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Apple's newly updated iPhone SE, launched on Wednesday, doesn't come equipped with the company's custom U1 Ultra Wideband chip that debuted with iPhone 11 last year.
The U1 chip, which first appeared in the iPhone 11 lineup, offers additional spatial awareness and ultra-precise location tracking capabilities to devices that have it. Because of those features, it's thought to be closely related to upcoming products like AirTags.
According to the technical specifications page for the iPhone SE, the new affordable handset does not come with a U1 chip.
It isn't clear at this point how that will impact compatibility with Apple's rumored Bluetooth tracking tags, but it's possible that AirTags could default to Bluetooth for older devices without UWB.
The 2020 iPad Pro also lacks a U1 chip, despite rumors to the contrary.
Interestingly, UWB is one of few next-generation options iPhone SE does not support. The handset's specs list largely echoes that of the iPhone 11, with support for Wi-Fi 6, reader-mode NFC and Express Cards with power reserve. The two latter features are likely to be integral for a rumored "CarKey" feature that Apple is developing for release in a future version of iOS.
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17 Comments
So, you’re saying it has everything I need.
Looks like a winner!
Apple never gives their budget phones its latest updated technologies. Other then the SOC, which is 6 month old, every other component is 2-3 years old! That why I stay away from Apple’s budget phones.
Is it a co-incidence that the latest iPad Pro and latest iPhone both don’t have the chip. These products are at different ends of the budget spectrum - most expensive iPad and cheapest phone. To me that looks like the U1 is dead and won’t be seen ever again. Or the cost/supply constraints are so very high that getting them into anything other than iPhone 11 is unfeasible. And that seems u likely.
courts that.
If the newest iPad Pro didn't have it, I certainly wouldn't expect this phone to have it either.
No big deal at all imo.
I think that this phone is going to sell nicely. The price is very nice, the features/specs are nice and the Touch ID is actually a nice feature to have when most people are currently wearing masks on their damn faces!