Bluetooth 6.1 Update Set to Improve Privacy, Battery Life of iPhone Accessories

[MacRumors]

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has released Bluetooth 6.1 as part of its new bi-annual update schedule. The update introduces Randomized Resolvable Private Address (RPA), a feature designed to enhance both privacy and power efficiency.

This new feature makes tracking Bluetooth devices a lot more difficult because it randomizes the timing of device address changes, instead of just using predictable intervals. It also offloads address change operations to the controller device, which should help extend the battery life of the accessory device.

The specification follows Bluetooth 6.0, which arrived in September 2024. That update brought Channel Sounding for centimeter-level location accuracy, lower latency, and faster scanning capabilities, all of which could theoretically enhance the iPhone's Precision Finding feature.

For iPhone users, the upcoming iPhone 17 series expected to be released in September will likely support Bluetooth 6.0 and possibly incorporate the new 6.1 features. All in all, it should bring improved privacy protections and better battery performance when using Bluetooth accessories.

With Bluetooth now on a twice-yearly release schedule, the next update, Bluetooth 6.2, is expected to arrive by the end of 2025 with additional refinements and features.

Article Link: Bluetooth 6.1 Update Set to Improve Privacy, Battery Life of iPhone Accessories

 

[ELman]

Sounds good. I'll be surprised if it's included with the iPhone 17. Seems like it would most likely be the 18 or later.

 

[jlc1978]

Improving accessory battery life is great, but will the device need to conform to the new spec to take advantage of it? Or will devices simply take advantage of teh new addressing scheme?

At any rate, anything that makes tracking more difficult is a win for privacy.

 

[I7guy]

Glad all of this attention is being paid to Bluetooth. Who knew in 1989 research by Nila Rydbeck of Ericsson would wind up where it is today.

 

[ignatius345]

Improving accessory battery life is great, but will the device need to conform to the new spec to take advantage of it? Or will devices simply take advantage of teh new addressing scheme?

At any rate, anything that makes tracking more difficult is a win for privacy.

I assume the device needs to have the hardware in place to transmit using the newer standard.

 

[racerhomie]

So increased bandwidth? 3mbps limits the experience

 

[Rodney Williams]

Just a question: Can the Bluetooth be updated via software update or is it some new piece of hardware with the newest Bluetooth technology that have to be installed into the hardware? Just wondering.

 

[Rychiar]

I feel like I’ve been hearing about Bluetooth six for a long time and yet nothing has appeared yet. Isn’t it supposed to give us lossless audio as well?

 

[AppleTO]

One of the worst protocols of all time.

 

[Populus]

Just a question: Can the Bluetooth be updated via software update or is it some new piece of hardware with the newest Bluetooth technology that have to be installed into the hardware? Just wondering.

Yeah, I was wondering the same. It would be so much more convenient to be able to update the firmware of BT chips on our devices, instead of having to replace the entire device for a brand new one…

 

[neuropsychguy]

I feel like I’ve been hearing about Bluetooth six for a long time and yet nothing has appeared yet. Isn’t it supposed to give us lossless audio as well?

Yes and no. Yes because previous versions of Bluetooth could already support 'lossless' audio. No because that required the right codecs for sender and receiver -- aptX, LDAC. This is still true for 6. Bluetooth 6 has improved latency but lossless audio requires separate codecs and compatible hardware.

 

[SactoGuy18]

It really depends on if the iPhone 17 models using the (rumored) new Apple-developed I/O chip will actually support Bluetooth 6.1 itself.

 

[Rodney Williams]

Yeah, I was wondering the same. It would be so much more convenient to be able to update the firmware of BT chips on our devices, instead of having to replace the entire device for a brand new one…

Firmware update is the best way to go. Makes no sense to go buy a new product just to be able to access to newest technology unless your product is really old.

 

[svish]

Looks good. Improving battery life is great. Hoping to see it as a part of iPhone 17 later this year and don't have to wait one more year.

 

[Rodney Williams]

It really depends on if the iPhone 17 models using the (rumored) new Apple-developed I/O chip will actually support Bluetooth 6.1 itself.

True. The latest iPhone 16 lineup uses Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7 except the Wi-Fi 6 for the 16e model.

 

[Rodney Williams]

Looks good. Improving battery life is great. Hoping to see it as a part of iPhone 17 later this year and don't have to wait one more year.

Hope the 16 lineup get a firmware update for the latest Bluetooth technology. The report came out and said that the iPhone 13 lineup will have satellite connection in the next iOS update or it is already done with the 18.4? Just saying.

 

[SactoGuy18]

True. The latest iPhone 16 lineup uses Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7 except the Wi-Fi 6 for the 16e model.

The I/O chip on the iPhone 16 models is from Broadcom. The iPhone 17 model may use Apple's internally-developed I/O chip.

 

[platinumaqua]

I turn Bluetooth off when I'm not using it, which is most of the time, because of the Bluetooth tracking beacons.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I turn Bluetooth off when I'm not using it, which is most of the time, because of the Bluetooth tracking beacons.

While that's generally nice, you do need Bluetooth if you're using wireless headphones or are in a vehicle with wireless Apple CarPlay.

 

[platinumaqua]

While that's generally nice, you do need Bluetooth if you're using wireless headphones or are in a vehicle with wireless Apple CarPlay.

I'm speaking for my use case only, of course. I'm not always listening to music outside; even then I prefer wired headphones. For in car use, I toggle Bluetooth on as needed.

 

[AdriftAtlas]

How about mandating LE Audio, LC3, GMAP, and TMAP support? I’m tired of everything except AirPods sounding terrible on the iPhone. Apple uses AAC-ELD for their own devices over HFP/HSP, but falls back to mSBC for everyone else.

The Bluetooth version number is meaningless without a required feature set. Tons of headsets advertise BT 5.4 but don’t support any actual 5.x features.

 

[JulianL]

Improving accessory battery life is great, but will the device need to conform to the new spec to take advantage of it? Or will devices simply take advantage of teh new addressing scheme?

At any rate, anything that makes tracking more difficult is a win for privacy.

Even if the answer to your question is yes, and I suspect it is, the possibility of power efficiency improvements has me quite excited because I’m an Apple Watch user and that’s a Bluetooth accessory that is permanently connected to my iPhone. OK, I’ll probably have to upgrade both devices (Watch and iPhone) to get the benefit but I’d be willing to do that if the improvement is worthwhile.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Firmware update is the best way to go. Makes no sense to go buy a new product just to be able to access to newest technology unless your product is really old.

It would be but more than likely radio hardware changes are needed for some of their updates, like the centimeter accuracy.