Two new rumors, one from the supply chain and the other from Barclays analysts, give us more details about the hardware that we could see presented this year and its characteristics. We talk about the arrival date of the second generation of the AirPods Pro as well as the possibility that the new iPhone 13 are compatible with the Wi-Fi 6E standard.
AirPods sooner rather than later and better Wi-Fi on the iPhone 13
Let’s start with the AirPods Pro. We have been waiting for an update on these headphones for several months. According to the latest rumors, Apple plans a major redesign of these headphones, eliminating the characteristic leg to bet on a more rounded and compact design. What we do not know, however, is the arrival date.
In this regard, DigiTimes reports that, according to its sources, Winbond Electronics will receive a strong demand that will completely fill its production capacity. According to the publication the demand is for NOR flash memories that will be used in future AirPods Pro. It is not specified exactly what this memory will be used for, but it is hinted that it could be for a new model. What is specified is an approximate date range: late in the first half of 2021.
With this, we could see the second-generation AirPods Pro appear at WWDC21 or through a press release a few days before it, as happened with some similar launches. In any case, it seems clear that the AirPods Pro are closer than far.
We switched devices to talk about the iPhone 13. In this model, some small changes in the components are expected, including the possibility of slightly reducing the size of the notch and, according to analysts at Barclays, the arrival of Wi-Fi 6E. Blayne Curtis and Thomas O’Malley have published an investigation note in which they explain that the Apple Skyworks supplier would be in charge of manufacturing the power amplifiers for the Wi-Fi 6E system.
The E variant of this technology offers better network and device performance, lower latency, and higher transfer rates when extended to the 6GHz network. Thanks to this extension, it will also allow better use of the spectrum in places with a high concentration of networks.
The truth is that if Apple has decided to implement Wi-Fi 6E in the family of iPhone 13 – one that, quietly, could now abandon the numbers in its nomenclature – the decision should already be made. Apple approves designs and specifications many months before launch, so we will be watching for more rumors, especially from the supply chain, with which we can confirm these predictions.
In any case, it should be remembered that nothing is official until it is published in a press release or shown on the Steve Jobs Theater stage. What is clear is that while we wait for more news about the iPhone 13 and the AirPods Pro we will have an entertaining wait. There are many devices pending to present and many novelties ready.