Julie Clover
Apple unveiled new Mac mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro models this week, adding faster, more efficient M4 chips, as well as some other updates like Thunderbolt 5 and nano-texture display options for some models. One upgrade we thought we might see was support for the latest Wi-Fi spec, but the new machines didn't get the Wi-Fi 7 update.
All of the new M4 Macs still offer Wi-Fi 6E, and while it does provide access to the 6GHz band on supported Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers, it's not the latest or greatest technology.
It's surprising that Apple hasn't updated the new machines to Wi-Fi 7, since all of the iPhone 16 models released in September feature Wi-Fi 7 chips from Broadcom. iPhones support 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 with 2×2 MIMO, but there is one caveat regarding the iPhone 16 models that slightly mitigates the lack of Wi-Fi 7 on Macs.
Apple's Wi-Fi specifications page confirms that the Wi-Fi 7 chips in the iPhone 16 models have a maximum PHY data rate of 2400 Mbps and a maximum channel bandwidth of 160 MHz, which is in line with the performance of the Wi-Fi 6E chips in the iPhone 15 Pro models and the M3 Mac models with Wi-Fi 6E on 6 GHz networks (Apple's chart has not been updated for the M4, but presumably the Wi-Fi 6E chips are unchanged).
Wi-Fi 7 in the iPhone 16 models increases the maximum data transfer speed when connected to the 5 GHz bands compared to the Wi-Fi 6E chips used in Macs and iPads, but Apple doesn’t support the full 320 MHz bandwidth in its Wi-Fi 7 implementation. Wi-Fi 7 offers up to 320 MHz of bandwidth to accommodate more devices, but Apple capped the bandwidth at 160 MHz, so the iPhone 16 models don’t take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7 despite having a Wi-Fi 7 chip. This limitation was a disappointment, but the iPhone 16 models support Multi-Link Operation (MLO) to connect to multiple bands simultaneously for faster data transfers and lower latency on supported networks. Apple certainly could have opted to go with an uncapped Wi-Fi 7 chip in the M4 Mac models, especially the higher-end M4 Pro and M4 Max machines, but it didn’t. Given that people often use Macs for several years, it’s curious that Apple chose not to offer this piece of future-proofing in the Mac lineup. MLO would be nice to have for gaming apps, streaming, and video conferencing, especially as people upgrade their networks in the coming years.
Customers planning to purchase one of the new M4 Macs should be aware that these machines still offer Wi-Fi 6E features and don’t have the faster speeds and latency benefits of Wi-Fi 7.
Related Reviews: iMac , MacBook Pro , Mac miniTags: Wi-Fi 6E , Wi-Fi 7Buyer’s Guide: iMac (Buy Now), 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pro (Buy Now), Mac Mini (Buy Now)Related Forums: iMac , MacBook Pro , Mac mini[ 243 comments ]
