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Apple Now Says Apple Watch Series 8 and SE 2 Support Bluetooth 5.3

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Apr 12, 2001
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When the Apple Watch Series 8 and second-generation Apple Watch SE were first announced, the Apple Watch comparison page said both models supported Bluetooth 5.0, but Apple now says they actually support the newer Bluetooth 5.3 standard.

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Apple's website still lists the Series 8 and new SE with Bluetooth 5.0 support in some places, but we received confirmation today from Apple that both models do in fact support Bluetooth 5.3 in the United States at a minimum.

All four iPhone 14 models, the second-generation AirPods Pro, and the Apple Watch Ultra also support Bluetooth 5.3, according to Apple.

Bluetooth 5.3 is said to include "several feature enhancements with the potential to improve reliability, energy efficiency, and user experience in many types of Bluetooth enabled products," such as the LE Audio specification. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Apple has implemented LE Audio yet in its latest products.

Article Link: Apple Now Says Apple Watch Series 8 and SE 2 Support Bluetooth 5.3
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/20/apple-watch-series-8-se-2-bluetooth-5-3/
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Reactions: SantaFeNM
Different S8 SOC chips dint make sense in the first place… like last year it took Apple at least a month to confirm that the gray SS was PCV and not DLC…
 
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Reactions: james2538
They only put the latest and the greatest in their products when they have imminent plans for it. Expect some changes in the music department soon.
 
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Exoid said:
BUT ONLY IN THE US!!! I talked with Apple and got an email confirmation that the European version of the series 8 and SE (2022) are just bluetooth 5.0...
I find this pathetic. Europeans pay more and get less 🤡
Click to expand...
The person who replied to your email probably looked at the Watch specs on the website. Apple usually keep specifications consistent across regions, so the EU version should also support Bluetooth 5.3.
 
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MacRumors said:
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Apple's website still lists the Series 8 and new SE with Bluetooth 5.0 support in some places, but we received confirmation today from Apple that both models do in fact support Bluetooth 5.3 in the United States at a minimum.
Click to expand...


I don’t understand why there wasn’t a follow up “which countries do not have Bluetooth 5.3 in their watches”. This is still ambiguous.
 
MacRumors said:


All four iPhone 14 models, the second-generation AirPods Pro, and the Apple Watch Ultra also support Bluetooth 5.3, according to Apple.
Click to expand...
This Bluetooth 5.3 move reminds us that Apple does keep moving along (albeit sometimes slower than some of us would like) in adoption of new superior technologies. Hopefully a favorable portent for what we might see in M2 MBPs next month.
 
Exoid said:
BUT ONLY IN THE US!!! I talked with Apple and got an email confirmation that the European version of the series 8 and SE (2022) are just bluetooth 5.0...
I find this pathetic. Europeans pay more and get less 🤡
Click to expand...

If you look up model numbers for Apple Watch the GPS version has one version globally called A2771 which means all have the same Bluetooth version which is 5.3.
 
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jz0309 said:
Different S8 SOC chips dint make sense in the first place… like last year it took Apple at least a month to confirm that the gray SS was PCV and not DLC…
Click to expand...
Seems like Apple is getting a little sloppy with product releases (not to mention all the iPhone 14 issues). Why were they originally posted online with Bluetooth 5.0 in the comparison and on the technical specifications to begin with?

It’s not like they made a last minute change, they would have known these devices had the S8 Chip months ago.

With how few feature updates the Series 8 got, you think they’d want to include this!
 
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james2538 said:
It’s not like they made a last minute change, they would have known these devices had the S8 Chip months ago.
Click to expand...
Not from a hardware perspective but they might not be able to enable or announce it until they get FCC approval, which varies by region
 
My MFi hearing aids (ReSound Enzo) use Bluetooth LE. That means they work with my phone, but not my Apple Watch (S5). I would LOVE to leave my phone at home and just have audio streaming from my watch during workouts and walks.

Come on, Apple, give the S8 Bluetooth LE!
 
Mac47 said:
My MFi hearing aids (ReSound Enzo) use Bluetooth LE. That means they work with my phone, but not my Apple Watch (S5). I would LOVE to leave my phone at home and just have audio streaming from my watch during workouts and walks.

Come on, Apple, give the S8 Bluetooth LE!
Click to expand...
Bluetooth LE came out with Bluetooth 4 in 2009. So it should work for you now. Unless you meant something else.

Bluetooth Low Energy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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