Bluetooth 6.1 officially unveiled: privacy protection and reduced power consumption
Bluetooth isn't the same anymore. Just when it seems like there's nothing left to improve on this technology, an update comes out that forces us to rethink the notion of "seamless connectivity."
Here's What We Know
The Bluetooth SIG has officially unveiled the new Bluetooth 6.1 standard, and surprisingly, it's not about speed or range. The main catch is Random Resolvable Private Address (RPA). Simply put, the device will now change its Bluetooth address regularly, and in encrypted form, making it almost invisible to random trackers and scanners.
This approach not only improves privacy protection, but also reduces the strain on the battery - as the device doesn't need to constantly maintain open communication for identification. That is, Bluetooth can now be both "invisible" and "frugal". Oddly enough, such an upgrade came without too much fuss.
There are rumours that the iPhone 17 Pro could be the first smartphone to support Bluetooth 6.1 - at least Apple is traditionally one of the first to introduce new standards. However, at the time of writing, there's no official confirmation, so we'll divide everything by two.
Meanwhile, the Bluetooth SIG is already teasing the next iteration, Bluetooth 6.2, which is scheduled for release in late 2025. New features are promised, but as always, no details. For now, we can just be happy that at least some organisation is keeping its word and releasing updates on schedule.
Source: Bluetooth SIG
