A wireless technology specifically geared towards exchanging data over short distances, Bluetooth is a staple hardware feature for many Apple products, such as those in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac lineups. Bluetooth is also incorporated in many Apple peripherals, such as the Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse.
I’ve been using the Satechi Slim X1 Bluetooth keyboard full-time for the last three weeks, and it’s proven to be a solid companion for both my Macs and iPads. Should you consider purchasing it? Watch our hands-on Satechi Slim X1 review for the details, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more video reviews.
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We rely on Bluetooth for more and more devices, and while the wireless standard is very convenient, it can be really frustrating when our peripherals don’t work consistently. Read along for five tips and tricks to fix Mac Bluetooth issues, including resetting your Bluetooth module and ways to remove interference.
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Apple has reportedly set that a fix is imminent for the M1 Mac Bluetooth connectivity problems reported by many users of the first Apple Silicon Macs.
Users began reporting issues within days of the first machines arriving …
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Update: Apple implemented this request in iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4.
Face ID is normally a completely seamless way to unlock an iPhone and iPad: just swipe up and it unlocks automatically. At a time when we’re frequently wearing masks, however, it’s rather less seamless.
So we’d like to see Apple allow an unlocked Apple Watch to automatically unlock an iPhone and iPad …
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A new Bluetooth security flaw has been discovered that would potentially allow an attacker to connect to a user device without authentication.
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the body responsible for Bluetooth standards, has confirmed vulnerabilities separately discovered by two teams of security researchers…
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Some iPhones, iPads, and Macs are vulnerable to short-range attacks via Bluetooth which could fool them into thinking they are connected to a trusted device. That would then enable an attacker to both send and request data via Bluetooth.
The same security vulnerability is found in a wide range of chips from Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung, meaning that a large number of non-Apple devices are also affected …
At CES 2020 today, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced a new Bluetooth standard for audio. The new standard is called LE (Low Energy) Audio and is designed to enhance the Bluetooth audio experience with features like audio sharing, native support for hearing aids, and more.
We learned earlier this month that we’d soon be seeing the first-ever Sonos Bluetooth speaker. Existing Sonos speakers are Wi-Fi-only, but the upcoming model is said to support both wireless communication standards, as well as offering AirPlay 2 functionality.
We’ve already seen one photo of the speaker, which looks like a more cylindrical version of the $200 Sonos One, but we’re today seeing more…
As more smartphones start to lose the headphone jack, and users begin to rely on Bluetooth for not only headphones, but other devices, knowing how to unpair or remove Bluetooth devices will become increasingly important. Follow along to learn how to unpair Bluetooth devices on iPhone and iPad.
A new breakthrough in Bluetooth chip technology has shed the battery that typically comes with the small hardware component. Wiliot is seeing success with its paper-thin Bluetooth sticker chip that could land in devices later this year. The chip is able to be battery-free by harnessing the ambient radio waves to power it and has a lot of potential use cases.
Apple did its part in moving the world to wireless headphones. With the removal of the headphone jack with iPhone 7, the company made it clear that the future of audio is wireless. However, the company had already noted its vision well before the iPhone 7 with the original Apple Watch. Years later, the company continues removing the jack in more devices such as iPad Pro.
Today, we’re looking at wireless audio. Specifically, the different Bluetooth audio codecs and why they play an important role in the future of audio. Earlier this year we broke down Bluetooth 5.0 and its role in pushing the wireless revolution forward. Learn more about that here.
Over the last several software updates, Apple has made it harder to disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth completely. Apple keeps the radios running to have things like Apple Watch and AirDrop functionally properly.
Bluetooth trackers have been a handy way to keep tabs on our valuables for some time now. Attach one to a bag, or slip one into your wallet, and you can then use your iPhone to help you track them down if you mislay them.
The ‘wallet’ part of that idea has, though, worked rather better in theory than practice. Even supposed slimline trackers have so far been too bulky to slip unnoticed into a wallet, which is the problem Chipolo set out to solve with its new Card tracker, which goes on sale today …
Bluetooth is adding support for a new mesh networking specification that will improve Bluetooth LE devices across various categories, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced in a briefing with press today.
All four products in the announced Apple W1 lineup of wireless headphones and earbuds are now available: the Beats Solo3 headphones, the Powerbeats3, the BeatsX and the truly wireless Apple AirPods.
Wireless headphones are becoming the defacto choice for Apple users, with the iPhone 7 dropping the analog headphone jack. Apple Watch can also only pair with wireless music devices.
We don’t know what the future holds for the W1 chip, perhaps more manufacturers will be allowed to use it, but the product range is already diversified with what’s available today, spanning different form factors, audio quality, convenience, innovation and price points.
The highly anticipated BeatsX are the latest pair of wireless earphones to feature Apple’s W1 wireless chip, which makes it easy to pair and switch between eligible iOS devices.
First revealed at Apple’s fall iPhone event, the BeatsX have experienced a few delays on their way to last Friday’s release. The white and black versions are currently available for in store pickup and shipping, while the newly-revealed grey and blue versions are scheduled to ship in 2-3 weeks.
How do the BeatsX stack up to the similarly-priced AirPods? Are they a good option for users looking for a pair of Bluetooth earbuds? In this hands-on video walkthrough, we’ll take a look at some of the top BeatsX features in our quest to answer those questions. Expand
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Earlier this year, it was announced that Bluetooth 5 would be the new wireless standard, replacing Bluetooth 4.2 and now, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has officially adopted the platform and made it available to manufacturers to use in devices…
It appears that the iPhone 7 is going to eliminate the 3.5mm headphone jack but headphone manufacturers aren’t waiting for Apple to make an announcement before hitting the market with some great solutions to this so-called “problem.”
I’ve been living with the new $349 Bose Quiet Comfort 35s for the past week and not only are they amazing, but I can honestly say they’ve changed my life.
That may sound like hyperbole but let me explain… Expand
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New in iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, Apple’s AirPrint is getting some welcomed improvements including ‘AirPrint Bluetooth Beacon’, the ability to create PDFs from the print panel in iOS, and support for multi-user and password-only printing.
Late last year we got an early look at improvements coming to the next version of Bluetooth, and now the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has revealed the name of the upcoming version plus more specifics about the new standard. Bluetooth 5 will be the successor to Bluetooth 4.2, which was released at the end of 2014, suggesting a notable release this year. The new standard will be announced next week, and this is what we know so far.
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The Ultimate Ears (UE) division of Logitech has been making some of the best Bluetooth speakers out there for quite some time. When I reviewed the waterproof UE Roll last year, it became the no-brainer summer music purchase, especially as 9to5toys caught it dipping down to $50 a few times in the past few weeks.
The UE Roll is super-portable, mostly flat, rugged and so waterproof you can bring it into a pool with its own little floatie. The sound quality is amazng for the small form factor and the battery lasts between 5-10 hours. This is the speaker I take with me on most trips because it is small in the backpack yet still sounds great, pairs easily with multiple devices and even has iOS/Android apps for creating alarms and checking battery. Obviously if you are throwing a house/pool party, you’ll want something more substantial like UE Boom and Megaboom.
Today UE upgraded the Roll with 15% better sound and 100-ft wireless range (up from 66-ft) along with some new color/designs (pictured above). Here’s the full official specs update …
I’m not going to blow smoke … and say that this is a big upgrade. It isn’t. In fact, at at least a $30 premium over the original UE Roll, I’m going to do something I rarely ever do – recommend you buy the old model for $30 less at Amazon (Verizon and Best Buy too). You really won’t notice any difference and that $30 bucks you save can go almost halfway into purchasing another original UE Roll to pair up for stereo sound (for 200% the sound).
Update: Best Buy has the UE Roll down to $49.99 shipped
If money’s no object and/or you need the extra 15% sound and range/color options/newest thing, head below for the full low down/video on the new $99.99 UE Roll 2. Expand
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I’m not a major believer that Apple’s iOS devices can quite fully replace the PC and Mac in most scenarios, at least not for me, and not quite yet. I’m a keyboard fiend, using shortcuts on the keyboard almost more often than I use my mouse. These doubts were ready to be tested when I saw the progress that iOS 9 brought for third-party developers within the iOS ecosystem. With the new SDK, developers were getting the chance to integrate keyboard shortcuts into their iOS apps just like a Mac app. It was then that I knew it was time to start looking for a portable keyboard to take around with me.
This presented a new problem for me. There’s a vast amount of Bluetooth keyboards out there, and I didn’t want to just carry Apple’s bulky Bluetooth Keyboard around. I needed something with a full keyboard size, good battery life, and durability. After a few months of searching, and reluctance on spending money on what I considered an unknown, I gave up my hunt.
I nearly forgot about my keyboard journey until a few months when iClever reached out to me asking if I wanted to take a look at their iOS compatible Bluetooth accessories. I gladly accepted the offer, and began by taking a look at their Tri-Folding Bluetooth Keyboard. Everything I read online from the listing on Amazon made it seem like it could fit neatly into everything I had been previously searching for, so I was excited to get my hands on it.
A big question up in the air for iPhone 7 is what Apple will do with its bundled headphones. If this is the first year Apple is to remove the headphone jack from the device as rumored, that means one of a few things for the bundled EarPods that usually come with its iPhones…
The iPhone 7 had been rumored to be dropping the analog 3.5 mm headphone jack, in favour of wireless Bluetooth or Lightning cable headphones for audio output. However, a new iPhone 7 component leak posted on Weibo disagrees with previous reports, depicting a board that includes a 3.5mm jack (in the top right of the photo above).
The 3.5mm jack is large (relative to the thinness of the phone), dates back more than a hundred years and has been superseded in terms of signal quality by the modern digital solutions, so it is plausible that Apple would want to abandon it. However, the idea of removing the port has been controversial (with complaints about existing accessory compatibility). This Chinese leak indicates it is sticking around …