Apple iPhone 15 to get beefed up hardware to strengthen ecosystem around Vision Pro

Apple previewed Vision Pro at the WWDC 2023 keynote event earlier this month alongside the new 15-inch MacBook Air. The AR/VR headset which has been in development for years will launch sometime in early 2024. One way it differs from many existing headsets is that users can control Vision Pro primarily by using their hands, from basic functions like interacting with objects on the virtual display to writing text with air typing.

However, one important thing to note is that Vision Pro is also a part of the Apple ecosystem. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in his latest report the iPhone-maker will "aggressively upgrade hardware specifications" to create a more "competitive" ecosystem around Vision Pro.

Kuo said that iPhone 15 is likely to have an upgraded Ultra Wide Band (UWB) chip onboard. Apple will bump the manufacturing process from 16nm to more advanced 7nm to achieve improved performance or power consumption for nearby interactions.

"The ecosystem is one of the key success factors for Vision Pro, including the integration with other Apple hardware products, and related main hardware specifications are Wi-Fi and UWB," Kuo said. The analyst added in another tweet that JCET is the backend SiP supplier. Based out of China, JCET is an integrated circuit manufacturer with two R&D centers in China and Korea, and six manufacturing locations in China, Korea, and Singapore.

Kuo suggested that such an upgrade could improve the profit margin of the back-end process by more than 10-20%. Furthermore, there are chances that the iPhone 16 which is expected to release in the second half of 2024 will feature WiFi 7. According to the analyst, the upgrade will provide a better ecosystem experience for the Apple hardware running on the same network.

Apple's tight-knit ecosystem is among the major reasons many users stick to the brand for a longer period. The company is offering developers the tools and frameworks to port their existing apps to visionOS, the operating system that powers Vision Pro.

The headset will have an all-new App Store where users can find "hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that run great and automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro," Apple said at the time of its announcement. It was reported last month that there might be a version of Final Cut Pro for Apple's AR/VR headset as well.

Apple introduced the headset in its full glory and allowed some reviewers and the press to try it out. But the company didn't allow anyone to shoot videos while wearing the headset. It appears that's something it reserved for the controlled demos and commercials. Because even senior Apple executives, including Tim Cook, didn't wear the headset during the keynote event. Nonetheless, all users can do for now is wait for the official launch of the headset and guess what are its probable use cases.

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