The new Apple‑designed U1 chip uses Ultra Wideband technology for spatial awareness — allowing iPhone 11 Pro to precisely locate other U1‑equipped Apple devices.
[On] September 10th, 2019 Apple announced the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro series of phones. Not mentioned on the stage, but briefly shown on the screen during Phil Schiller’s presentation was the new Apple U1 chip. Hidden in plain sight much like how he pre announced Apple Pay, we see the Apple U1 Chip for the world to see, yet most missed until after the event.
The “U” in the U1 chip relates to the Ultra-Wide Band Radio Technology (UWB) [1] technology it uses. UWB can be used for many application and use cases. One use case that will become very large for Apple as they move to AR/MR technology and Apple Glasses is to be able to track spacial relationships of objects… Although Apple only mentioned indirectly the U1 chip in the new iPhone 11 series, I think it is likely to be a part of Apple Watch Series 5. And if not yet in Apple Watch Series 5, it will be in a future version. I also imagine the U1 in AirPods, AirPod cases, Apple Glasses, MacBook Pros and of course in a stand alone device similar to the Tile…
More than anything else, the Apple U1 Chip helps telegraph the Apple Glasses AR/MR platform… I feel rather strongly the Apple U1 Chip, over time will be seen as one of the most important aspect of the September 10th, 2019 Apple Event.
MacDailyNews Take: Roemmele’s full article is highly recommended.
The groundwork is being laid for Apple Tags – and so much more!
The new Apple‑designed U1 chip uses Ultra Wideband technology for spatial awareness — allowing iPhone 11 Pro to precisely locate other U1‑equipped Apple devices. It’s like adding another sense to iPhone, and it’s going to lead to amazing new capabilities.
With U1 and iOS 13, you can point your iPhone toward someone else’s, and AirDrop will prioritize that device so you can share files faster. And that’s just the beginning. — Apple
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Luis G” for the heads up.]
Well this is one I can’t claim I told Steve Jobs about. My powers have limits – yes, even for me. I have thought about such things though but then I think about a lot, my brain is big. I have other big things about me too, I am that way. My ego is small though. I am supremely humble, it’s my nature to be hugely and ginormously small in my massive impact – I really am an enigma. That’s why I am CitizenX – X for Xtraordinary.
I knew it you are Marvin the paranoid Android and I claim my dinner at the restaurant at the end of the Universe.
This article sounds like it has been written by an Ultra Wideband shill.
A few years ago UWB was going to be the RF solution for everything — everything from penetrating radar to ultra high data rates all while not interfering with anything else, even other UWB users. Virtually NONE of that ever materialized into products people used. Yes, UWB found some niches, but it’s not the answer to everything.
UWB in and of itself is a misnomer. It is not “ultra wideband”. To be that it would have to have occupied bandwidths of 5 – 10 GHz or more as there are legitimate RF systems out there doing things at up to 5 GHz occupied bandwidth today.
There are things for which this Pulse Repetition Frequency technology is useful. It is not the “be all, end all” technology that so many UWB shills think it will be.
I accept I know nothing about it though I can say various under used technologies only took off when Apple used them usb amongst them so this may or may not be another one to get the shot in the arm.
So the A13 is just chopped liver? The A13 is a really advanced SoC as most of the A-series processors. I really don’t understand the jaded attitude tech-heads have when it comes to high-tech. It’s like they’re saying, anyone can do that stuff. I would say processor design is quite beyond what McGyver can do with a paper clip. That A13 is doing a lot of live processing on the iPhone and that’s nothing to yawn at. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around 8.5 billion transistors and a trillion op/s.
I doubt the average person can really comprehend those numbers but some tech-heads say that’s boring. It’s just ridiculous to be that jaded. Maybe it’s because I was in elementary school when pocket radios only had six discrete transistors and that was a big deal considering gherkin-sized vacuum tubes were still in use in table radios. Some people just can’t appreciate how great these times are for long-time tech lovers.
The world of tech still hasn’t gotten over Apple designing a mobile OS (OSX) in the phone and their own mobile CPU.
*spatial