-Fi 6E, that uses the 6GHz wireless band to boost data transfer speeds and improve connection reliability.
Earlier rumors claim that the iPhone 16 Pro models could also get bigger displays, up to 6.9 inches on the flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max.