Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new generation of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the faster M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The new notebooks also come with Wi-Fi 6E for the first time on a Mac. however, some apps will need to be updated to fully support the new Wi-Fi technology.
Wi-Fi 6E is a new generation of Wi-Fi that not only supports higher speeds but also lower latency and less interference. This is because Wi-Fi 6E operates in a unique spectrum that is much wider than the spectrum used by previous generations of Wi-Fi. In other words, it is possible to connect to faster, more stable networks with Wi-Fi 6E.
The first Apple device to support Wi-Fi 6E was the iPad Pro in 2022 with the M2 chip, and now the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini in 2023 also support the new Wi-Fi standard. Apple says that the new Wi-Fi standard is “twice as fast as the previous generation”.
However, some specific apps for macOS will need to be updated to accommodate the new Wi-Fi technology. Adrian Granados, co-founder and developer of Intuitibits, pointed out that the current version of macOS lacks a framework for third-party apps to take advantage of the new Wi-Fi 6E interface. Intuitibits is the company behind the popular WiFi Explorer app.
Apple will likely address this situation in a future macOS update, and the company is currently working on macOS Ventura 13.2, which is expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks. Apple has confirmed that the update will enable Wi-Fi 6E for users in Japan, where the technology is currently unavailable due to local regulations.
However, its note that Apple’s China website states that Wi-Fi 6E is available for countries and regions outside of mainland China.
