Next iPhone Could Bring Dual Bluetooth Audio Connection Support

[MacRumors]

Apple's next iPhone could allow users to connect two pairs of Bluetooth headphones at the same time, claims a report this morning from Japanese tech blog Mac Otakara.

Citing an Asian supply chain source, the blog says the function will be similar to Samsung's Dual Audio Feature, which lets users play music or other audio from their Galaxy phone or tablet to two connected bluetooth devices.

In the same vein, an iPhone user could pair two sets of earphones - AirPods and Powerbeats Pro, for example - and share what they're listening to with a friend.

In another example, Mac Otakara suggests a usage scenario in which an iPhone could be connected to a car as well as wireless headphones, transmitting GPS directions to the in-car audio system and audio to the headphones.

Current iPhones can connect to multiple Bluetooth devices (and multiple speakers via AirPlay 2), but only one Bluetooth audio profile, so the ability to connect to two audio-based BT devices would certainly be a new, welcome addition to the feature set.

Samsung's dual audio feature is an implementation of Bluetooth 5.0 technology, suggesting Apple's function could be of similar origin. If that turned out to be the case, Apple could potentially bring the feature to iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS models via a software update.

When it comes to its original content, Mac Otakara is largely accurate, making it a widely trusted source for Apple product rumors. That said, the site doesn't have a perfect record and does share inaccurate info on occasion.
[*]How to Share One Pair of AirPods With a Friend
Apple is expected to debut refreshed iPhones in September 2019. Rumors suggest we'll see 5.8 and 6.5-inch OLED iPhones equipped with triple lens cameras, along with a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone with a dual-lens camera. We don't yet know what Apple will call the new iPhones, but iPhone XI or iPhone 11 are possibilities for the iPhone XS successors.

Article Link: Next iPhone Could Bring Dual Bluetooth Audio Connection Support

 

[martyjmclean]

If it brought USB C support too, It'd be an insta-buy for me! (Not bloody likely.)

 

[alpi123]

Can we talk about how good MacRumors' renders look, regardless of people saying the phone will be ugly with the triple lens camera.

 

[DempaX]

I thought we would have dual BT headphone support in all BT5.0 Apple devices by now. E.g. from the ATV4, kids sleeping and we wanting to enjoy full audio with wifey - still no go. Or when sharing a large iPad Pro with wifey while flying. Dual BT audio should be fully possible with BT5 already now, no? Only a software development away...

 

[twinlight]

And why would I play music in my ears and blast navigation directions to the car audio. I would obviously do it the other way around?

 

[travelsheep]

Long nights at Apple R&D to come up with this high level of innovation

 

[snowboarder]

This and two new colors for XR are the biggest new "features" so far. Great.

 

[freddiecable]

At long last!

 

[odoy]

If it brought USB C support too, It'd be an insta-buy for me! (Not bloody likely.)

with usb-c I begin to thing about. and without notch insta-buy.

same with MacBooks.
without butterfly I think about. without Touch Bar insta-buy.

till then: on hold

 

[Lone Deranger]

I thought we would have dual BT headphone support in all BT5.0 Apple devices by now. E.g. from the ATV4, kids sleeping and we wanting to enjoy full audio with wifey - still no go. Or when sharing a large iPad Pro with wifey while flying. Dual BT audio should be fully possible with BT5 already now, no? Only a software development away...

All part of the great upgrade roadmap. ie. Spread features out across as many hardware iterations as you can get away with to maximize profit. Gotta keep people wanting to upgrade every cycle.

 

[Tech198]

This seems good, although it just overcomes the fact giving your earbuds for them to listen instead.

What is so bad you must do something at the same time these days? Its not gonna go anywhere

 

[zunamo]

Apple copying Sony!!!
Original walkman had 2 headphone jacks, thinking people want to listen together, then went on with 1.

 

[chineseguy38]

Come on 5G is more important than this.

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

The raw power being these machines these days it would be great if they could plug into a monitor and keyboard when at work to become a proper computer. That would mean upgrading iOS to MacOS, but the death of the limited and clumsy iOS is something I willing to accept for progress. But I know power user features don't sell. Whats every-bodies guess for the next Animoji animal? My guess is a Mouse.

 

[Kabeyun]

I thought we would have dual BT headphone support in all BT5.0 Apple devices by now. E.g. from the ATV4, kids sleeping and we wanting to enjoy full audio with wifey - still no go. Or when sharing a large iPad Pro with wifey while flying. Dual BT audio should be fully possible with BT5 already now, no? Only a software development away...

I’d also like dual BT audio from tvOS, even before iOS. That evening-show-with-kid-sleeping scenario is real. Irritating that the hardware can do it but the software can’t.

 

[Shirasaki]

Yeah, buy two sets of $400+ headphone to share this technology. Great.

BT5.0 looks great but supported headphone still costs an arm and a leg.

 

[JosephAW]

Doubling the out of sync audio and tempo with the screen and now out of sync between users. Amazing. Bluetooth is the emperor without clothes. No one wants to admit it that its awful.

 

[Classie]

I thought we would have dual BT headphone support in all BT5.0 Apple devices by now. E.g. from the ATV4, kids sleeping and we wanting to enjoy full audio with wifey - still no go. Or when sharing a large iPad Pro with wifey while flying. Dual BT audio should be fully possible with BT5 already now, no? Only a software development away...

That would be lovely. How many models have 5.0?

 

[afir93]

As glad as I am if the feature is coming, I wonder why they'd only bring it to new iPhones. AFAIK this is part of the standard featureset of Bluetooth 5.0 which we already have in iPhones since the 2017 models and it just requires support on the software-side of things aswell, so are there any technical limitations as to why they would make it exclusive to the 2019 iPhones or would this be a restriction solely to entice people to upgrade their iPhone?

 

[MoreRumors?]

I would like to see the option of allowing more than 2 devices to be connected much like a Hotspot.

 

[Rogifan]

The raw power being these machines these days it would be great if they could plug into a monitor and keyboard when at work to become a proper computer. That would mean upgrading iOS to MacOS, but the death of the limited and clumsy iOS is something I willing to accept for progress. But I know power user features don't sell. Whats every-bodies guess for the next Animoji animal? My guess is a Mouse.

Why don’t you just use a Mac?

 

[yegon]

Along with this, I’d like Apple to enable simultaneous connections from AirPods etc with iPhone/iPad/Mac like Bose QC’s amongst others.

Sure, it’s easy to bring down the connection dialogue, but pausing on one then seamlessly continuing on another device is a far superior experience.

 

[AppleUser2]

I just want LDAC support....just sayin

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

Why don’t you just use a Mac?

Because I did the maths and they have double in price in 10 years, even when adjusting for inflation. Same for phones, but they are only just still in my budget.

 

[manu chao]

All part of the great upgrade roadmap. ie. Spread features out across as many hardware iterations as you can get away with to maximize profit. Gotta keep people wanting to upgrade every cycle.

Exactly, the engineers at Apple have already developed all the hardware and software for all iPhones coming out over the next five years. Which allows them to enjoy a multi-year vacation before they have to come back and develop new features in a couple of years.