Bluetooth 6 Launches, Could Enhance iPhone's Precision Finding Feature

The latest version of Bluetooth was released this week, and it includes a new feature that could benefit the Find My app across Apple devices.

precision finding airtag design session
Bluetooth 6.0 introduces "Channel Sounding," a feature that will bring "true distance awareness" to billions of future Bluetooth devices and accessories. The organization behind Bluetooth promises that this technology will achieve "centimeter-level accuracy over considerable distances," making it easier and quicker for users to locate lost items.

Apple already offers a Precision Finding feature in the Find My app that leverages Ultra Wideband technology to help users pinpoint the specific location of select accessories. The feature is available on the iPhone 11 and newer, and currently it can be used to find an AirTag or a second-generation AirPods Pro charging case.

Apple could use both Bluetooth 6.0 and Ultra Wideband technologies in unison to improve Precision Finding. Bluetooth 6.0 also paves the way for Precision Finding-like location accuracy for devices that are not equipped with Ultra Wideband chips, such as the Apple TV's Siri Remote and devices released by other companies.

It is unclear when the first devices with Bluetooth 6.0 will be released, but given that the specification is only just now available to hardware manufacturers and developers, the first Apple devices with support are likely at least a year away.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Will Bring Biggest Design Overhaul Since iOS 7

Monday March 10, 2025 12:17 pm PDT by
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience. Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
ios 18 4 carplay

Apple Upgrades CarPlay in Two Ways

Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay. Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Apple One Apps Feature 2

Apple One's Best Plan Now Includes Two More Perks For Free

Monday March 10, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Apple One allows you to subscribe to up to six Apple services for one discounted monthly price. There are three Apple One tiers: Individual, Family, and Premier. Over the last month, the highest-end ‌Apple One‌ Premier plan has gained two additional perks. Here is what Apple One Premier already included, for $37.95 per month:Apple Music Apple TV+ Apple Arcade Apple News+ Apple Fitness+...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
iOS 18

12 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.4

Monday March 10, 2025 9:28 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
iphone 17 mockups idevicehelp

Video Shows iPhone 17 Mockups Based on 'Internal Documents'

Monday March 10, 2025 4:41 am PDT by
YouTuber iDeviceHelp on Friday posted a video that shows off mockups of Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 models that are purportedly based on "internal documents." We're sharing the video here since it was made in collaboration with leaker Majin Bu, who last month published similar iPhone 17 renders that were widely corroborated by separate leakers with links to Apple's Chinese supply chain....
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.2 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Monday March 10, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple employees are internally testing iOS 18.3.2 for iPhones, according to our website's visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released in the next week or two. iOS 18.3.2 will be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Don't expect any new features. iOS 18.3.2 will be an interim...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3.2 With Bug Fixes

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:33 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.3.2 and iPadOS 18.3.2, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.2 and iOS 18.3.2 come a month after Apple released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release...
Apple Maps vs Google Maps Feature

iOS 18.4 Adds a Highly-Requested Setting to iPhones — But Not in U.S.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited. The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...

Top Rated Comments

antiprotest Avatar
27 weeks ago

confused. It will bring this technology to billions of existing devices? Last paragraph seems to contradict?
It's like when someone tells you to download more RAM.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrRom92 Avatar
27 weeks ago
Yes! We can do sounding with our apple Pencils now!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
27 weeks ago

confused. It will bring this technology to billions of existing devices? Last paragraph seems to contradict?
Yes, the Bluetooth SIG says billions of Bluetooth devices are released every year. I added a "future" there for clarity.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheWraith Avatar
27 weeks ago

the technology to ping/find a device has been around for 5+ years on Apple's devices, yet 1)it works only with Apple sanctioned products and 2)it works ONLY with AirTags or 2nd Gen AirPods Pro charging cases.

Really? That's the best Apple can do over the past 5+ years?
I don’t understand how you want Apple to have rolled this out industry wide.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
27 weeks ago
This can also enable true lossless audio
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
name99 Avatar
27 weeks ago

You ever notice new standards come out really fast on paper then take years to implement?
Must be a Lawyer thing slows it all down.
Wifi 7
Bluetooth 6.0
PCIe-7
Thunderbolt 5
This is because you have no idea how the standards process works...

Pretty much every "consumer facing" standard has two elements. Take, for example, 802.11
There is the IEEE which puts together the technical standard. This process takes many many years, in part because the IEEE is trying to ensure that every weird edge case that the spec is supposed to cover is in fact covered, and covered correctly. This, in turn, is because some elements of the spec are very niche, only of interest to a few specific use cases, but those elements still have to be correct, and to work correctly with the rest of the spec,

Then there is the WiFi Alliance, which is a group of companies selling hardware to consumers. The WiFi Alliance is not interested in niche cases, they are interested in INTEROPERABILITY. So what they will do is, once the IEEE DRAFT spec is solid enough with respect to the elements that matter to consumers, the WiFi Alliance will essentially lock down which of the (many many elements, most of them optional) of the new spec MUST be present in "WiFi" equipment.
The IEEE will say things like "an 802.11 device may choose methods A, B, or C for indicating that it wants to switch modulation modes"; WiFi will say "a WIFI device MUST support method A" and doesn't care if B and C are supported, they are for specialist use of some sort, not for the consumer market.

And so depending on exactly what you are interested in, standards become "available" at very different times.
At a certain point the WiFi Alliance will decide on the elements of WiFi 7, based on a particular version of the draft IEEE 802.11be spec. They will announce this, because these details matter to SOME people (for example companies writing SW targeting WiFi 7, and companies planning chipsets to be labelled WiFi 7). There will still be a year or two before you can buy anything because it takes time to convert the agreed upon WiFi 7 spec into hardware+software.

Meanwhile, on a different track, the IEEE will continue wrangling about ever more esoteric and specialized elements on the 802.11be spec and at some point (generally a year or two later than when WiFi7 HW is available) the final 802.11be spec will be released.

This basically works because the adults in the process understand that consumers have one set of needs, while various specialized users have a very different set of needs, and they're all working together to sync these different use cases.
Where it fails to work is when whiny twits can't tell the difference between one group (802.11 vs WiFi) or pretend that their super-specialized use case is in fact a generic consumer use case, and then get angry that the WiFi 7 equipment they bought is, in fact WIFI 7 spec and not 802.11be spec (specifically that it doesn't support some, by definition OPTIONAL, part of the 802.11be spec).

There can be legal elements that slow this down, submarine patents and such like, but USUALLY that is not the case. It's simply a fact that this stuff is astonishingly complex (and by definition more so with every spec - if something was easy we would have done it in version 2 of the spec, not version 7!)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)