What Bluetooth profiles are available for headphone connections on iPhone and iPad? Getting good sound quality on Bluetooth headset seems to depend far more on the Bluetooth profiles used on a connection than the quality of the headset itself.
AAC is quoted in many articles as &quot;the profile you need for Apple devices&quot;, and although I found helpful information about finding out the Bluetooth profile used on a given connection, there seems to be no reliable information whether or not AAC really is the only available high-quality audio profile on Apple's mobile OSs.
So, which Bluetooth profiles are available for headphone (stereo audio from device to headphone only) and headset (stereo audio from device to headset, likely mono audio from headset to device, simultaneously) use when used with iOS and iPadOS 14?
Isn't AAC a codec, not a BT profile?
Seems AAC is nested in A2DP - ref. Wikipedia
From the Apple documentation
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT204387
&quot;Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP 1.3)
This profile works with iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch (6th generation) and later.&quot;
The technical specs for A2DP are available at bluetooth.org - https://www.bluetooth.com/specifications/archived-specifications/ --
A2DP v. 1.3 here
There's an interesting section in this article about Apple's M1 proprietary BT chip... https://www.howtogeek.com/338750/whats-the-difference-between-bluetooth-a2dp-and-aptx/
Also, maybe take a look at Apple Accessory Device Guideline Specs document here

specifically &quot;33. Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)&quot;

Apple's proprietary-environment business model means they're probably keeping some info close to their chest so they can BEAT(s) out the competition (pun intended).