Intel has announced its plans to launch Wi-Fi 7, the next generation W-FI Standard that is set to replace the current Wi-Fi 6E with double the data processing speeds reaching 5.8Gbps, support for up to 36 Gbps when working with data and more stable 6GHz bandwidth.
“We are currently developing Intel’s Wi-Fi ‘802.11be’ in order to obtain the ‘Wi-Fi Alliance’ certification, and it will be installed in PC products such as laptops by 2024. We expect it to appear in major markets in 2025 ,” Said vice president of Intel’s wireless solutions division Eric McLaughlin.
In addition, Wi-Fi 7 is set to be future proof, as it will be built ready to support bandwidth of up to 7GHz once the Federal Communications Commission opens it up.
“Wi-Fi 7 almost doubles the frequency bandwidth of 802.11ax (170 MHz) to 320 MHz and doubles the speed of Wi-Fi. Since there is more than a year left before the release of 802.11be, there is still a chance that we could improve the processing speed even further,” he added.
Apple on the other hand, is prepping for an imminent rollout of Wi-Fi 6E across their devices, long after it first started appearing in devices in early 2021. It was expected to be featured on last year’s iPhone 13 but is instead expected to launch with the upcoming iPhone 14.
Despite being late to the party, Apple’s rollout of Wi-Fi 6E will provide users with a massive upgrade in Wi-Fi speed, with access to the 6GHz spectrum and an increases speed to 2.6GBps over 2GBps from Wi-Fi 6. Whilst not even close to the doubling upgrade provided by Wi-Fi 7, its sure to bolster the connection speeds of the iPhones.
Currently, most Wi-Fi routers use under 50% of their total capabilities due to bottlenecking from firewalls, having multiple users on the same network and more. With Wi-Fi 7, Intel hopes to change that, allowing users to enjoy clearer and faster gaming, media streaming and overall connectivity.