Ultra Wideband is the tech that allows your iPhone to precisely locate your AirPods and AirTags. Now Apple is probably bringing Ultra Wideband to Macs.
9to5Mac reported that the latest macOS 12.3 beta has internal files that hint at Ultra Wideband tech for Macs. Apple has its U1 chip that allows compatible devices to locate each other and function better.
What Does Ultra Wideband On Mac Means?
When Apple introduced the U1 chip on the iPhone 11, the company’s promotional material said it is “Going to lead to amazing new capabilities.” A couple of years from then, we now have the U1 chip in the AirPods, AirTags, and HomePod Mini.
Now all of these Apple-made devices make use of the Ultra Wideband technology to precisely locate each other. It helps the AirPods get a more stable connection with the iPhone by adding spatial awareness. The U1 chip also makes for smoother hand-offs between your HomePod Mini and your iPhone.
Coming to the U1 chip on Macs, Apple’s move could be to add the tech to Macs and give them the same benefits as other devices. Ultra Wideband on Mac could allow you to precisely locate your Mac with your iPhone.
It’d also mean the smoother and more stable AirDrop and hand-off capabilities coming to Mac. AirPlay will also largely benefit from this added spatial awareness on the Mac.
With unlimited possibilities, we only have limited knowledge for now. However, with features like Universal control coming to Apple devices, Apple devices could make do with a U1 chip.
It is also noteworthy that not even the latest M1 iPad gets the U1 chip. So we can safely say that both the Mac and iPad are likely to get a U1 chip in the future to make better use of Apple’s seamless ecosystem.
