AppleInsider Staff
A new iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 profile released on Wednesday affords developers greater control over device connectivity, allowing 5G-enabled iPhones and iPads to select the wireless standard when nearby Wi-Fi networks are slow or insecure.
The tool comes in the form of a profile that can be downloaded from Apple's developer website. Called the "5G Preferred Over Wi-Fi profile," the option automatically prioritizes 5G over Wi-Fi.
"5G devices running iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 can automatically prioritize connecting via 5G instead of WiFi when the performance of WiFi networks you visit occasionally is slow, or when you are connected to captive or insecure WiFi networks," Apple says.
The description nearly mirrors text from Apple's iOS 15 Preview website detailing an upcoming feature that enables automatic prioritization of 5G under certain circumstances.
While Apple has not revealed the exact threshold that must be crossed for a device to switch from Wi-Fi to 5G, the new developer tool is thought to apply a more aggressive algorithm than the feature baked in to iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.
"Install the 5G Preferred Over Wi-Fi profile ("profile") on devices running iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Beta 4 or greater to greatly increase the likelihood of seeing 5G preferred over Wi-Fi connections and to ensure your networking path logic is optimized for situations where 5G will be preferred," according to Apple.
MacRumors spotted the profile earlier today.
Apple is expected to release iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 alongside a new slate of iPhone models this fall. High-end versions are rumored to include circuitry that will expand iPhone's 5G capabilities, specifically mmWave 5G compatibility, beyond the U.S. and into important regions like Europe.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Marko Zivkovic
William Gallagher
9 Comments
...might this be yet another Apple tethering data mining access 'upgrade'...?
We have 5G towers all over the place here, but 5G is still pretty flaky. It’s bad enough that I turned it off. With 5G on, my phone rarely worked. With 5G off, it rarely fails.
I think I’ve usually read that wifi is better when it comes to using less power. Until some company has a 3 or 5 day battery in a phone, power is always something to think about. Also, certain types of 5g are even worse than others ?
It will be very bad for those “smart devices” using Wi-Fi connectivity!