Apple’s use of Ultra Wideband with the U1 chip in the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max could go well beyond AirDrop.
Malcolm Owen for AppleInsider:
The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro family of devices both include Apple’s U1 wireless chip, which enables the use of Ultra Wideband for a small number of features. The chief usage at the moment is for it to find other iPhone 11 devices nearby that may be available to receive files via AirDrop…
The short-range nature of the system has the potential to be employed for other purposes, such as using UWB pulses to transmit data for use in the Find My app, allowing it to find nearby lost items owned by other people and reporting the location of discovery back to the user.
In a patent application published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday, Apple’s filing for “Electronic Devices with Motion Sensing and Angle of Arrival Detection Circuitry” outlines some of the more advanced ways it can use UWB.
MacDailyNews Take: Knowing the precise location of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, etc. leads to many potential uses, such as tracking Apple Tags, AR, HomeKit, maximizing energy efficiency, gaming, and much more!
Could this also be part of an alternative for G5 at some point in time?