With the iPhone 7 to land later this year, it looks like Apple has been experimenting with light-based wireless data technology, Li-Fi, for it’s new handset.
First spotted by Twitter user Chase Fromm, coding in the latest versions of iOS 9.1 firmware mentions “Li-Fi Capability”, which AppleInsider has since reportedly confirmed.
A super-fast Wi-Fi alternative, Li-Fi, or light fidelity, was invented by Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, and transfers data over the visual spectrum rather than via radio waves as used by Wi-Fi.
Late last year, a start up company developed its own smart Li-Fi LED lights, and during testing, it was able to send data through Li-Fi at up to 1GBps, which basically means download of HD film will be completed in just a few seconds.
Of course, Li-Fi technology is still in very early stages of development; Apple’s inclusion of the coding in iOS 9.1 may end up being a simple experiment by the tech giant to make its devices compatible, and support for Li-Fi may not end up in the iPhone 7 at all.
But it could also indicate that Apple may be developing its own Li-Fi enabling smart lightbulbs for the home that could work with future iPhones and iPads and other devices, like the Apple TV.
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