Sony YY2969, are these the LinkBuds with LE Audio? Or Something else? (Update 2)

Another headset appeared on Canada's Certification body, the YY2969. This headset has not appeared on the FCC yet, so we can only use this certification for clues. The major piece of information is the YY2953 name, this is the internal code for the Sony LinkBuds.

So the question is, why would the LinkBuds need a new certification? Good question. If this is the certification for LE Audio support for the LinkBuds, perhaps in Canada, rather than re-certify the old model, a new model name is required.

Of course I could be wrong and this might be a new model all together, but if it was a new model, the certification number would be 409B-YY2969, and not 409B-YY2953.

Here is the rest of the certification, an it is identical to the YY2953 one, so my guess is we are looking at the LE Audio YY2953 recertification for Canada. Sony only mentioned a LE Audio firmware update for the new LinkBuds S, but the LinkBuds use the same Bluetooth chip as the LinkBuds S, so updating one, would mean the other MT2822 based headsets would also get this update.

There is one more tidbit of information. The YY2969 model name has appeared on Apple's MFI Certification site.

An MFI certification means the product has been certified by Apple to work with Apple's products and ecosystem. There are reports the next gen Apple earpods will feature LE Audio support and 9to5mac as found evidence of the LC3 codec in iOS. So LE audio LC3 is coming to Apple, and it would sense Sony would want to have their products working with iOS without any problems.

The addition of LE Audio and the LC3 codec should bring better audio quality for calls, but also help with battery life and connectivity for wireless earbuds like the LinkBuds. One will need a compatible device with LE audio, like a smartphone, and I am guessing a lot of current gen products are making their way through certification, to be ready before the end of the year.

So if other devices, like the WH-1000XM5, WF-1000XM4 and LinkBuds S reappear on Canada's certification website with new model names but same certification numbers, it would mean such certifications are for LE Audio.

Update:

The device has shown up on Bluetooth SIG.

Checking the combine designs, the first one, 163117, shows that this device could be using the Mediatek MT2922. There is support for Isochronous Adaptation Layer, which is part of LE Audio, so this device should support it. So if this is the LinkBuds with LE Audio, then we will see an update soon, or perhaps it is something else.

Update 2:

Mystery solved, this is not some new model but the LinkBuds UC for Microsoft Teams, see link here.