The N1 wireless networking chip that is found in all iPhone 17 models has brought Apple one step closer towards achieving its ambitious goal of providing a silicon that can house all forms of connectivity in a single package. While it will take a few years for the company to realize its goal, it first needs to address some limitations it forcefully introduced, such as the N1 not supporting the 320MHz channel. For those wanting to know how this will affect Wi-Fi 7 speeds, continue reading.
All iPhone 17 models support up to the 160MHz channel courtesy of Apple’s N1 chip, which might not allow the Wi-Fi 7 speeds to reach their full potential, but this standard is already bottlenecked
For those who do not know, Apple limited the Wi-Fi 7 on the iPhone 16 models as the Broadcom chip supporting the protocol was also capped to the 160MHz channel. This year, MacRumors stumbled upon some FCC documents that confirm the same limitation for all iPhone 17 models. However, on this occasion, Apple has used a custom chip instead of a third-party solution. The new Wi-Fi 7 standard can support up to a 320MHz channel, allowing for this protocol to deliver unprecedented levels of bandwidth.
Assuming there is actually a benefit to the aforementioned 320MHz channel, why has Apple not decided to tweak its N1 to support this frequency? The short answer is that it is unnecessary. The Wi-Fi 7 is already an incredibly fast protocol to begin with, to the point that service providers cannot reach its maximum speeds. Since Apple typically looks at real-world benefits as opposed to theoretical advantages, its wireless networking chip ships with this limitation.
Thankfully, the N1 has other advantages to which Apple decided to allocate its resources and effort. With improved AirDrop and hotspot performance, users can experience faster and more reliable peer-to-peer transfers. Moreover, the N1’s improved efficiency means that it will cater to battery life better than any of Apple’s third-party chip manufacturers, thanks to the company’s better control over the hardware and software integration.
To be fair, what use will users find for Wi-Fi 7’s theoretical speed boosts if no service provider on the planet can come close to delivering that bandwidth? The latest standard also delivers lower latency and more reliable connectivity, not to mention the ability to transmit wireless data over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands in unison.
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