New iPad and Mac models will now support 160 MHz bandwidth to fully utilize the potential of Wi-Fi 6E.
macOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 contain a hidden feature that will significantly increase the connection speed and network functions on your iPad/Mac. With the updates, Apple turns on the 160 MHz frequency switch, as mentioned in a technical support document. This finally gives iPads and Macs full support for Wi-Fi 6E.
On paper, all Apple devices released since 2022 support the Wi-Fi standard. We say on paper, because until now only an 80 MHz bandwidth was supported, which meant that the devices could not get everything that is theoretically possible out of Wi-Fi 6E. This limitation is now being resolved for Apple on all devices that support Wi-Fi 6E and are compatible with the latest software versions.
Support at the device level is only part of the puzzle. To achieve the theoretical peak speeds of Wi-Fi 6E, your home or office router must also be compatible with the standard. Furthermore, external environmental factors and network load also play a role.
Limited Wi-Fi 7
A similar limitation applies to the Wi-Fi 7 support by the iPhone 17 models. Apple puts the Wi-Fi 7 sticker on its latest iPhones, but in practice they do not yet use all the frequency bands reserved for the Wi-Fi standard, including the unique 320 MHz frequency.
As a result, Wi-Fi 7 on an iPhone is more like glorified Wi-Fi 6(E). The rollout of Wi-Fi 7 is still in its early stages anyway.