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No WiFi 6 In New 13” 2020 MacBook Pro. Is criminal

T

TheRealAlex

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 2, 2015
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So we all expected a 14” MacBook Pro. We were disappointed ok. But the lack of WiFi 6 in a 2020 Laptop is a deal breaker.
what is Apple’s logic behind this ?


*well WiFi 6 isn’t fully ratified blah blah blah.....,irrelevant argument Apple puts WiFi 6 802.11ax in the iPhone for a while now.
 
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I spend very little time transferring files over WiFi so it's not a concern to me at the moment.

WiFi 6 routers are expensive and Apple is not the only company to not have WiFi 6.

Apple's logic? You'd have to ask Tim.
 
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Apple uses Intel's integrated Wifi. To my knowledge Intel still does not have a chipset that allows for Wifi6. Blame Intel. And while you're at it, blame them for not including PCI 4.0 in the machines either.
 
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venom600 said:
Apple uses Intel's integrated Wifi. To my knowledge Intel still does not have a chipset that allows for Wifi6. Blame Intel. And while you're at it, blame them for not including PCI 4.0 in the machines either.
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Literally everything you said is wrong, except the PCIe 4.0 stuff. Apple never used Intel WiFi and always used Broadcom chips. Additionally, Ice Lake has native support for WiFi 6.0, so Apple would’ve just had to add the antennas. This might break handoff or other WiFi features, however, blaming Intel for Apple/Broadcom‘s laziness is not correct.
 
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and I disagree that "we all expected a 14"" ... maybe you expected to draw some drama by adding "is criminal" but I don't think it worked. The thing is members will read and respond your posts here even without the hyperbole.
 
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Our router system (Google WiFi) is 802.11AC. (WiFi 5) Our internet speed is only 350 MBPs, and signal is great, so I'm fine with the 16" having AC wifi. My mid 2010 Mac Pro, my main machine, still has 802.11n.

I think within a few years WiFi 6 routers will be more mainstream. For now, AC is fine.
 
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1. Most people don't even have gigabit speeds going into their home.
2. Unfortunately Wifi 6 is already outdated as the slow FCC finally released 6ghz. Wireless 6E is where it's at as that frequency is wide open with hardly anyone using it right now. Making wifi work great again in congested urban areas.
3. I'm not sure if anyone has gotten Intel Wifi to work with airdrop/handoff etc with hackintosh. Maybe Apple has the same issue?
4. Current Wifi 6 routers are still a bit buggy.
 
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ScreenSavers said:
Our router system (Google WiFi) is 802.11AC. (WiFi 5) Our internet speed is only 350 MBPs, and signal is great, so I'm fine with the 16" having AC wifi. My mid 2010 Mac Pro, my main machine, still has 802.11n.

I think within a few years WiFi 6 routers will be more mainstream. For now, AC is fine.
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This so much. You have people who all they see is a number on a sheet rather an a practical use. My internet speed is only a little over 100 Mbps and not many people here have much faster. I don't know anyone personally who has a wifi 6 router and even though I could buy one why would I waste the money. If for some weird reason I need that fast of a transfer speed I'll do it wired.
[automerge]1589765864[/automerge]
magbarn said:
1. Most people don't even have gigabit speeds going into their home.
2. Unfortunately Wifi 6 is already outdated as the slow FCC finally released 6ghz. Wireless 6E is where it's at as that frequency is wide open with hardly anyone using it right now. Making wifi work great again in congested urban areas.
3. I'm not sure if anyone has gotten Intel Wifi to work with airdrop/handoff etc with hackintosh. Maybe Apple has the same issue?
4. Current Wifi 6 routers are still a bit buggy.
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This makes me angry that the new MacBook pro doesn't have WiFi 6E... They should have installed WiFi 7 knowing we needed this! 😂
 
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magbarn said:
1. Most people don't even have gigabit speeds going into their home.
2. Unfortunately Wifi 6 is already outdated as the slow FCC finally released 6ghz. Wireless 6E is where it's at as that frequency is wide open with hardly anyone using it right now. Making wifi work great again in congested urban areas.
3. I'm not sure if anyone has gotten Intel Wifi to work with airdrop/handoff etc with hackintosh. Maybe Apple has the same issue?
4. Current Wifi 6 routers are still a bit buggy.
Click to expand...

6E is not available yet, the certification program will begin late this year (and they could push it back due to corona anyway) and the chips and products will be available next year at earliest.
 
If it is a big deal for you wait until Apple announce their ARM based systems. Those will not be hampered by Intel's chips and have Wifi 6 like the phones.
 
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Right on, I am glad I found this thread as I was about to but a Macbook Pro. My house is Wifi 6, all Windows PC are upgraded to wifi 6 cards, the iPad PRO 2020, and now the iPhone 12.... no sense on buying old technology for this price point.

I am looking forward to either a HEAVY discount on macbook pros with legacy wifi, or wait for wifi 6.... either way, there is no way I am paying for a new machine with obsolete tech.
 
I have 1 gig internet in my house. It generally doesn't run at 1 gig but it's a big improvement over what I had before. Even when my internet is at it's fastest, WiFi 5 will handle ever bit of it and then some. I haven't seen any bottleneck issues with WiFi 5. Unless I have 10 gig internet and upgrade my routers to WiFi 6 routers why will I need WiFi 6 on any of my devices with in the next few years or longer.

Most people I know don't have 1 gig internet yet or even want/need it. Your common person will only want faster internet when they notice their internet isn't as fast as it use to be. If the common Apple customer can't utilize WiFi 5 to its fullest potential then why would Apple add WiFi 6 right now? Don't get me wrong I can see why it would matter and be important to certain people.

If it's a deal breaker other companies make laptops with WiFi 6. When the time comes for me to pay attention to WiFi 6 it will already be common place which means I don't have to worry about it. I didn't buy my first Apple computer this summer because of the WiFi.
 
Mike Slayer said:
I have 1 gig internet in my house. It generally doesn't run at 1 gig but it's a big improvement over what I had before. Even when my internet is at it's fastest, WiFi 5 will handle ever bit of it and then some. I haven't seen any bottleneck issues with WiFi 5. Unless I have 10 gig internet and upgrade my routers to WiFi 6 routers why will I need WiFi 6 on any of my devices with in the next few years or longer.

Most people I know don't have 1 gig internet yet or even want/need it. Your common person will only want faster internet when they notice their internet isn't as fast as it use to be. If the common Apple customer can't utilize WiFi 5 to its fullest potential then why would Apple add WiFi 6 right now? Don't get me wrong I can see why it would matter and be important to certain people.

If it's a deal breaker other companies make laptops with WiFi 6. When the time comes for me to pay attention to WiFi 6 it will already be common place which means I don't have to worry about it. I didn't buy my first Apple computer this summer because of the WiFi.
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‘If you have a WiFi 6 router and a media server, a NFS, a few K8s on a cluster...all connected via your router you get pretty impressive numbers....less worried about my internet connection at this point, which I have 1gb as well, than I am connecting my ecosystem at home... question, why buy obsolete technology anyways?...
 
Brazooka said:
‘If you have a WiFi 6 router and a media server, a NFS, a few K8s on a cluster...all connected via your router you get pretty impressive numbers....less worried about my internet connection at this point, which I have 1gb as well, than I am connecting my ecosystem at home... question, why buy obsolete technology anyways?...
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I understand why you need Wifi 6 along with others. WiFi 5 is obsolete for your needs but not for mine at the moment. When I start getting other things in my home ecosystem set-up I will need WiFi 6. For now and near future WiFi 5 still works fine for me. Until then a MacBook Pro with WiFi 5 isn't a deal breaker for me. It wouldn't shock me to see the redesigned Mac's next year come out with WiFi 6 but who know's what will happen.
 
Brazooka said:
Right on, I am glad I found this thread as I was about to but a Macbook Pro. My house is Wifi 6, all Windows PC are upgraded to wifi 6 cards, the iPad PRO 2020, and now the iPhone 12.... no sense on buying old technology for this price point.

I am looking forward to either a HEAVY discount on macbook pros with legacy wifi, or wait for wifi 6.... either way, there is no way I am paying for a new machine with obsolete tech.
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Well keep hoping for the heavy discount. NOT....
 
While I agree that it feels silly to use nearly 8-year old 802.11ac technology, wi-fi 6 still doesn't work that well, and probably won't for a few more years:

Does OFDMA Really Work? Part 1 - SmallNetBuilder

SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and prosumer home, SOHO and small business users.
www.smallnetbuilder.com www.smallnetbuilder.com

Does OFDMA Really Work? Part 2 - SmallNetBuilder

SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and prosumer home, SOHO and small business users.
www.smallnetbuilder.com www.smallnetbuilder.com

"I think you can see why I'm well on the way to putting the latest and greatest hype that the Wi-Fi industry has foisted upon us into the same bin as MU-MIMO. Like MU-MIMO, which is also a part of 802.11ax and having some effect on these results, OFDMA is great in theory, but proving extremely difficult to implement in practice."
 
Namara said:
and I disagree that "we all expected a 14"" ... maybe you expected to draw some drama by adding "is criminal" but I don't think it worked. The thing is members will read and respond your posts here even without the hyperbole.
Click to expand...
The guy just likes starting pointless or emotive threads and being a complete thorn in the side of the forum. I have no idea why he has been tolerated rather than expunged.
 
RobbieTT said:
The guy just likes starting pointless or emotive threads and being a complete thorn in the side of the forum. I have no idea why he has been tolerated rather than expunged.
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I actually find it to be a perfectly fair complaint. Even the iPhone has it built in. Just over-exaggerating how much it matters, though.
 
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