The Bluetooth protocol is about to get a nifty upgrade.
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today announced that the Bluetooth 5 standard has been officially adopted, which means manufacturers are now able to build it into their devices.
Compared to existing Bluetooth 4.2 protocol, Bluetooth 5 offers four times the range, two times the speed, and eight times the broadcast message capacity, bringing whole home coverage and more reliable connections between connected devices.
With the debut of Bluetooth 5, SIG’s Bluetooth naming convention will drop all references to version and point number going forward, simplifying marketing.
Bluetooth 5 devices will be available within the next two to six months, indicating that Apple’s next-gen products due to debut in 2017, such as the iPhone 8, could offer Bluetooth 5 support.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors and Bluetooth.com