By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
Wi-Fi 7 included in all Apple iPhone 16 models
Well – it’s probably old news by this time but we want to reiterate the importance of Apple’s iPhone 16 launch last week: All iPhone 16 models support Wi-Fi 7, as widely expected. Apple’s release of a new Wi-Fi standard usually ushers in the steep part of the adoption curve, which means we can expect a lot of Wi-Fi 7 network upgrade activity during the rest of this year and in 2025.
That is of course great news for the Wi-Fi industry. A discerning viewer noted that Apple’s announcement doesn’t explicitly state whether the iPhone 16 supports the 6 GHz version of Wi-Fi 7 (this is not required in Wi-Fi 7 in contrast to Wi-Fi 6E). We’re guessing that’s because iPhone 16’s will support 6 GHz Wi-Fi 7 where regulation allows it. But that’s just our guess.
Apple hasn’t entirely skipped the Wi-Fi 6E standard in that some Mac laptops and iPads support Wi-Fi 6E. Other than the Wi-Fi 7 announcement Apple’s September launch event was remarkably low key. Also notice that there was very little talk relating to AI, which should be a good indicator that Apple doesn’t believe AI is ready for prime time just yet.
Morse Micro breaks Wi-Fi HaLow range record with 16 km transmission
The Wi-Fi HaLow ecosystem has been evolving rapidly recently – and to top it off, HaLow chipset leader Morse Micro last week announced they’ve broken the record for Wi-Fi HaLow range: Morse Micro successfully connected HaLow devices across 16 km of wilderness in California’s Joshua Tree National Park (see the video below). Meanwhile this week, AP provider Edgecore released what could be the world’s first Wi-Fi 6, HaLow, BLE, Zigbee, Thread and LTE device – read more here.
New devices powered by Qualcomm Wi-Fi 7 platforms
Perhaps the most exciting new Wi-Fi 7 client-side device released in recent months is the Pico4 Ultra, which – as far as we know – is the world’s first Wi-Fi 7-capable VR headset. Pico4 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7800 platform. With Pico4 Ultra you can access quite an impressive range of VR games – see more here.
Meanwhile, NETGEAR just released their first Wi-Fi 7 mobile hotspot: A pocket sized device that offers Wi-Fi 7 connectivity for up to 64 Wi-Fi clients using AT&T’s 5G for backhaul. The device is called the Nighthawk® M7 Pro 5G WiFi 7 Mobile Hotspot Router and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon® X75 5G Modem-RF System. Finally: NTT Docomo of Japan only weeks ago released the innovative MiRZA wireless XR glasses, also powered by Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7800 Wi-Fi 7 platform.
/Claus.
