iPadOS 26.2 and macOS 26.2 bring faster Wi-Fi to select devices

Select iPad and Mac devices that support Wi-Fi 6E will see improved Wi-Fi performance with iPadOS 26.2 and macOS 26.2.

According to Apple’s platform deployment guide, Wi-Fi 6E Macs and iPads now support a maximum channel bandwidth of 160 MHz when connected to 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks. Before the rollout of iPadOS 26.2 and macOS 26.2 last month, these devices were limited to 80 MHz.

With this update, these devices on 5 GHz networks can achieve speeds comparable to those on 6GHz, at least in theory. The increased bandwidth should translate into faster file transfers, quicker uploads, and smoother streaming.

In practice, however, the benefits of this update will likely be modest. As we discussed in our Wi-Fi 6E guide, it’s hard to maintain 160MHz channels in Singapore.

iPad and Mac models that support Wi-Fi 6E include the iPad mini (7th-generation), iPad Air (M3), iPad Pro (M4), MacBook Air (M4) and MacBook Pro (M2 to M5).

Source: Apple via MacRumors