Does the iPhone support A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth Audio)

Does the iPhone support A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth Audio)

UPDATE: Yes, as of the release of iPhone OS 3.0, the iPhone now supports A2DP.

Many of today's newer wireless devices (i.e. the Samsung Blackjack) support A2DP audio output. A2DP audio devices, such as stereo bluetooth headsets, offer high quality listening ability without those nagging wires. As the iPhone is birthed from the iPod, and is undoubtedly the most music oriented phone ever to be developed, surely the iPhone supports A2DP, right?

UPDATE: Unfortunately, this is not the case. As of firmware version 1.1.1, there is not yet support for the A2DP Bluetooth profile on the Apple iPhone.

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Comments

Jawbone replied on

I have the JAWBONE ICON with the iphone 4. How did you get the music to stream through the Jawbone. I can't get mine to go. I went to voicemail and chose bluetooth under the audio, but it still streams through my speaker on the iphone.

Sean replied on

I vote screw waiting, I'm buying the headphones anyways, because it has the bluetooth adapter, which has a 3.5mm (1/8") jack, as does the iPhone, so if it doesn't support it, I can always just use the adapter, no loss.

Anonymous replied on

No loss?!! You're paying X amount of dollars for the use of the earphones via the adapter. Not for an adapter alone so there is an inherant loss(ear phones, huh?). A sound invetsment willl not have you settle for a win-win but a get-what-the-hell I paid for conclusion. In these times of the diminishing of the American Dollar's value, Apple still wants to have us sitting on pins and needles when the problem is clear and apparent...They can afford to release the hold on the A2DP and not suffer at all... How greedy and selfish is that?.

Shane replied on

I think it would be pretty stupid of apple not to have A2DP on this. Considering all the phones that are popping up with it and samsung having the T9B MP3 player (currently in asia only right now). Its sad that when the video iPods popped up they didnt have Bluetooth. Cingular only has 1 other phone with A2DP that i know of currently. I find it incredibly retarded for apple to have this exclusively with cingular, but i suppose cingular ponied up a lot of cash for that. No matter it's GSM and if I decide I want one ill get one from europe, or buy an unlocked one here stateside. For now im extremely happy with my T-Mobile Dash and my motorola bluetooth stereo headphones.

Shane replied on

Also Nokia dropped the ball big time when they released the N91. It has a 4gb hard drive but no A2DP! I was ready to order until i found that out.

Alex Voda replied on

Now I own a SonyEricsson W810i and I am disappointed that it doesn't have A2DP and for the future I plan on buying the iPhone.
By the way , Sean, I recommend you the Plantronics Pulsar 590A instead of the Logitech’s FreePulse(I hear they aren't comftable) because I have them and I am very very satisfied with them.

Smith replied on

Silly boy, why wouldn't you check something like that before you shell out your cash?

Jimmy replied on

I'm also desperate for A2DP on iPhone.
It's rather hard to imagine Apple will not incorporate A2DP to a music phone so I'm waiting with my fingers crossed.
BTW, to Sean and Alex, I recommend you guys to check out Lubix headsets. I have a pair of UBHS-NC1 and it's really awsome. They have really nice sound quality.

askjason75 replied on

I believe Apple disabled it so they can enable it when they release a stereo bluetooth headset ... at this moment I use the iBlueT set from 8bananas.com.... it is just a "Made for iPod" dongle and stereo bluetooth headset...but it works really well. You could look for just the dongle and then you can use any headset the dongle supports...

rob replied on

i am just going to assume that many of you are not too familiar with mac osx and therefore dont know that the current version (tiger) does not support a2dp. that having been said the next version, leopard, does support a2dp. in addition, leopard has been officially delayed due to work on the iphone. since we know that the iphone runs mac osx we can also assume it will run leopard in which case it will support a2dp natively.

KingOfAllBrowns replied on

They delayed Leopard to move engineers from development of Leopard to development of the iPhone, in order to make the iPhone release deadline. Just because Leopard was delayed at the expense of the iPhone doesn't mean the iPhone will run it.

Let's hope, though.

Orlando replied on

It's kiling me that Apple wont release details about support for A2SP. support for A2DP willbe the deciding factor on my purchase. I currently have the Cingular 3125, which support A2DP. I have become addicted to a BT stereo world and cannot live without it. I even upgraded my car stero with a Sony BT head unit whoch supports A2DP. It is fabulous to listen to music in the car wihtout wires, and I cannot imagine going for my daily 3 mile jog without my BT Sterao headset. PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE support A2DP!! ;-)

cheers all!

MrElvey, SF, CA replied on

I called the apple store and asked about support for A2DP or Stereo Bluetooth headsets. 'Matthew' said 'I believe it does not support it'.

John Gaver replied on

BLUETOOTH STEREO WORK-AROUND FOR iPHONE

I have used the iMuffs MA110 BT dock adaptor with my iPod for more than a year and have been quite happy with it, in combination with my Motorola HT820 headphones. I was looking forward to an iPhone that would not require such a dongle. But alas, Apple fell seriously short this time.

So in a fit of desperation, I tried my MA110 adaptor on the dock of the iPhone and guess what?

IT WORKS ! ! !

I have BT stereo music from iTunes and full BT remote control of iTunes from the controls on the headphones (Play, Pause, FWD, Back, FF and REW). I just have to put up with a dongle for a little while longer, while Apple gets their Bluetooth act together. At least the iMuffs MA110 is very small.

This is the first Apple product that has ever been produced that has had any really major flaw and the lack of support for A2DP is a very major flaw. But, at least there is a work-around.

Peter Davis replied on

The iphone does not support BT stereo headphones and this one flaw is ruining my weekend! I bought the iPhone Friday evening and the unopened box is still sitting no my desk while I decide whether I can justify it without that simple and, one would think, logical feature. I can live without not being able to cut and paste and the lack of direct download from iTunes, but I was really looking forward to wireless headphones with my $600 device. The tech at the Apple store said that the iPhoone used 'Bluetooth 1.5' and was not sure if it would require a hardware or a software upgrade to support stero BT headphones.
I am encouraged to hear that a BT adaptor for iPod works correctly on the iPhone, do you know if the upgrade to A2DP support is a software/firmware upgrade or if it is a hardware issue (which means no true solution before iPhone Ver.2 arrives)?

Jackson replied on

First of all, Orlando... not too sure you should be jamming out your iPhone with headphones while driving... because that's kinda breaking the law. Also whats wrong with the other way of listning to music in your car with out wires, aka your car stereo? As for A2DP the iPhone has BT with EDR and should support it, so it should just be a matter of software. I'm sure they will add the feature eventually, however that will definatly kill the battery a lot more. I could care less either way the phone is amazing and the ear buds that come with it are fine for me.

Dan replied on

I just got a pair of Motorala S9 headphones yesterday ($129 @ a cingular store), and they work fine with the iPhone "Phone portion" the BT profile for that is already there, but not A2DP for stereo streaming yet...! According to the Apple engineer i spoke with, it will probably be a software upgrade still to come, probably when apple start selling there own stereo headsets...

askjason75 replied on

You could use a "Made for iPod" bluetooth dongle to enable your Motorala S9 headphones and A2DP stereo streaming... try 8bananas.com for a solution or the famous ebay :)

Bill replied on

Dan --

Does ANY audio stream over the Motorola S9s? Mono, same stereo signal to both R and L (i.e. no separation), anything? Or when you sync with the iphone and play music or video, does nothing come through the headset? If Dan doesn't check back in, does anyone know the answer to this question?

Thanks!

Zak Wood replied on

Here is the issue at hand with A2DP support with the iPhone. If you're like me and have the Motorola S9 Stereo Bluetooth Headset, then only the right channel of the headset will put out an audio. This means both for the telephone feature and also for streaming music via the ipod feature of the iphone.

It looks likely from all support bulletins that A2DP will in fact be added as a software (firmware) update in the near future. The only option right now is to purchase a headphone which has it's own bluetooth adapter (bypassing the internal Bluetooth feature in the iphone). I per se hate the idea of an added dongle to the iphone, especially since I haven't seen one small enough or match the iphone in color/style.

Perhaps, when Apple releases the next update which will include support for iTunes music downloads they'll see the added request for Stereo Bluetooth Support (internal, A2DP) without the need of an external work-around.

Hope this helps and was useful.

Zak Wood
www.zakwood.com

Dan replied on

No dude nothing at all just the phone not even mono sound total bummmer it's just as if it wasn't even paired

Anonymous replied on

Seems this thread hasn't caught up - A2DP *should* be supported on the iPhone, because the software stack provided by Open Interface already includes it. (See the Gizmodo thread, http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone/iphone-bluetooth-not-much-but-whats-there-is-charming-274068.php) But Apple disabled the feature for reasons of their own nefarious choosing. We're all hosed until the next version, apparently...

Anonymous replied on

Has anyone tried making a call and at that the same time switching to iPod functions? I noticed that you can hear audio clearly while in the call using any headset. Is this just a glitch or does this suggest possibilities of routing audio through a software update?

Omega replied on

I just fround a glitch with my bluetooth (apple) headset.....
I can listen to music through my bluetooth, with one large string attached. I have to be on a phone call at the same time. Try it, make a call, and then switch to the iPod and play a song. You will hear the music over the person talking. I don't know what exactly this means as far as stereo capability, but someone figure a glitch out so that I can at least listen to it in one ear....

Stephen replied on

Wow... that works. When the phone call ends, the music stops streaming.

As you said, I hope this means the functionality is there, just waiting for a firmware update from Apple!

Knockamechi replied on

I found away around the music stoping when u end the phone call. LOL
Go to your voice mail (you may have to select a mail, but dont play it)
Press the audio button at the top right hand corner
Select your bluetooth device
Go to ipod, play something. You should hear it through your bluetooth.
The only thing is that sound also plays on the Iphone speaker, what's up with the mute button?

Rocky Romero replied on

Yes, I'm able to use this by:

a. calling a number that answers and there is no sound on the other end. For example, a conference call number that is not in use. Works well for weekends when there is unlimited phone usage available. Love it for sitting in a jacuzzi with a wireless connection to my audio.

b. similar to above, by calling a number where there is no cell service. For example, in a train tunnel or more conveniently for me, in the stairway of my building. Seems far fetched but useful for my stair training workouts. This meets my needs for the time being or until there is a2dp on the iphone.

I'm open for more ideas on this without adding another piece of equipment.

mde replied on

In the interim, until iphone catches up and gives the stereo bluetooth to its users u can use the sony bt txmitter it's small, has the same playtime as the iphone and will sync up to the s9 headset.
this will give u stereo bt from the iphone and still have the bt phone active. the sony unit costs between 40 and 50 dollars depending on where you get it.

Decieved Iphone... replied on

It's OFFICIAL!!! Apple INTENTIONALLY had the A2DP for BT Stereo disabled!
One can only assume that the Great American Marketing Greed Syndrome (GAMGS) has truly struck Apple Corp, one of the final corporations that I had held practically "sacred" in terms of bring its consumers some of the best cutting edge technology available today! Can I go as far as saying; "Apple your rotten to the core!"

askjason75 replied on

I've been craving for A2DP on the iPhone -- awaiting firmware updates and searching google all the time for solutions or hacks then I came across 8Bananas.com who sells a bunch of Bluetooth accessories. I bought and tried the iBlueT set. It is basically a "Made for iPod" Bluetooth dongle and Stereo Bluetooth Headset bundle that adds A2DP fucntions to the iPhone ! I've personally tested this and it works perfectly. The speaker of the iPhone does NOT continue to play (like the workarounds you seen on the web) and I can also make / take calls with the stereo headset all for only $99USD...much cheaper and more functionable than the Apple Bluetooth headset for $129 USD. I'm sure Apple will enable A2DP officially soon - I predict they are finalising a new Stereo Bluetooth headset and hence the delay..

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