Ming-Chi Kuo: iPhone 15 will upgrade the ultra-wideband chip to achieve deep integration with Vision Pro.

Ming-Chi Kuo: iPhone 15 will upgrade the ultra-wideband chip to achieve deep integration with Vision Pro

Apple officially announced its new Vision Pro platform at WWDC this month, with a release date of "early 2024." According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, starting with the iPhone 15, Apple will build a better iPhone and Vision Pro integration ecosystem.

Kuo said Apple will "aggressively upgrade the iPhone's hardware specifications" to build a competitive ecosystem around the Vision Pro. “The ecosystem is one of the key success factors for Vision Pro, including integration with other Apple hardware products, and the main hardware specifications related are Wi-Fi and UWB.”

According to reports, the first step in this process will be to upgrade the ultra-wideband chip inside the iPhone 15. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 may use a new version of the ultra-wideband chip, which Apple is currently calling the U1 chip, for improved efficiency and reliability.

Ming-Chi Kuo said: "The UWB used in the iPhone 15 has upgraded its specifications, and the production process has been upgraded from 16nm to the more advanced 7nm, which is beneficial to improve the performance of close-range interaction or reduce power consumption."

Apple's U1 chip first appeared in the iPhone 11, and it's been included in every iPhone since then. Later, the U1 chip also appeared in Apple's AirTag item tracker, the Apple Watch Series 6 and newer, the HomePod mini, the second-generation full-size HomePod, and the latest-generation AirPods Pro charging case.

Apple uses the U1 chip for several different functions, including Find My, Handoff, Pinpoint Find, and AirDrop, among others. Kuo believes that the upgraded U1 chip will improve the performance of these functions and play a key role in the integration of Vision Pro with other Apple products.

Looking ahead, Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 16 may be upgraded to Wi-Fi 7, which will be more conducive to Apple's integration of hardware products under the same area network and provide a better ecological experience.

Wi-Fi 7 is the next-generation standard of Wi-Fi technology, which promises to greatly improve transmission speed and data throughput. The Wi-Fi Alliance has singled out the benefits that Wi-Fi 7 will bring to virtual and augmented reality.

Apple has yet to provide specific details about the hardware inside the Vision Pro headset. Still, the Vision Pro will use some next-gen technology that Apple hopes will allow it to be deeply integrated with iPhones and other devices.