Apple only recently released the iPhone 12 series. This means that the iPhone 12 series is still many months away. However, the development of a smartphone takes many years in some cases. Thus, it is not a surprise to get leaks very early. With the iPhone 12 already on the market and doing well, insider’s attention is now on the iPhone 13. Barclays analysts, Blayne Curtis, Thomas O’Malley, Tim Long, had discussions with a number of Apple suppliers. From the discussions, they were able to outline a number of expectations from the iPhone 13.
For starters, the analysts expect the iPhone 13/Pro models to feature Wi-Fi 6E. The Wi-Fi 6E provides Wi-Fi 6 features and capabilities, including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates, extending to the 6GHz frequency band. The additional spectrum will provide more airspace beyond the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi. This will provide higher bandwidth and less interference for Wi-Fi 6E-enabled devices.
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“The 6 GHz band will perhaps be the most disruptive boon for Wi-Fi users in the last 20 years,” said Vijay Nagarajan, an executive at chipmaker Broadcom, in January. “This swath of spectrum, when coupled with Wi-Fi, will power new consumer experiences on smartphones, AR/VR devices and wearables we haven’t even yet invented.”
Wi-Fi 6 plus the 6 GHz spectrum is a game-changer
“Wi-Fi 6’s growth into the 6 GHz spectrum is a game-changer for two reasons – the availability of the additional channels and the ability to finally use 160Mhz for high bandwidth applications like AR and VR,” said Cisco executive Jayanthi Srinivasan.
Earlier this year, the US FCC passed a rule to make the 1200MHz spectrum of the US 6GHz band available for unlicensed use, paving the way for the launch of Wi-Fi 6E-enabled devices. Both the Apple iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 series support the standard, non-6GHz version of Wi-Fi 6. This is also the case with the iPhone SE 2.
The analyst also believes that audio chipmaker, Cirrus Logic, will provide new power conversion chips for at least some iPhone 13 models. However, it is unclear whether this move will have obvious consumer-oriented benefits.
It is important to note that the iPhone 13 is at least 10 months away. This means that there is no confirmation whatsoever regarding these devices. In fact, even the name “iPhone 13” is a tentative name. The company can choose to do something different like it did with the “iPhone X”.