Bluetooth 6.1 Update Set to Improve Privacy, Battery Life of iPhone Accessories

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has released Bluetooth 6.1 as part of its new bi-annual update schedule. The update introduces Randomized Resolvable Private Address (RPA), a feature designed to enhance both privacy and power efficiency.

This new feature makes tracking Bluetooth devices a lot more difficult because it randomizes the timing of device address changes, instead of just using predictable intervals. It also offloads address change operations to the controller device, which should help extend the battery life of the accessory device.

The specification follows Bluetooth 6.0, which arrived in September 2024. That update brought Channel Sounding for centimeter-level location accuracy, lower latency, and faster scanning capabilities, all of which could theoretically enhance the iPhone's Precision Finding feature.

For iPhone users, the upcoming iPhone 17 series expected to be released in September will likely support Bluetooth 6.0 and possibly incorporate the new 6.1 features. All in all, it should bring improved privacy protections and better battery performance when using Bluetooth accessories.

With Bluetooth now on a twice-yearly release schedule, the next update, Bluetooth 6.2, is expected to arrive by the end of 2025 with additional refinements and features.