58 Macworld • March 2021iPHONE
Like those other technologies,
ultra-wideband isn’t new as a concept,
but it’s something that hasn’t really
found a home in the consumer
market. In 2019, Apple released
the iPhone 11 series and included a
custom chip dubbed the U1. During
the introduction, Apple talked up the
amazing properties of the U1, and
how it could be used to not only track
the location of objects with amazing
precision, but even has the ability
to point you in the right direction
towards them.
But almost a year and a half later,
U1 remains a technology without
much of an application. Yes, it’s built
in to AirDrop to show you which other
devices are closest, but that only
works with other U1-enabled iPhones
and it’s more of a proof of concept
than an actual feature to tout. Other
than that, there’s really not much
there – yet. With a few U1-enabled
technologies waiting in the wings,
2021 finally be the breakout year for
this technology.WITH OR WITHOUT U1
Through last year, Apple seemed
to believe strongly enough in the
future potential of the U1 that it kept
building it into its products. Not only
do the iPhone 11’s successors in theiPhone 12 line have a U1 chip, but both
the Apple Watch Series 6 and the
HomePod mini, released last autumn,
include it as well.
In introducing those devices, Apple
didn’t spend a lot of time talking
about what it might use those chips
for, aside from one quick example: a
replacement for the Handoff feature
that lets you transfer audio from
your iPhone to your HomePod just
by holding it nearby. The current
version of this feature uses another
technology, NFC (the same used
for Apple Pay), but it’s touchy
and unreliable. The U1 version is
supposedly superior, but when the
initial iOS 14 release rolled around,
it hadn’t made the cut. Only now
has the update that does include it
reached beta, so it may still be weeks
or a month away.
But the real proof of Apple’s
commitment to ultra-wideband will be
if it continues to include the U1 in its
other products. Last autumn’s iPad Air
update didn’t include the technology,
but it’s expected that an iPad Pro
refresh will happen this spring; it will be
telling if it includes the U1, given that
last year’s meagre update didn’t. (Or
likewise telling if it doesn’t.)
By the same token, Apple’s latest
M1 Macs, built around Apple’s custom58 Macworld • March 2021iPHONE
Like those other technologies,
ultra-wideband isn’t new as a concept,
but it’s something that hasn’t really
found a home in the consumer
market. In 2019, Apple released
the iPhone 11 series and included a
custom chip dubbed the U1. During
the introduction, Apple talked up the
amazing properties of the U1, and
how it could be used to not only track
the location of objects with amazing
precision, but even has the ability
to point you in the right direction
towards them.
But almost a year and a half later,
U1 remains a technology without
much of an application. Yes, it’s built
in to AirDrop to show you which other
devices are closest, but that only
works with other U1-enabled iPhones
and it’s more of a proof of concept
than an actual feature to tout. Other
than that, there’s really not much
there – yet. With a few U1-enabled
technologies waiting in the wings,
2021 finally be the breakout year for
this technology.WITH OR WITHOUT U1
Through last year, Apple seemed
to believe strongly enough in the
future potential of the U1 that it kept
building it into its products. Not only
do the iPhone 11’s successors in theiPhone 12 line have a U1 chip, but both
the Apple Watch Series 6 and the
HomePod mini, released last autumn,
include it as well.
In introducing those devices, Apple
didn’t spend a lot of time talking
about what it might use those chips
for, aside from one quick example: a
replacement for the Handoff feature
that lets you transfer audio from
your iPhone to your HomePod just
by holding it nearby. The current
version of this feature uses another
technology, NFC (the same used
for Apple Pay), but it’s touchy
and unreliable. The U1 version is
supposedly superior, but when the
initial iOS 14 release rolled around,
it hadn’t made the cut. Only now
has the update that does include it
reached beta, so it may still be weeks
or a month away.
But the real proof of Apple’s
commitment to ultra-wideband will be
if it continues to include the U1 in its
other products. Last autumn’s iPad Air
update didn’t include the technology,
but it’s expected that an iPad Pro
refresh will happen this spring; it will be
telling if it includes the U1, given that
last year’s meagre update didn’t. (Or
likewise telling if it doesn’t.)
By the same token, Apple’s latest
M1 Macs, built around Apple’s custom