Yosemite 'Handoff' Feature Likely Limited to Macs with Bluetooth LE

[darkplanets]

I see a lot of knee jerk reactions here.

Isn't the primary reason for BT4.0 the low power requirements? Battery life already sucks, so it makes sense they'd want to mitigate the hurt as much as possible for your idevice, since it's constantly going to be active/pinging around your other devices.

 

[brendu]

Well I have SMS sending and receiving working on my 2009 macbook pro and 2009 mac mini. The other features don't work but the one I was most excited for is working! I couldn't get it working with Beta 1...

 

[Ilostthegame]

Title says it all.. not sure why people are such whiny babies.. It's like $10-20 for one.. maybe more for a micro compact one that doesn't stick out..

Nothing stopping anyone from getting the dongle for an older mac/macbook... big babies..

… If you want to complicate your setup and spend time trying to make it work seamlessly just to use an iOS 8 feature, and if it will even work with an external Bluetooth 4 dongle. Nope, I'm not going to bother.

Also, a 2012 Mac Pro is NOT old. It's one version behind. Why does it not have BT4?

 

[Tubamajuba]

If there's anything people should take away from this, it's that spending money today doesn't buy you tomorrow's features.

I see a lot of knee jerk reactions here.

Isn't the primary reason for BT4.0 the low power requirements? Battery life already sucks, so it makes sense they'd want to mitigate the hurt as much as possible for your idevice, since it's constantly going to be active/pinging around your other devices.

You're right about the power requirements. But people feel that Apple should bend over backwards to support their machines at the expense of supporting newer, more efficient technology.

 

[Ilostthegame]

Probably not. Apple may limit Handoff to built-in bluetooth only.

There's already a precedent with PowerNap: it only works with MBAs and rMBPs that have always shipped with factory-installed SSDs. There's technically nothing preventing my 2009 MBP 13" with Samsung SSD from having PowerNap (since its firmware already supports Dark Wake mode), except for Apple's refusal to do so.

Speaking of SSDs, Mac OS X supported TRIM command since version 10.6.6 or so, but it artificially limits the feature to those that identify themselves to the system as "APPLE SSD". Of course, there are utilities that patch the system driver so that 3rd party SSDs work with TRIM, but still.

Another example: in iOS 3.0 (then called iPhone OS) Apple caved in to demand and added support for MMS, however it was limited to iPhone 3G and 3GS, leaving out the original iPhone. So the jailbreak community quickly discovered that one of the system frameworks had a check for model version, basically saying: "if you're not iPhone 3G or newer, then no MMS for you!" There was also a patch that enabled MMS on jailbroken 2G iPhones, proving that all required support was already in place.

Nice summary. I love Apple products, but this is the #1 thing I hate about Apple. They artificially limit everything. Gotta love the Mountain Lion installer not even opening on a Mavericks system (so I can choose my flash drive to install onto) unless I spoof my OS X version number.

 

[Menel]

Just Apple's. Almost nothing else uses it, so no 3rd party iPhone apps can use any Bluetooth devices besides other iPhones. They all use Bluetooth 3. I don't understand Apple's obsession with BT 4.

Most old devices use BT2.1

MANY apps and devices use BT4. Automatic.com, Pencil by Paper, Adonit Jot Script, Authy, TrackR, SticknFind, Zuli, on and on.

Dozens of iBeacon devices.

Virtually every BT device out now is BT4 LE.

 

[gotluck]

If there's anything people should take away from this, it's that spending money today doesn't buy you tomorrow's features.



You're right about the power requirements. But people feel that Apple should bend over backwards to support their machines at the expense of supporting newer, more efficient technology.

I'm sure it is possible to support it under older versions of BT in addition to LE if they wanted to

LE would get power optimization
Older users would at least get compatibility.

This is a business decision more than a technical decision

 

[jaw04005]

Has anyone tired a dongle yet?

 

[cosmichobo]

 

[Menel]

I'm sure it is possible to support it under older versions of BT in addition to LE if they wanted to

LE would get power optimization
Older users would at least get compatibility.

This is a business decision more than a technical decision

And if they did that, all current iPhone owners would take a battery life hit as they use the old technology burning up power uselessly.

That would be stupid.

 

[Ilostthegame]

Most old devices use BT2.1

MANY apps and devices use BT4. Automatic.com, Pencil by Paper, Adonit Jot Script, Authy, TrackR, SticknFind, Zuli, on and on.

Dozens of iBeacon devices.

Virtually every BT device out now is BT4 LE.

Hardware that is specifically designed for an iPhone or iPad will, of course, use BT4 because it can't use anything else. But try finding BT4 in any car or on any non-Apple mouse or keyboard. It's not the main standard.

----------

I'm sure it is possible to support it under older versions of BT in addition to LE if they wanted to

LE would get power optimization
Older users would at least get compatibility.

This is a business decision more than a technical decision

Yes, exactly. I'd be fine using an older version of Bluetooth. I'd only use Handoff when my iPhone is plugged into my Mac and charging anyway. Apple could also make absolutely sure it works seamlessly with the cheapest BT4 dongles, and then I might consider buying one.

 

[gotluck]

And if they did that, all current iPhone owners would take a battery life hit as they use the old technology burning up power uselessly.

That would be stupid.

Yes, I know choice is bad

If the user felt the power usage was too high, they could disable it

 

[Menel]

Yes, I know choice is bad

If the user felt the power usage was too high, they could disable it

You have lots of choices. Lots of Mac Mini's, MacPro, Macbooks are compatible with BTLE. Buy one.

 

[KPOM]

I see they also banned AirDrop with my Mac? Even though MBP 2011 models were the first with AirDrop, and they support AirPlay...Why couldn't Continuity and Handoff work via AirPlay technology (since that doesn't require Wi-Fi anymore)...or even Wi-Fi like many have stated. I wasn't even thinking about upgrading my Mac, and now I definitely need to think about it.

Your last sentence at least partially explains why Apple did what they did. Also, BlueTooth LE has low power requirements, which benefit the iOS devices doing the handing off.

 

[usarioclave]

I'm sure it is possible to support it under older versions of BT in addition to LE if they wanted to

LE would get power optimization
Older users would at least get compatibility.

It's more work to support BT classic. It comes down to prioritization: would you really want handoff over BT classic if it meant that you'd be draining the iDevice battery continuously and things may not work so well overall? Or would you rather have really great and polished performance of handoff over BLE and push BT classic down the road?

 

[gotluck]

You have lots of choices. Lots of Mac Mini's, MacPro, Macbooks are compatible with BTLE. Buy one.

Reinforcing that this is a business decision

 

[freediverx]

Title says it all.. not sure why people are such whiny babies.. It's like $10-20 for one.. maybe more for a micro compact one that doesn't stick out..

Nothing stopping anyone from getting the dongle for an older mac/macbook... big babies..

Even assuming a USB BT 4.0 dongle works on the older Mac, there's no guarantee Apple will accept this for Continuity features. The concern is that they may restrict it to devices that came with BT 4.0 standard. So far there is no documentation or communication from Apple to confirm this.

To those asking why this can't work with wi-fi, please use some common sense. The whole point of BT LE is low power consumption so that a battery operated device can continuously broadcast its presence without draining the battery.

 

[azentropy]

Completely missing the aluminum MacBook (non pro) that can run Yosemite.

No real point in including it in a graph since no non Pro/Air MacBook ever had BT4.

 

[KillerTree]

Do both the iPhone and Mac have to have Bluetooth LE? I know my iPhone 4 doesn't have BT LE

 

[AtomicGrog]

Until one can replace the SSD in the new Macs, I'm going to stick with my 17" MBP. Those retina versions seem to be the epitome of Less is More. About 1/3 more money for fewer features.

Oh well, I'll just have to live without the shiny new iOS integration features. It'll be hard I know, but ho hum, I've survived this long without them...

Meh.

Pretty sure u can... unscrew the back and replacement module from something from vendor like transcend if it's the 'stick' style or a regular 2 1/2" for the others.

Done it for my daughter's 2013 MBP.

 

[Rngr]

What about buying a Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle for those computers that don't have Bluetooth LE? Wouldn't that solve the problem?

 

[roland.g]

All my hardware is supported but I tend to stay fairly current. If my 2011 had not been stolen last year and replaced though it would be in the red, Yosemite yes, Handoff no.

 

[DCYorke]

i remember craigh saying that the iphone could be in another room to receive calls and messages. the range of bluetooth is not that far or is it?

The problem is, we're talking about three different features which use three different technologies:

• Handoff allows you to pick up where you left off on apps that support it (e.g. Safari & Mail). This uses BT 4.0 to determine nearby devices. The device has to be in close proximity. You wouldn't want someone else in the office to pick up your stuff.
• Make/receive calls on your Mac using your phone. This is pure WiFi. Your phone will have to be plugged in, otherwise WiFi is automatically turned off. This is linked to your iCloud account to automatically "pair" with your phone.
• Send and receive SMS messages from your Mac, using your phone. This happens over the internet, so you don't have to be on the same WiFi network. Keep in mind SMS messages are small, so there's not a lot of data. On the other hand, phone calls use a ton of data, so they're restricted to the same WiFi network (it never goes over the internet).

 

[SolarShane]

Apple could make hand off with all devices if they used wifi.
Bluetooth is so inefficient!

Because pumping more stuff into an already congested wireless spectrum is always a good thing.

 

[Tech198]

Because pumping more stuff into an already congested wireless spectrum is always a good thing.

So, your saying Bluetooth cant get congested ? or less congested ?

While interference can be less of an issue too, Apple just assumes they everyone users the features they stick it in, and designs featured based on it *only* because of it being low powered.

Apple's rights, Apple's goal.... Feedback taken, but they decide what's acted.... Apple = god.

*End of transmission*