The new M3 MacBook Air has been upgraded from WiFi 6 to Wi-Fi 6E, giving users a better network experience. WiFi 6E is an important upgrade based on WiFi 6, opening up the 6G band to WiFi devices. This guide covers the basic information about Wi-Fi 6E so that you can further understand what Wi-Fi 6E is.
What is Wi-Fi 6E?
Wi-Fi 6E is an enhanced version of Wi-Fi 6 (E stands for Extended). Compared with ordinary Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E network adds support for the 6GHz band, extending the range from 5925MHz to 7125MHz, for a total of 1200MHz of spectrum, which means an additional 7 channels of 160MHz, or 14 channels of 80MHz, or 29 40MHz channels, or 59 20MHz channels are provided. Wi-Fi 6E offers higher concurrency, lower latency, and greater bandwidth. In January 2021 the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that it had made Wi-Fi 6E certification available.
Benefits of Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E builds on Wi-Fi 6, which includes a flexible approach to consumer Wi-Fi needs, ensuring that every device in the home, whether it’s a smart TV streaming 4K content from Netflix or a small HomeKit-enabled sensor, all get the Wi-Fi performance appropriate for that particular device.
Most importantly, Wi-Fi 6E has high performance with multi-gigabit speeds, allowing you to perform operations such as streaming HD video, UHD video, transferring emails with large files, and more. It offers extremely low latency, which is crucial for playing games. It's also important for things like voice communication or VR, because latency can really affect the user experience and your perception of VR.
Applicable occasions
Wi-Fi 6E is suitable for application scenarios that require higher speed and larger bandwidth, such as virtual reality, 4K/8K video and other high-bandwidth-demand services.
The improvement of the new Wi-Fi technology will bring us a better user experience, as well as better meet more application scenarios in our life. With more and more commercial areas in the 6GHz band around the world, there will be more products equipped with Wi-Fi 6E to surprise us.
Which Apple devices support Wi-Fi 6E?
Since Wi-Fi 6E is relatively new and the latest advancement in Wi-Fi technology, not all devices support it. This means you may not be able to take full advantage of Wi-Fi 6E if other devices on your network are not compatible with it. Apple product models that support the standard are listed below:
- MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
- iMac (24-inch, 2023)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, Nov 2023) or MacBook Pro (16-inch, Nov 2023)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023) or MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)
- Mac mini (2023)
- Mac Studio (2023)
- Mac Pro (2023)
- iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) or iPad Pro 12.9 inch (6th generation)
Note that Wi-Fi 6E is not available in mainland China, while in Japan, Wi-Fi 6E requires iOS 16.2 or later or macOS 13.2 or later.
Wi-Fi is a technology that is present in most technology products that consumers consider, and is one of the few universal technologies. However, WiFi configuration is not a deciding factor for cell phones and is less important than camera, battery life, screen, etc. If you have a specific need for WiFi, then hopefully this article can help you.
