In recent days, rumors have been gathering that the iPhone 15 family will be the first generation to be capable of accessing the 6GHz band that Wi-Fi 6E routers open up.
Unfortunately, it seems that this report may only be half true. If leaked internal documents prove to be legitimate, it looks like Wi-Fi 6E will be reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra only.
As sourced by leaker Unknownz21 and shared by MacRumors, the documents show a basic diagram of a smartphone with various antennas dotted around the frame.
The documents reference two upcoming devices — D8x and D3y — and how they differ from D7x and D2y (presumably the current generation iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro). One part with two antennas contains the label “WiFi 6e (D8x only)”, which, assuming the document is real, all but confirms the omission for the regular iPhone 15.
The MacRumors report adds that the site has seen “additional documentation indicating that Wi-Fi 6E will be a Pro-only feature.”
The Pro divide
If you don’t happen to own a Wi-Fi 6E router, you likely won’t care too much, but it’s still interesting in what it says about how Apple views its Pro iPhones.
In the past, the differences between the Pro and non-Pro models have been obvious enough for even tech novices to see the benefits of paying a bit more. Think the power (and physical number) of cameras, the more fluid screen and the physical size of the Pro Max.
This generation, it’s proved a little too effective, with the Pro models frequently out of stock while the regular versions languish on shelves. For tech obsessives, the reasons seem obvious: the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus use last year’s chips, and aren’t much of an upgrade. Frankly, you’re better off sourcing a refurbished iPhone 13 Pro, as I’ve written before.
Apple is said to be mulling over a number of options to correct the imbalance this year, including a possible price cut and reducing the differences between Pro and non-Pro. The latest rumors seem to back the latter, at least superficially, with the introduction of Dynamic Island and a 48MP camera upgrade mooted.
Something like WiFi 6E, though? It’s nowhere near a mainstream enough concern, and is likely something Apple can limit without anybody but hardcore users noticing. Notably, those hardcore users are reliably the people who gravitate towards Pro options anyway.
Of course, this could all be a hoax, but Unknownz21 has a pretty strong track record, having previously sourced a copy of iOS 14 ahead of launch back in 2020.
This document, the leaker says, is “only the tip of the iceberg”, promising MacRumors that more iPhone 15 leaks including full images will follow in March when the phone his the engineering validation test stage.
