Bose turns on Auracast in QuietComfort Ultra headphones people already own

An iPhone owner who installs 10.12.12 on a pair of Ultras gets none of the Bluetooth features the update is named for. Bose's release notes restrict LE Audio to compatible Android and Windows devices ^[8]. Owning an Android phone does not guarantee access either. ZDNet reports that so far only select Android phones support LE Audio, Auracast and the LC3 codec ^[9].

The pitch for Auracast is shared listening. ZDNet describes joining live broadcasts at theaters and stadiums, and sending one phone's audio to an unlimited number of headphones ^[5]. The first use needs a venue that transmits. The second needs one of those select phones in the middle ^[9]. The standard was announced in 2022, and The Verge calls its adoption slow, noting that some Samsung and LG TVs bury the function in their menus ^[14]. By ZDNet's account, LC3, the codec that comes with Auracast, gives better sound than the older SBC codec at lower power ^[6].

The one change that depends on nothing but a cable is USB-C audio. When wired, the drivers can now use a 48kHz sample rate and the microphone 16kHz during games and video calls. The update also adds a game/chat balance and better voice performance in web-conferencing apps ^[3]. A worker on a laptop call needs only the headphones and the computer already on the desk. Console players are left out, because the wired upgrades work with PCs, tablets and phones but not with game consoles ^[4].

Only one company's evidence supports firmware as the way to deliver big Bluetooth features. Both reports cover Bose's own products, and neither shows whether other makers with Auracast added it to headphones already sold or only to new models.

For a team that issued these headphones for calls, I'd test the USB-C conferencing change on a handful of PCs and leave Auracast out of the rollout plan. The tradeoff is putting beta firmware ^[15] on headsets people rely on for work calls.

Any firmware note can be sorted with two questions per feature. The first is whether the feature works with the phone or computer the user already carries. The second is whether it needs someone else to act, such as a venue that broadcasts or a phone maker that ships LE Audio support. A feature that passes the first test and needs nothing from anyone else counts on day one. In this update the clearest case is USB-C call audio on a PC ^[3]. If a feature fails the first test, the user has to buy something before it exists for them. Anything that needs a third party depends on someone else's schedule. Auracast at a theater is one of those, since it works only where the venue broadcasts ^[5].