Apple's New N1 Chip in iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Has a Wi-Fi 7 Limitation

The latest iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air models are equipped with Apple's all-new N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. However, the chip has a Wi-Fi 7 bandwidth limitation.

apple n1 chip
According to FCC documents reviewed by MacRumors, the N1 chip in all of the new iPhone models supports up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, short of the standard's 320 MHz maximum. This limitation means the devices cannot achieve the peak theoretical speeds possible with Wi-Fi 7, but real-world performance is typically already bottlenecked by internet service providers and other factors.

For the vast majority of customers, this is a non-issue, but some iPhone users had wanted to know if the N1 chip offered 160 MHz or 320 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, so we combed through FCC documents to find the answer.

160 MHzFCC document showing Wi-Fi specs for iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wi-Fi 7 is still very fast. The standard allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and/or 6GHz bands simultaneously, with a compatible router, resulting in faster speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity.

All of the iPhone 16 models — excluding the iPhone 16e — also support Wi-Fi 7 with up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth. Those devices are equipped with a Broadcom chip for wireless networking, though, leading to hopes that Apple's N1 chip might raise the limit to 320 MHz. Evidently, that is not the case.

There are other benefits, though. Apple said the N1 chip improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop, and it also contributes to power efficiency improvements in the latest iPhone models.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air
Related Forum: iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

scrapesleon Avatar
8 weeks ago
got to limit it so they have features for the iPhone 18
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tennisproha Avatar
8 weeks ago
The Broadcom chips are also limited to 160 MHz so this is a non-issue. Of course that's not gonna stop people from complaining about Apple.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
herocero Avatar
8 weeks ago
How many people are running any WiFi network with a whole chunk of 320MHz? I’ll wait …
And that’s before other network bottlenecks.

WiFi 7 is about efficiency, security (WPA3) and the benefits of multiple frequencies at the same time.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
8 weeks ago
I understand that some people already have wifi 7 routers, and those who are buying new routers certainly should, but the vast majority of people have non-7 capable routers so this is not a big deal, I have a 6e router and it serves my needs just fine. YMMV
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ls1dreams Avatar
8 weeks ago
Apple is always super annoying with this, but for a phone I don't really care too much. Mostly care to see what macbooks do with wi-fi 7 to maximize bandwidth.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
8 weeks ago
But is Wi-Fi 7 on iPhone 17 Pro Max faster than Wi-Fi 7 on iPhone 16 Pro Max? Is it at least comparable?

That's what I wanna know.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)