Apple has January 14th new beta versions released, including iOS 13.3.1 - these primarily focus on bug fixes and performance improvements. But Apple has made a small change to the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The change in the latest iOS 13.3.1 beta relates to the U1 chip of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Accordingly, it is now possible to deactivate the ultra-wideband chip manually. The discovery was made by a Twitter user named Brandon Butch – from 9to5mac discovered. According to this, owners of the latest iPhone generation can go to the iOS settings and select the menu item "Location Services" in the "Privacy" section and then open "System Services" - here you will now find the option "Networks & Wireless" - this can now be deactivated. However, a warning is displayed. If the feature is deactivated, Bluetooth, WiFi and the ultra-wideband chip can be affected.
Why does Apple allow the U1 chip to be deactivated?
The addition of this option is in response to a report that was recently discussed. Although users of an iPhone 11 model disabled location services, they were still being tracked by the U1 chip. There are also ongoing laws that prohibit exactly this. Apple has defended the mechanism and issued a statement:
Ultra Wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulations that require the chip to be disabled in certain locations. iOS uses Location Services to determine when iPhone is in these prohibited locations to disable Ultra Wideband and comply with regulations.
The management of ultra-wideband technology and the use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple does not collect user location data.
Apple
As of iOS 13.3.1, all users of an iPhone 11 or newer will be able to manually deactivate the U1 chip. It is currently not known when the new iPhone operating system will be finally released. (Photo by Eremin / Bigstockphoto)
Explanation: Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a short-range, energy-saving radio technology that enables very precise location determination – especially indoors
