The new M2 iPad Pro models are the first Apple products to support the faster Wi-Fi 6E standard. This standard supports download speeds of up to 2.4GB/s, which is twice as fast as the previous-generation iPad Pro models. How would you benefit from this new standard? Read on to find out.
All you need to know about Wi-Fi 6E
Compared to Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E supports faster speeds, lower latency, and works better in crowded areas. Here is everything that the new iPad Pro models stand to benefit from with the switch:
- 6GHz band support, which is much wider than 2.4GHz and 5GHz and can support 14 80MHz channels or 7 160MHz channels. This allows for more capacity for high-bandwidth applications such as 4K or 8K video streaming or virtual reality.
- Less interference as the new 6GHz wireless band does not need to slow down for legacy devices. There is more bandwidth available which reduces the chances of any network congestion due to more devices or users. Unlike 5GHz, devices that use 6GHz to not share the spectrum with other radar devices or TV stations, which also provides benefits for people in living in areas close to such places.
- The new standard has Wi-Fi Protected Acess (WPA) 3 as mandatory for all devices that use the 6GHz wireless band. This means that traffic is secure and cannot be snooped on.
It had long been rumored that Apple will add support for Wi-Fi 6E starting as soon as iPhone 13, but it did not turn out to be the case. Even with iPhone 14, Apple stuck with Wi-Fi 6. Now that Apple has finally introduced Wi-Fi 6E in a product, we can expect that next year’s iPhone 15 models will also support the new standard, as well as the M2 MacBook Pro models that are still expected to launch later this year.
Other PC and smartphone manufacturers plan to switch to Wi-Fi 7 by 2024 so it’ll be interesting to see how Apple catches up with them.
