Apple silently gave some Macs and iPads a Wi-Fi speed boost with macOS Tahoe 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The update enables 160MHz channel bandwidth support on 5GHz Wi-Fi networks, eliminating a restriction that tamped down the maximum possible speeds.
The additional bandwidth should let your recent Mac or iPad benefit from higher throughput.
Apple flips a switch and your Mac’s Wi-Fi gets a speed boost
Apple’s full current Mac and iPad lineups support Wi-Fi 6E. On paper, this should enable them to deliver higher bandwidth and throughput over 5GHz Wi-Fi networks as compared to older models. And while that’s true, the devices’ capabilities were limited because they only supported 80MHz channel bandwidth on 5GHz networks.
macOS Tahoe 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 address this limitation by enabling support for 160MHz bandwidth on 5GHz Wi-Fi networks, as noted in Apple’s platform deployment guide. This improvement will allow compatible Macs and iPads to achieve higher real-world throughput even when connected to 5 GHz routers instead of 6 GHz models.
If you primarily use Wi-Fi for large local file transfers or Time Machine backups to your network-attached storage device, the higher bandwidth should bring a noticeable speed boost. The final results will depend on several other factors, though, including congestion on your home or office Wi-Fi network.
Still, this is a welcome improvement, especially if your router supports 160MHz bandwidth on the 5GHz channel.
Only new Macs and iPads will get this upgrade
All notable Apple products launched since 2022 support Wi-Fi 6E. This includes the M2 iPad Pro, M3 iPad Air and the A17 Pro-powered iPad mini. As for Macs, all M3 or newer MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, iMac and M4 MacBook Air models support Wi-Fi 6E.
It’s the same sort of bandwidth limitation that makes Wi-Fi 7 on the iPhone 17 feel like Wi-Fi 6E+. The phone only supports 160MHz wide-channels, while Wi-Fi 7 requires 320MHz channel support to deliver theoretical maximum speeds of 46Gbps.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
