A new report from 9to5Mac claims the sixth-generation iPhone will incorporate the Broadcom BCM4334 chip that has been discovered in code dumps. Being a step up from the iPhone 4S and new iPad 65nm BCM4330 processor, it is based on a more efficient 40nm process and consumes 40-50% less power than its predecessor. The power savings would help Apple to offset the larger display and LTE radio and potentially allow the company to make a thinner handset by cutting the battery size.
Along with regular things like FM radios and Bluetooth 4.0, BCM4334 also sports dual-band Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct. According to Broadcom, the new chip offers a full wireless connectivity system requiring minimum power. The BCM4334 is allegedly meant for highly mobile devices requiring compact size and ultra-low power consumption. In addition, it boasts advanced switching techniques, which allow for concurrent dual-band operation to enable network connectivity with one band simultaneously with content streaming via Wi-Fi Direct or Wi-Fi Display.
While Wi-Fi Display is unlikely to be used over Apple’s own AirPlay protocol, Wi-Fi Direct on the second connection would seem to be utilized for something quite interesting. The company needs dual-band Wi-Fi cards when selecting AirDrop-compatible Macs. However, AirDrop is limited to just some of Mac models, with a hack necessary to bring the functionality on any other Mac.
All of these machines feature dual-band Wi-Fi cards with the build-in Wi-Fi Direct. The iPhone 5 is said to be the first iOS-based device to meet Apple’s AirDrop standard. That means the company might add the Lion adhoc file-sharing protocol to iOS 6.
This is certainly a good reason for upgrading the Wi-Fi chip to the pricier dual-mode version, which was unveiled in late February. Although more and more printers are receiving Wi-Fi Direct as well, its main goal is to maximally simplify the wireless file-sharing process, just like Google does with the Galaxy Nexus line. Coupled with Apple’s user-friendly interface, AirDrop in iOS could allow users to share content between Macs and iOS devices in the simplest way imaginable.
