“The new Apple‑designed U1 chip uses UWB technology for spatial awareness — allowing iPhone 11 to understand its precise location relative to other nearby U1‑equipped Apple devices. Think GPS at the scale of your living room.”

Apple hasn’t said what it plans to do with the technology, nor has it discussed how standards-compliant its implementation is.

The only use it shares is AirDrop: “If you want to share a file with someone using AirDrop, just point your iPhone at theirs and they’ll be first on the list.”

While that sounds nice, it doesn’t really justify adoption of a new standard all on its own, a point Apple concedes, saying, “That’s just the beginning.