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Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that iPhone 16 would receive Wi-Fi 7 support. In the future, this will mean faster speed and reliable low-latency performance. However, these benefits are not limited to the ones mentioned above. According to Kuo, it is also a part of Apple‘s move to “build a more competitive Vision Pro ecosystem.”

Wi-Fi 7 is expected to bring better performance than Wi-Fi 6 by exceeding it four more times, thanks to over 40Gbps of peak data rates. However, the arrival of Wi-Fi 7 is not just about faster connection speeds for smartphones. As per Kuo, Apple is heading this way in preparation for its Vision Pro headset. Wi-Fi 7 will play a huge part in this as it can support more connections and cater to techs requiring high-speed and low-latency Wi-Fi performance, such as augmented and virtual reality. Additionally, the analyst noted that it will be “more conducive to Apple’s integration of hardware products running on the same local network and provide a better ecosystem experience.”

However, it is important to note that to fully experience the power of Wi-Fi 7, users will have to upgrade their Wi-Fi router system with Wi-Fi 7 support. This means additional cost to end users, but it will benefit those with devices at home requiring low-latency Wi-Fi performance and high speed. In the future, this will also be the ideal connection for Apple Vision Pro users, which will employ mixed reality technology and will benefit hugely from a Wi-Fi 7-supported environment.

“Apple will aggressively upgrade hardware specifications to build a more competitive ecosystem for Vision Pro,” tweets Kuo. “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 UWB.”

Apple iPhone VR headset patent illustration

The Wi-Fi 7 support might also indicate Apple’s future plans for the recent patent it has gained. In the documents of the patent, Apple details an accessory device, which is in the form of a VR headset. However, instead of having a display, the headset is designed to hold iPhones that will serve as its screen. The devices will then communicate wirelessly, which means they might need to run on the same network. If this is right, having Wi-Fi 7 support in the headset device will make sense. There are still no signs of whether Apple will push this creation and bring it to market, but it is a good sign that Apple has no other paths to take except to embrace Wi-Fi 7 technology sooner or later.