iPhone official compatibility

[Alex]

Hello,

I'm developing a product using nRF51822 which is intended to work with iPhones (only iPhones for now; iPod/iPad and Android later).

I need some kind of document (either from Nordic or from Apple) that describes which iPhone hardware versions the nRF51822 is compatible with.

This is a regulatory requirement in my industry; the other option is, instead of documentation, to test on every iPhone model that I want to claim compatibility with.

I've done some research and it looks like all iPhones since 4S have a system-in-package Bluetooth and WiFi (and in some cases NFC) chip, where the Bluetooth is based on Broadcom BCM43xx. Unfortunately which exact BCM43xx chip changes with pretty much every iPhone release, and so it is not possible to claim they are the same with regard to Bluetooth support.

Is there an official list of phones (or iPhones specifically) that the nRF51822 is known to work with?

Thanks!

[Hung Bui]

Hi Alex,

I don't think we have an official list on which iOS device is tested and compatible with the nRF51.

However, there is a defined Bluetooth qualification process that all Bluetooth's devices have to follow and go through several test and verification suites as required by Bluetooth SIG before it get to the market. You can have a look here. So, any device that claims it supports Bluetooth 4.0 (included BLE) must be qualified and are compatible with other devices that support Bluetooth 4.x.

Nordic chips and its softdevices are all qualified and listed in the list here. Please enter Nordic Semiconductor in the text box. Or you can find the list of our QDID here.

I assume Broadcom did the same thing with theirs. You can try to search for BCM43 or Broadcom.

For further information, I would suggest you to contact our sale representative to discuss about your requirements. Please let me know your location (your country&states).

[sidekick]

On the software side, recently, while testing my bluetooth application on nRF51822 IC revision 3, with iOS (v9.3.2) based device (iPAD), got into a BLE disconnection problem. Apparently, the newer version of iOS does BLE spec. violation and hence had to come up with a workaround. You can find more about this issue here.

[Locky]

Also note there is a known issue with the timing on the iPhone broadcomm chips which cause this disconnection issue. Its been noted many times on this board. It may have something to do with the crystals, but they tended to operate slightly outside of expected Bluetooth timing causing disconnections. Though magically doesn't seem to be a problem connecting to Apple Watch ;) so perhaps its a design 'feature'.