Indoor wireless is hitting limits as more devices crowd the same spectrum. Streaming, video calls, and smart home gear are pushing networks harder while power use rises. A new class of laser chips offers a different path by moving data onto light.
Researchers built a chip-scale optical link that delivers ultra-fast indoor connections with lower energy use. Instead of broadcasting signals widely, it sends data through controlled infrared beams, opening more usable capacity while avoiding interference in dense spaces.
At the core is a chip with 25 microscopic lasers, each carrying its own stream. Working in parallel, they push throughput far beyond a single source. In testing, the setup reached more than 360 gigabits per second across a short indoor link.
The gains are not just speed. Power use drops significantly, offering a more efficient way to handle rising demand.
Performance comes from a 5 by 5 array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, each acting as its own high-speed channel.
In tests over two meters, individual lasers delivered about 13 to 19 gigabits per second. With 21 active channels, total throughput reached 362.7 gigabits per second, among the fastest chip-scale optical results so far.
The limit came from the receiver hardware, not the transmitter, suggesting higher speeds are possible with better components.
A custom optical setup also shapes each beam into a defined square, limiting overlap so multiple links can run side by side without interference.
Radio networks struggle in crowded spaces where signals interfere and capacity gets stretched. Light avoids those limits by offering more bandwidth and precise control over where signals go.
Instead of blanketing a room, the system creates a grid of targeted beams with minimal spillover. Measurements show uniform coverage across the target area, helping maintain stable performance for multiple devices.
The setup runs at about 1.4 nanojoules per bit, roughly half that of comparable Wi-Fi systems. The tradeoff is range, as the current setup works over short distances and depends on line of sight.
This approach is meant to complement existing networks by offloading heavy traffic in high-demand indoor spaces.
The hardware fits on a sub-millimeter chip built with standard processes, making integration into fixtures or access points plausible, though no commercial timeline is given.
As demand rises, combining radio and light-based links could become standard, with laser systems handling the heaviest traffic.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.