Apple Wi-Fi 6E Support: What iPhone and Mac Users Need to Know

[MacRumors]

Wi-Fi 6E, the latest advancement in Wi-Fi technology, offers several benefits when enabled on your iPhone or Mac, but it can also cause problems. This article explains what Wi-Fi 6E is, which Apple devices support it, and how to turn it off if you encounter issues.

What is Wi-Fi 6E?

Wi-Fi 6 operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, while Wi-Fi 6E also works over the 6GHz band for increased bandwidth. Wi-Fi 6E offers faster wireless speeds, lower latency, and less signal interference, so long as a supported device is connected to a Wi-Fi 6E router, which are available from brands like TP-Link, Asus, and Netgear.

Wi-Fi 6E can handle more simultaneous connections without a decrease in performance, making it ideal for environments with many connected devices, such as smart homes and modern offices.

Does My Apple Device Support Wi-Fi 6E?

As Wi-Fi 6E is relatively new, not all devices support it yet. This means you might not be able to take full advantage of its features if other devices in your network are not Wi-Fi 6E compatible. Apple devices that support the standard are as follows:

• iMac (24-inch, Nov 2023)
• MacBook Pro (14-inch, Nov 2023)
• 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)

Using Wi-Fi 6E Networks

To use a Wi-Fi 6E network with an Apple device, you need a Wi-Fi 6E router that also has its 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands enabled. For the best Wi-Fi performance, Apple recommends using a single network name across the router's 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. Otherwise, your Apple device will identify the network as having "limited compatibility," and the overall experience with some activities over the network might not be as expected.

Disabling Wi-Fi 6E Networks

The 6 GHz frequency band can have a shorter range and less ability to penetrate walls and other obstacles compared to the lower 2.4 GHz band. This might require more strategic placement of routers or the use of range extenders in larger spaces. Additionally, if your Mac is experiencing the "limited connectivity" issues described above, it may potentially lead to increased power consumption on your Mac, which could impact battery life.

Fortunately, if you experience any issues with a Wi-Fi 6E network, you can turn off Wi-Fi 6E mode for that network, and your Apple device will no longer use that network's 6GHz band.
On Mac

1. Click the Apple logo () in the menu bar and select System Settings.
2. Click Wi-Fi in the side column.
3. Click Details next to the name of the Wi-Fi 6E network you're connected to.
4. From the pop-up menu next to "Wi-Fi 6E Mode," choose Off.

On iPhone and iPad

1. Open the Settings app and tap Wi-Fi.
   Tap the name of the Wi-Fi 6E network you're connected to.
2. Tap Wi-Fi 6E Mode, then tap Off.

Note that Wi-Fi 6E is not available in China mainland, while in Japan, Wi-Fi 6E requires iOS 16.2 or later or macOS 13.2 or later.

Article Link: Apple Wi-Fi 6E Support: What iPhone and Mac Users Need to Know

 

[tyr2]

> Additionally, operating on a higher frequency band may lead to increased power consumption on your Mac, which could impact battery life in portable devices.

Is going from 5 to 6ghz actually a significant issue compared to all the other draws on power on a laptop?

 

[metalsiren]

"Additionally, operating on a higher frequency band may lead to increased power consumption on your Mac, which could impact battery life in portable devices."

This is WRONG, I do wifi for a living. Wifi 6E actually reduces power consumption with a feature called TWT or target wake time. compared to 24/5. disabling wifi 6e on the router wont make a difference for the clients power. When the client is connected to an SSID that has 24/5/6 enabeld yes the client will check for roam candidates (aka another AP to go to if you need to roam) but 80211k neighbor lists fixes that.

so really confused with the above statement.

 

[matrix07]

Wi-Fi 7 next year?

 

[metalsiren]

Wi-Fi 7 next year?

its coming but its even more complex and builds on 6E

as in 320bonding 6Ghz channels compared to 180 bonding, 4k QAM compared to 1K QAM (you only get the higher one being closer). the big thing is Multi-Link Capabilities where it can connect to 2 bands and send data on them both like being connected to 5/6 at the same time. (still have to see it in practice though)

 

[matrix07]

Yeah Wi-Fi 6E is like just a stop gap to Wi-Fi 7.
I heard some brands already released routers for it.

 

[metalsiren]

Yeah Wi-Fi 6E is like just a stop gap to Wi-Fi 7.
I heard some brands already released routers for it.

yea the "home" brands are always the first ones to jump in. where the enterprise ones like Cisco, Aruba etc always come out after since they use way more silicon etc on their devices since they are designed to handle more connections etc.

 

[Sorinut]

I just upgraded to wifi 6 from 802.11n last year.. It'll probably be another decade until I look at 6e, or 7.

Upgrading routers is like buying a water heater. What a hassle.

 

[singularity0993]

Do these new WiFi standards really make a difference? I mean, if you are serious about network speed you’ll (have to) use ethernet anyway.

 

[timmyh]

"Additionally, operating on a higher frequency band may lead to increased power consumption on your Mac, which could impact battery life in portable devices."

This is WRONG, I do wifi for a living. Wifi 6E actually reduces power consumption with a feature called TWT or target wake time. compared to 24/5. disabling wifi 6e on the router wont make a difference for the clients power. When the client is connected to an SSID that has 24/5/6 enabeld yes the client will check for roam candidates (aka another AP to go to if you need to roam) but 80211k neighbor lists fixes that.

so really confused with the above statement.

Fair point, I can reword this. I should have explained better that it could potentially increase power consumption if your Mac was experiencing connection issues across Wi-Fi 6E networks because of the 'compatibility issues' Apple has talked about, covered earlier in the article.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[pugxiwawa]

Best 6E mesh router?

 

[WannaGoMac]

Do these new WiFi standards really make a difference? I mean, if you are serious about network speed you’ll (have to) use ethernet anyway.

For most people nope, their Internet speed will be far lower than their Wi-Fi speed. And, if you care you use ethernet cable on everything you can because that’s still best.

 

[ToBeFrank]

I just bought a m3 max MacBook Pro, and I already have a wifi 6e AP. I use separate SSIDs for 2.4, 5, and 6. It did not prompt me to join my 5 SSID nor say anything about limited capability. Perhaps this is because I’m using WPA enterprise?

 

[metalsiren]

Fair point, I can reword this. I should have explained better that it could potentially increase power consumption if your Mac was experiencing connection issues across Wi-Fi 6E networks because of the 'compatibility issues' Apple has talked about, covered earlier in the article.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Technically that can happen with any wifi if it’s having issues since the client is constantly scanning (which it does anyways when connected just not as aggressive when not). Yes I don’t understand apples logic on not liking greenfield deployments. As in only 6e. It always wants a 5ghz as a backup. Which is dumb for people that design a fully covered 6ghz deployment. It doesn’t do that if you have a 5ghz only network.

It’s misleading in apple part, I also have a galaxy tab on 6e greenfield and it’s fine no “experience” issues lol.

And hopefully I don’t come off condescending as I don’t mean to.

 

[ifxf]

Apple still doesn’t allow you to check what wifi protocol you are utilizing.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Most consumers, unless their connections are data heavy and require low latency, will neither care or be bothered about these things. Even more so that most won’t even know which standard their network at home is even running at this moment.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Best 6E mesh router?

My humble suggestion is to not use mesh if you can avoid it. Use MoCA adapters to take advantage of the coaxial cable you probably already have, or go to the trouble once to run a network cable.

Having said that, if you really want to or have to go mesh, then either TP-Link or Eero probably have the best.

 

[Fuzzball84]

WiFi 8 will allow you to use beam focusing. No longer will you require a microwave. Simply placing a few routers in the house will enable you to heat that ready meal with a click of the button.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Apple still doesn’t allow you to check what wifi protocol you are utilizing.

They don’t tell you anything on the iPhone since like iOS 11. Had to stop using it for anything at all and just bust out the Mac. Option click the WiFi icon and it will tell you many things.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Apple still doesn’t allow you to check what wifi protocol you are utilizing.

That’s the beauty of fisher price activity centers. It just works.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Technically that can happen with any wifi if it’s having issues since the client is constantly scanning (which it does anyways when connected just not as aggressive when not). Yes I don’t understand apples logic on not liking greenfield deployments. As in only 6e. It always wants a 5ghz as a backup. Which is dumb for people that design a fully covered 6ghz deployment. It doesn’t do that if you have a 5ghz only network.

It’s misleading in apple part, I also have a galaxy tab on 6e greenfield and it’s fine no “experience” issues lol.

And hopefully I don’t come off condescending as I don’t mean to.

Keep going! Love that you’re dropping real knowledge. People that know what they are talking about often seem to be taken as arrogant or condescending. But you’re not. You’re being helpful.

 

[CarAnalogy]

That’s the beauty of fisher price activity centers. It just works.

Yeah pretty much. If you want a pocket computer you have to use Android. I’m fine with my phone just being a phone and using a proper computer for computer things.

 

[pugxiwawa]

My humble suggestion is to not use mesh if you can avoid it. Use MoCA adapters to take advantage of the coaxial cable you probably already have, or go to the trouble once to run a network cable.

Having said that, if you really want to or have to go mesh, then either TP-Link or Eero probably have the best.

Thanks. Need coverage for the whole house with 2 floors and basement. Looking at TP Link AXE5300 now.

 

[Powerbooky]

While it seems logical do use the same SSID on all bands on the same AP, it often doesn't work that well. And I mean 2.4GHz in particular. Today that band is over occupied and in my experience, whenever a device switches over to 2.4GHz the performance drops even though the signal strength looks better. The 2.4GHz frequency band is over occupied with wifi (wireless mesh and or repeaters), bluetooth, thread, zigbee stuff and many other wireless devices.

I for one have limited the 2.4GHz wifi to single channel mode and is only in use for a few IoT devices that do not need high bandwidth anyway. This way the disturbance I get from neighbours is reduced. All the high bandwidth Mac's are on 5GHz.

Just like the 5GHz band was kind of empty 15 years ago, the 6GHz will probably be relatively empty for the coming 5 years. I'll wait a few years until I replace my Zyxel WAX650S, when the 5GHz becomes overcrowded too. Maybe when wifi 8 is introduced? 😉 By that time we need a newer encryption anyway.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Do these new WiFi standards really make a difference? I mean, if you are serious about network speed you’ll (have to) use ethernet anyway.

Of course Ethernet is best, but in an environment without a lot of interference, at good distances, there is a lot of improvement. Also it’s not always about internet speed but sometimes speed between devices.

It’s good that they continue to make improvement because the 2.4GHz range is kind of a mess. It will be a better world for everyone when we can quiet that down and use lower range, higher speed, higher frequency bands everywhere.

We’ve come a long way since 802.11n which was a long way from 802.11g.

Kind of think of it like a new iPhone every year. Not everyone needs to upgrade every year, but when you do after several years you will be glad they were improving it in the mean time.