Next Gen iPhone to Rock Low-Power 802.11n WiFi!
We’d heard rumors about this back when mobile 802.11n WiFi chipsets began to announced, and when the next gen iPhone was said to be “faster“. Now Apple Insider is reporting that:
Wireless radio component specifications contained within the iPhone 3.0 firmware indicate support for a new chip enabling low power 802.11n, which is likely to be exposed in the new iPhone and iPod touch set for release later this year.
Along with faster CPUs, faster GPUs, and faster cellular networking, 802.11n Wifi, anyone think speed isn’t the name of the game Apple’s playing with the next gen iPhone?
April 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
:sighs.
Okay, I give up; I guess I’m gonna have to camp out in line again on opening day this year to get the new iPhone and fork over my hard-earned cash. I vowed I would never put myself through that again (camping overnight outside the AT&T store), but dammit these iPhones are simply too addicting…
April 4th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Keep bringing the rumors you guys, this keeps getting better and better, any chance you guys will pay for me to go to wwdc this year?
April 4th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Does this mean people will have the ability to link there phones to a laptop and use the phones signal to surf the net?
April 4th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Edisontiger – this capability is called “tethering”, and I believe we’re getting it in the 3.0 version of the iPhone software. I think you can already do it if you jailbreak.
April 4th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
The more good rumored features, the earlier Apple has to built it in!
April 4th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Any good word that us VZW users will have a iPhone before the end of the world?! lol AT&T sucks in my area…
April 4th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
@Click: Verizon was offered the iPhone first and refused it, reportedly :/
April 4th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
More speed better mean more expansion and perfection of MobileMe. Otherwise “faster” is just trivial to me personally.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Faster is not trivial to most.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Not that I would complain about any higher technology, but is 802.11n really that important right now? Who needs more than 802.11g’s 54 Mbps bandwidth? Even for streaming video, “G” WiFi seems plenty fast, and Mobile Safari is limited much more by the iPhone’s processing than WiFi speed. Or is the increased range on an “N” network a significant enough reason to upgrade to this still-young technology?
April 4th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
For what it’s worth, in 3.0 the web browser (and related apps) works MUCH faster then in 2.1. Speed is not trivial. It kills.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
should i get the iphone 3g or w8 for this new iphone 2 come out?? i cant decide but i dont want to get the new iphone if its way more expensive
April 4th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I have to wonder how much the new iPhone is going to be… If it is under $300 I will probably get it… I should say, with a contract…
April 5th, 2009 at 12:08 am
@Muero I agree. Right now “n” is next to useless because the majority of hotspots don’t support it. In time it’ll be worthwhile but by then there will be newer generation iPhones out and even faster wifi protocol.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:30 am
When the rumors started popping up I got really excited.
Then I remembered I don’t have a wireless N router.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:29 am
@Blake 2: Uhhhhh…. I never said it wasn’t.
@Mav: Uhhhh… I never said “speed” is trivial.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:16 am
gonna be fresh ditching the lil’ bit of lag these kits have. Tighten up the rythm. It will truley become such a dialed way of life. Zip…zip….zip…..beam…..
April 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
the isn’t related to wifi, but can anyone explain how an app like swirly mms can give a first generation iphone mms capabilities, and yet apple claims that it isn’t possible for them to upgrade the first generation iphone in this way?
April 5th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
@striatic Because they’re dirty liars.
April 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
@Ben:
And neither does any free or paid wifi hotspot. Nor are they likely to any time soon, as they are not interested in serving customers not in their stores.
When they max out G speeds, this might be important. Right now its meaningless.
802.11n requires multiple antennas and the body of the iPhone is not conducive to and meaningful separation of multiple antennas (as is required). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n
Furthermore with CSIRO suing every body over patents it just seems like an additional headache that Apple does not need.
Why not put in a LTE chipset in addition to 3G and actually be ahead of the curve. The money is likely to be the same (mere pennies per unit) as an all in one broadcom chipset.
I’ll take the FM receiver tho. That would be usefull. FM transmitter? Not so much. Of course there is no reason to believe Apple would actually go with a Broadcom solution, they might just opt for low-bidder again like Infinion.