Mobile World Congress took place this week, and if you’re an Apple fan, there were a series of interesting stories you might have missed. MWC is basically an Android show, but there are still some releases and announcements that will be of interest to iPhone users. We’ve distilled the week’s action into just five announcements Apple fans need to know:
Reality Pro is really changing augmented reality
One of the show’s biggest surprises occurred on the first day. Android phone maker Xiaomi has revealed a prototype of the A pair of augmented reality smart glasses With hand gestures, “retina-level” displays, and a completely wireless design. If it sounds like Apple’s Reality Pro AR headset, you’re right. While the design is definitely an acquired taste and is just a prototype, Apple’s headset is clearly already influencing the augmented reality scene — and it’s not quite there yet.
Xiaomi
MagSafe is about to get better
After announcing at CES that the Q12 standard would be based on Apple’s “Magnetic Energy Profile,” the Wireless Power Consortium showed off its first Qi2 magnetic chargers for Android phones at MWC, and lo and behold, they look a lot like MagSafe. So much so that they work with iPhones out of the box. Since Apple has been letting MagSafe languish over the past couple of years, we may finally get some great third-party accessories.
Apple gets rid of Qualcomm
You’d be hard-pressed to find an iPhone on the floor of MWC, but that doesn’t mean people haven’t been talking about it. And Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon had a lot to say, specifically about the modem he’s making for the iPhone: “We don’t make any plans for 2024, and the schematic assumption is that we don’t make [Apple] Modem in ’24, but the decision is a decision. So it looks like the upcoming iPhone 15 will be the last to use a Qualcomm modem, the same 5G modem that Android phones have had for many years. It probably doesn’t mean much to users, but it’s another piece of the iPhone that Apple controls.
Nothing is coming for the iPhone
Nothing Phone is one of the most popular Android phones in 2022, which has a unique back light, powerful specifications, and a solid price. The only catch is that it wasn’t available in US CEO Carl Pei’s announcement at MWC that Nothing Phone 2 is coming this year and will be available in the US. Pei has previously spoken in depth about his desire to take on Apple’s dominance, and that means the iPhone 15 will face a little more competition this year — it doesn’t matter that much.
Nothing Phone 2 will be launched in the US this year.
foundry
iSIM is the next eSIM
Apple surprised us last year by making the iPhone 14 eSIM entirely in the US. After some early headaches, it turned out great for everyone — so much so that many Android phones are following the trend. And the next generation of SIM is already here: the iSIM. Qualcomm has unveiled a modified version of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for its high-end Android phones with a SIM card built directly into the chip, making it smaller and more power-efficient than an eSIM. We haven’t heard any rumors about Apple using an iSIM with the new A17 chip, but this sure sounds like the kind of technological advancement that Apple would quickly jump on.
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