It’s certainly practical. This is called LE Audio, and it’s designed to provide better audio quality, especially when the phone-headphone connection gets weak. According to Bluetooth’s official website, the new system can sound better than his current Bluetooth audio, even when only 50% of his connected data is available. This means that with LE audio equipment you may be farther away from the device or have more walls or interference between your phone and headphones before the audio cuts out.
Apple recently issued a statement that it intends to use a more advanced version of Bluetooth than ever before. Apple’s submission to the Bluetooth Control Group (opens in new tab), spotted by MacRumors (opens in new tab), means the company may start including his Bluetooth 5.2 in future products. The filing actually mentions Bluetooth 5.3, but MacRumors points out that for some reason Apple always submits a version above the Bluetooth version used in the field.
Highlights
Easier audio sharing
It should feel more reliable and flexible. It also means that AirPods using this can transmit better and more efficiently, which can result in longer battery life. Of course, this assumes Apple has implemented it. This is a feature that the product should specifically support. So just because your phone and earbuds have Bluetooth 5.2 doesn’t mean they actually use LE audio.
This might be like the audio sharing that AirPods have now, but with enhancements. None of these features can be added to iPhone 13 or earlier or existing AirPods (including AirPods Pro and AirPods Max). Because they all support up to Bluetooth 5.0. The .2 upgrade doesn’t seem like much, but I hope it makes a big difference.
Another interesting feature that supports Bluetooth 5.2 is AuraCast. It’s a way to share audio with many devices at once via Bluetooth, which was not possible in the past. There are many suggested uses for this. If your AirPods support it, you can connect to shared screens in public places and get personal audio from them. If this is supported on your iPhone, it means you can share your music and video sound with multiple headphones from any manufacturer (if they also support AuraCast).