We are observing a reproducible issue on some (not all) iPad models equipped with A16, where BLE streaming from multiple peripherals at ≥33–40 Hz results in uneven packet distribution, burst delivery, and application-level lag.
The same application, peripherals, firmware, iOS version, and physical environment do not exhibit this behaviour on A14-based iPads (iPad 10).
Affected Hardware:
• iPad 11" with A16
• iOS versions: identical across tested devices
• Issue affects some devices of the same model, not all
Internal field data
• ~25 affected
• ~5 unaffected
• Customers actively prefer iPad 10 (A14) due to stability
When two or more BLE peripherals stream data concurrently at frequencies ≥33–40 Hz, affected iPads exhibit:
• Uneven packet arrival timing
• Burst delivery instead of uniform intervals
• Increasing latency over time
• Observable application-level lag
This does not present as simple packet loss. Instead, packets arrive in clusters, breaking real-time assumptions.
At ≤30–33 Hz, the issue does not reproduce.
We tested:
• One affected iPad 11
• One unaffected iPad 11
• Same iOS version
• Same app build
• Same peripherals
• Same firmware
• Same physical location
• Same Wi-Fi state
Only the affected device reproduces the issue.
This rules out:
• App logic
• Peripheral firmware
• iOS version
• Environmental RF noise
• Wi-Fi coexistence configuration
Evidence Available
We can provide:
• Screenshots from a minimal test app showing packet counts
• CSV files of packet timestamps
• Source code for the BLE test app
• Side-by-side comparison logs (affected vs unaffected device)
All evidence is from the same app, built solely to measure packet timing.
Additional Technical Notes
• Issue persists after factory reset
• Occurs without third-party BLE libraries (CoreBluetooth only)
• Occurs regardless of foreground/background state
• Not correlated with MTU size
• Appears threshold-based (~33–40 Hz)
• Appears device-specific, not model-wide
