Apple Says Latest 13-Inch MacBook Air Now Supports Bluetooth 5.3

While the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip initially supported Bluetooth 5.0 when it was released in July 2022, the laptop now supports the faster and more reliable Bluetooth 5.3 standard, according to Apple's tech specs.

MacBook Air M2 Chip Purple Feature
Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Air's tech specs page to say Bluetooth 5.3 after introducing the 15-inch MacBook Air with Bluetooth 5.3 at WWDC earlier this month. The latest standard offers faster and more reliable connectivity with Bluetooth accessories, and improved power efficiency, which can contribute to longer battery life. More details about Bluetooth 5.3 are available on the Bluetooth website.

All new Mac, iPhone, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch models released since September 2022 support Bluetooth 5.3, as do the second-generation AirPods Pro.

Both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air remain limited to Wi-Fi 6, while other new Macs support Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless connectivity over the 6GHz band.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Apple Intelligence Now Available in New iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia Developer Betas

Monday July 29, 2024 10:07 am PDT by
Apple is today providing developers with the first betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with the new software introducing an early version of the Apple Intelligence features. These new betas will be in testing alongside the current iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15 betas. Developers can choose whether to opt into the new betas with Apple Intelligence, or stay on the ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple Intelligence Delayed to iOS 18.1 in October

Sunday July 28, 2024 11:52 am PDT by
Apple Intelligence will miss its initial expected launch date to give Apple more time to fix bugs, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. According to individuals with knowledge about Apple's plans, the company now plans to start rolling out Apple Intelligence in software updates by October, arriving several weeks after the launch of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. This means that Apple...
T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1

T-Mobile Sued for Breaking Lifetime Price Guarantees

Friday July 26, 2024 2:44 pm PDT by
T-Mobile customers have filed a lawsuit [PDF] against the carrier, alleging that it failed to honor a guarantee not to raise the prices of select cellular plans. The lawsuit, first spotted by Wired, claims that back in 2017, T-Mobile advertised several of its plans with a price lock, but then went on to increase prices starting in May 2024. "T-Mobile ONE customers keep their price until...

Top Rated Comments

cannono Avatar
14 months ago
Is this a hardware change to new shipments or a software change to all past sold of this model?
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
14 months ago

Is this a hardware change to new shipments or a software change to all past sold of this model?
Almost exactly what I was about to type.

Very unclear of MacRumors to post this without that important clarity.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikethebigo Avatar
14 months ago
Apparently the bluetooth module in the 13" MBA was always capable of 5.3, it just needed a firmware revision. So I don't think this is due to a hardware change.

Stolen info from another thread: The Broadcom 4387 (BCM_4387) which is the chip in all M2 MBAs does now support Bluetooth 5.3: https://device.report/broadcom/bcm4387
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EugW Avatar
14 months ago
Both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air remain limited to Wi-Fi 6, while other new Macs support Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless connectivity over the 6GHz band.
I'm still on WiFi 5 / 802.11ac, using a bunch of Apple AirPort Extremes connected via a wired Gigabit Ethernet backbone. I think I'll stick with this as long as realistically possible. Current Apple devices still work beautifully with these, even roaming from AirPort Extreme to AirPort Extreme. For most home use I have not seen the need to go beyond a few hundred Mbps over WiFi, and furthermore, my home internet access maxes out at 500 Mbps anyway. (However, my main work machine is a desktop which is hardwired via Ethernet.)
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macos9rules Avatar
14 months ago

Cool. Now it would be great if we had a pair of AirPods that are capable of lossless audio to take advantage of it.
In my opinion, Lossless audio is snake oil. I'm an audio engineer, multi-instrumentalist with perfect pitch, pro audio gear, and I really can't tell the difference between a lossless file and a high quality MP3 or AAC file. People around me who thought they could tell the difference always failed in blind tests. If you can tell the difference in a blind test, I'd be curious to know.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ric275 Avatar
14 months ago
So there was a quiet hardware revision? Or as part of a macOS update? Or typo? ?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)