Wi-Fi 7 is hardly on the market and we are already talking about the next version, Wi-Fi 8. To be more specific, IEEE Standards Body has completed its first draft of $ 802.11 billion. Standard, which is what will be known as Wi-Fi 8 for consumers.
It’s actually a break from the last pair of 802.11 versions, as it doesn’t really try to improve maximum bandwidth. Instead, almost all the new features are focused on reliability. IEEE calls it “802.11 billion ultra high reliability” so you know what the priorities are.
Wi -Fi 7 already provides a maximum “in the laboratory” flow of up to 46 gigabits per day. Second, and while you never get anywhere close to it in the real world, the best current Wi-Fi 7 routers already achieve more than 2 Gbps in good conditions, and it will improve over the next few years.
Here’s how Wi-Fi 8 aims to give a wireless experience more like using a cable connection.
A focus on reliability
Qualcomm never misses an opportunity to promote the next wireless standards and is usually one of the first to support them (even in draft form) in its chips. The company has a page about Wi-Fi 8 that describes some of its benefits.
The new standard of DKK 802.11 billion Focuses on improving these areas:
Roaming between access points: If you are in a large gym or office, or an airport or sports site, you move from one Wi-Fi access to another as you walk around. Wi-Fi 8 brings something called single mobility domains that will keep you associated with continuous low latency when you jump between access points, without the hiccups and interruptions you get today.
Edge Reliability: If you are on the “edge” of your Wi-Fi series today, you know how it is not just slower it is unreliable. There is delay, dropped packages, disconnections and connections again. Wi-Fi 8 has a set of improvements to make connections on the edge much more stable.
Cooperative behavior for close environments: Wi-Fi in truly crowded areas such as sports and music sites or conference centers are struggling to handle the great density of connected devices and multiple access points with overlapping areas. Spec of $ 802.11 billion Introduces ways in which multiple access points can work together, dynamic adjustment of channels, connections and power to make sure they do not enter each other’s way and everyone remains connected.
To get along with other wireless: Modern devices have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and maybe other things like NFC and UWB. These can interfere with each other, especially if they share or have nearby antennas. Wi-Fi 8 needs to better handle the interruptions where resources (antennas, radio frequency spectrum, etc.) are used by another technology in the same device.
Streaming efficiency: Everyone wants their devices to be more effective. The standard of DKK 802.11 billion Incorporates new ways of knowing how much power is used and is needed to maintain a good connection so that home access points and portable devices can use less power without compromising the experience.
Qualcomm
When will Wi-Fi 8 come to Apple devices?
Wi-Fi 8 uses the same frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) as Wi-Fi 7 and the same channel size, modulation and more. This means that a lot of hardware is similar to very Wi-Fi 7. You need new hardware, but it won’t be a dramatic departure from Wi-Fi 7-hardware that will be common by 2028.
Apple does not have a story of hurting to incorporate a new draft of Wi-Fi standard, but also not wait very long after the standard is formally adopted. E.g. Wi -Fi 7 was formally adopted in early 2024, although units supporting the “draft” standard were available the year before. Apple’s first Wi-Fi 7 devices, the iPhone 16 line, were released in the fall of 2024, but M4 Macs released in 2025 supports all WiFi 6E.
At the time Wi-Fi 8 arrives (estimated to be 2028), Apple will have switched to using its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips in almost all its products, so there’s nothing to tell if Apple will be among the first to support the new standard or what it will look like. For example, the iPhone 16 models with WiFi 7 are limited to 160 MHz bandwidth rather than the maximum 320MHz that the Wi-Fi 7 standard allows, even if they support Wi-Fi 7 in all bands and multi-link operation.