MWC 2026: Qualcomm Announces First Wi-Fi 8 Chip and Prepares For 6G Launch in 2029

If Wi-Fi 7 has yet to become the standard on PCs and mobile devices today, Qualcomm is already looking ahead with an “AI-native” Wi-Fi 8 chip that will support 10+ Gbps peak speeds. At Mobile World Congress today, the company also announced a new strategic collaboration with industry partners to prepare for the global deployment of 6G technology in 2029.

Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi 8 portfolio includes the FastConnect 8800 Mobile Connectivity System, which uses a 4×4 Wi-Fi radio configuration to enable 11.5 Gbps peak download speeds. While the Bluetooth SIG only released version 6.2 of the Bluetooth Core Specification in November 2025, Qualcomm said that its new chip is ready for Bluetooth 7.0 with a new High Data Throughput (HDT) technology that improves speeds from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps.

“FastConnect 8800 is not only going to revolutionize smartphone connectivity, it will also benefit other form factors and industries including tablets, laptops, robotics, and more,” Qualcomm said today. In addition to Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 7.0, the chip will also support Thread 1.5, Wi-Fi Ranging, and “other sensing technologies for accurate tracking down to centimeter accuracy.” There’s also on-device AI compute to optimize connectivity on next-gen networks.

Regarding cellular connectivity, 5G probably wasn’t as transformative as the jump from 3G to 4G was in the early 2010s However, Qualcomm and its partners are already looking at 6G technology, which will be “AI native”. The company has teamed up with more than 50 companies including Amazon, Cisco, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, and others, to prepare for the rollout of 6G networks starting in 2029.

“6G is being designed as an AI-native system that builds upon three key pillars: connectivity, wide-area sensing, and high-performance compute,” the company said today. “6G systems will enable higher levels of efficiency and performance for telecommunication applications, new agentic consumer and enterprise devices, and new classes of AI-enabled services, ranging from context-relevant data, low-altitude aerial and terrestrial traffic management, data insights and analytics at scale, and many more.”

Qualcomm had other announcements at MWC today, including a new X105 5G modem that supports up to 14.8 Gbps download speeds, and a new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip that will power upcoming wearable devices from Google, Motorola, and Samsung. The latter features a new Hexagon NPU for on-device AI processing, and Qualcomm also promises 30% longer battery life compared to the previous generation.