AppleInsider Staff
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group on Friday pegged an official June announcement date for Bluetooth 5, a next-generation near-range wireless transmission technology set to feature substantial performance gains over the existing Bluetooth 4.2 protocol.
As SIG's Core Specification Working Group puts the finishing touches on the Bluetooth 5 standard ahead of expected industry adoption later this year, Executive Director Mark Powell in an email today said the new specification will be formally announced on June 16. Powell says the new spec quadruples the speed and doubles the range of the latest Bluetooth 4.2 version.
In addition, Bluetooth 5 adds "significantly more capacity" to advertising transmissions, which in turn allows device manufacturers to create more sophisticated connectivity systems like beacon or location-based services. As ArsTechnica explains, advertising packets sent out by a Bluetooth device contain small bits of information to be detected and decoded by other Bluetooth-capable devices, even if those devices are not paired.
For example, Apple peripherals like the Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad show up by name on a host Mac scanning for nearby accessories. Apple also uses data rich packets to power Handoff and iBeacon technology.
With Bluetooth 5, SIG decided to modify traditional naming conventions by dropping the usual version and point number, a move designed to simplify marketing efforts. Tech branding can at time be confusing for consumers, for example Bluetooth 4.0 also goes by the monikers Bluetooth LE, BLE and Bluetooth Smart, among other manufacturer-specific variations.
Powell did not reveal an exact launch timeline for Bluetooth 5, referencing only the second half of 2016 "and beyond." Based on past release schedules the new spec should begin trickling into consumer products late this year or in early 2017.
As a Promoter Member of Bluetooth SIG, and with an engineer sitting on its board of directors, Apple is consistently one of the first major manufacturers to adopt new revisions.
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22 Comments
paves the way for indoor mapping to be released
Apple is quick to implement new bluetooth standards announced late last year to address need for IoT devices..It extends bluetooth range, speed/bandwidth and low power requirements. My hope is new bluetooth standards get added to every upcoming 2017 car's infotainment system with carplay support so, iphone is connected to infotainment system wirelessly via bluetooth. Wifi in car may not be needed for wireless carplay.
How good is it at remotely frying our internal organs?
So, how does the speed increase equate to how long it will take for me to throw a device that suddenly decides, for no reason whatsoever, not to connect, after weeks and weeks of successfully doing so?
For example, my iPhone's connection to my in-dash Alpine car stereo is dependent on the cycles of the moon. It'll work for 3-8 days, take 2 weeks ago, work again for 5-18 days, and so on. I'll go ahead and blame this one on Apple, since it worked flawlessly in the iOS 7-8 days, whereas the firmware on my stereo is the same as the day it was purchased.
Bluetooth sucks. This is one area where I wouldn't mind if Apple came with its own standard.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth both occupy a section of the 2.4 GHz ISM band that is 83 MHz-wide. So, Wifi and Bluetooth are twins at core but different personality. Unfortunate part of bluetooth is gadget manufacturers implement standards differently causing everyone pain.