Apple could limit WiFi 6E availability to iPhone 15 Pro models

The feature gap between the iPhone and iPhone Pro could widen with the 2023 models. According to a leaked antenna design document obtained by MacRumors, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will include WiFi 6E connectivity, while their more affordable siblings will not. The document, a schematic outlining the iPhone 15 line’s antenna architecture, shows iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will continue to use the older WiFi 6 standard.

Some of Apple’s latest devices, including the recently announced M2 variants of the Mac mini, MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, sport WiFi 6E connectivity, but the company has yet to roll out the feature more broadly. Provided there’s a compatible WiFi 6E router for your device to connect to, the standard promises faster connectivity speeds and lower latency than WiFi 6. The potential omission of WiFi 6E from the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus probably won’t hurt most consumers given that the majority of homes and businesses are running older WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 routers.

As MacRumors notes, in the past Apple hasn’t restricted the availability of new WiFi standards to iPhone Pro models. Before the iPhone 14 line, the differences between the Pro and standard models were fairly negligible unless you had an interest in photography. However, as of last year, only the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max came with Apple’s new A16 Bionic chip, Dynamic Island cutout and ProMotion display. It now appears the company is trying to find even more ways to differentiate its Pro models from their more mainstream counterparts. Per past reports, other features that could be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max include Apple’s upcoming A16 chipset, a titanium frame and more RAM for multitasking. The phones could also sport solid-state volume and power buttons.