A few days ago, Apple held a new product launch conference in autumn, and brought out a large number of blockbuster new products. Among them, the iPhone 13 series and the newly designed iPad mini 6 have undoubtedly become the focus of attention from the outside world, and the ninth-generation iPad, which has been greatly upgraded in performance and display, is not expensive, but it clearly has a strong product force. .
In comparison, the new "Apple Watch" Apple Watch Series 7 unveiled on the same stage, is somewhat inferior. Although it has replaced a higher screen-to-body ratio, larger screen, and has a newly designed dial, it also significantly enhances the battery life. But on the one hand, the appearance of the new Apple Watch has not changed so much; on the other hand, the previously rumored sensors such as blood pressure and blood sugar were not finally equipped with this generation of Apple Watch.
So does this mean that Apple Watch Series 7 does not have any new features worth mentioning? In fact, there is, but it is hidden.
A few days ago, the foreign media MacRumors dug into the certification information of Apple Watch Series 7 and discovered that this product actually has new hardware function modules, but its functions have been modified in the existing system version. Hidden away.
What is the specific function? Simply put, it is a wireless data transmission module that works on the 60.5GHz ultra-high frequency band.
According to the exposed certification information,This module is not normally activated, it will only be activated when the Apple Watch Series 7 is placed on a special magnetic base equipped with the corresponding module. However, it is well known that none of the various Apple Watch charging devices currently released by Apple has a data transmission function. This has led the outside world to speculate that this 60.5GHz UHF wireless transmission module is likely to be made by Apple for the convenience of Apple. Production or maintenance of Watch Series 7 and the "maintenance interface" added.
Because of its existence, it means that Apple may prepare a special "wireless communication base" for after-sales. Just put the Apple Watch Series 7 on this base, in theory, you can perform operations such as flashing and maintenance of the internal system and data without connecting to the phone or disassembling the watch body.
However, is it really that simple?
Let us forget those guessed by the outside world and focus on the description of the authentication information. It is not difficult to find that the main functional characteristics of this hidden wireless communication module of Apple Watch Series 7 can be basically summarized into two. First use the magnetic base to ensure that the device fits and is properly aligned.
Do you think of anything? Yes, in the current consumer electronics industry, transmission technologies that meet the two characteristics of "high bandwidth" and "short distance" have actually appeared long ago, and there are more than one.
For example, as early as March 2012,Sony has released a digital camera DSC-TX300 that supports short-range wireless transmission technology TransferJet. When it is in use, the camera needs to be placed on a specific base, and then it can transmit data wirelessly with a bandwidth of up to 560Mbps.
For example, in 2014, Qualcomm , Samsung, Intel and other companies have successively released related products that adopt the 802.11ad WiFi standard. Compared with the well-known 802.11ac (WiFi5) and 802.11ax (WiFi6), the biggest feature of 802.11ad is the use of ultra-high wireless frequency bands above 60GHz, and therefore a connection bandwidth of up to 7Gbps is obtained. At the same time, due to the excessively high wireless frequency band, the transmission distance of 802.11ad is not long, so its use cases are mainly concentrated in computer wireless docking stations (allowing computers and docking stations to be connected wirelessly to extend USB, HDMI, etc.) Interface), mobile phone wireless projection, electronic equipment wireless charging & data transmission base and other fields. Now, does it feel right?
Not only that, 802.11ad technology will evolve to 802.11ay in 2020, and its working frequency band will remain above 60GHz, but the transmission speed has jumped to 20Gbps. What's interesting is that the bandwidth of 20Gbps "coincidentally" is also the initial "target bandwidth" of the 5G standard (also called IMT2020 at the time) formulated by the ITU.
So, what does this mean? In our opinion, there may be three possibilities.
First of all, this 60GHz wireless transmission unit integrated in Apple Watch Series 7,It may be as speculated by the outside world that it is simply a wireless data transmission interface reserved by Apple for the convenience of after-sales maintenance.
Secondly, the 60GHz wireless transmission unit integrated in Apple Watch Series 7 may be a wireless transmission technology similar to TransferJet, with a speed similar to USB. And it is now carried in Apple Watch Series 7, on the one hand for after-sales use, on the other hand, it may also be for the future "full wireless iPhone" preparation. After all, well-known analyst Guo Mingqi had long predicted that Apple would launch a "new iPhone" that would completely cancel the charging and data transmission interface and use a wireless design. As a relatively mature solution, 60GHz short-range data transmission technology is not surprising when it is first "tested" in Apple Watch Series 7.
Finally, and the most exciting possibility, is the 60GHz transmission module in Apple Watch Series 7, which may be Apple's implementation of the 802.11ay WIFI technology built into the new machine in the future Preview. After all, the rumor that Apple will make high-end AR devices is not a day or two. If the future iPhone has built-in 802.11ay UHF wireless technology, it will not only mean that it will not need cables, but can directly apply to AR glasses. The device transmits 4K-level ultra-high-definition images, and it may even realize the "lossless" sharing of the 5G network with the AR device on the mobile phone.
Not only that, ultra-high bandwidth wireless transmission technology may even change the way devices work together. For example, let Apple's future smart watches, AR glasses and other devices can truly "share" the computing power of iPhone, iPad, and even Mac.
[The picture in this article comes from the Internet]
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