This week was Mobile World Congress, and if you’re an Apple fan, there was a barrage of interesting stories you probably 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 boiled down a week’s events to just five announcements Apple fans need to know:
Reality Pro is already changing AR
One of the show’s biggest surprises happened on day one. Android phone maker Xiaomi unveiled a prototype of smart AR glasses with hand gestures, “retina-level” screens, and a fully wireless design. If it sounds like Apple’s rumored Reality Pro AR headset, you’re right. While the design is certainly an acquired taste and it’s only a prototype, it’s clear that Apple’s headset is already making an impact on the AR landscape – and it hasn’t even arrived yet.
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MagSafe is about to get better
After announcing at CES that the Q12 standard would be based on Apple’s “Magnetic Power Profile,” the Wireless Power Consortium showed the first Qi2 magnetic chargers for Android phones at MWC, and lo and behold, they’re very similar to MagSafe. So much so that they work with iPhones out of the box. With Apple languishing for the last two years, so to speak, we might finally get some great third-party accessories.
Apple is leaving Qualcomm
You’d be hard-pressed to find an iPhone on the MWC floor, but that doesn’t mean people haven’t been talking about it. And Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, had a lot to say, particularly about the modem it makes for the iPhone: “We’re not making any plans for 2024, my planning hypothesis is that we won’t deploy it [Apple] a modem in ’24, but it’s their choice.” So it seems like the upcoming iPhone 15 will be the last to use Qualcomm’s modem, which is the same 5G modem that Android phones have had for many years . That probably doesn’t mean much to users, but it’s another part of the iPhone that Apple controls.
Nothing is coming for the iPhone
One of the hottest Android phones of 2022 was Nothing Phone, which boasted a unique backlit back, solid specs, and an aggressive price point. The only catch is that it wasn’t available in the US CEO Carl Pei announced at MWC that Nothing Phone 2 is coming this year and will be available in the US. Pei has previously spoken at length about wanting to take Apple’s dominance, which means the iPhone 15 will have a little more competition this year – not that it matters much.
The Nothing Phone 2 will launch in the US this year.
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iSIM is the next eSIM
Apple surprised us last year by fully equipping the iPhone 14 with eSIM in the US. After some initial headaches, it turned out to be great for everyone – so much so that many Android phones are following the trend. And the next SIM generation is already here: iSIM. Qualcomm has unveiled a modified version of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for high-end Android phones with a SIM card built right into the chip, making it even smaller and more power efficient than eSIM. We haven’t heard any rumors of Apple using iSIM with the new A17 chip, but it certainly sounds like the kind of technological advance Apple would be quick to jump on.
