GEM3NFC End-of-Life Transition

GEM3NFC is entering end-of-life. GEM4NFC is its certified, long-term replacement — a drop-in module with newer radio hardware and a shorter production lead time. Here is everything an OEM needs to plan the move.

North Pole Engineering will eventually End of Life the GEM3NFC. We designed the GEM4NFC specifically as a drop-in replacement: the same 40 mm board outline, the same mounting holes and input connector location, and the same GEM HCI command set over UART. Underneath, the Nordic nRF52840 module and NXP PN7150 reader are replaced by an nRF54L15 radio and a PN7161 reader.

Most of the work in a transition is not the board swap. It is the paperwork — new regulatory IDs, a new Apple Product Plan — and confirming that every firmware feature your console uses is still there. Both are covered below.

Key dates

Plan around these first

The forecast and last-time-buy dates gate everything else, so they come first even if your engineering work starts later.

Hardware

Board to board

Firmware

Same commands, one fixed baud rate

GEM4NFC uses the same HCI UART interface as GEM3NFC and responds to the same commands with the same responses. It is VAS compatible. Two things change on day one:

What changed in the feature set

New in GEM4NFC

• Apple Wallet VAS pass reading — License fee applies
• Google Wallet Smart Tap v2.1 pass reading — License fee applies

Not carried over to GEM4NFC

Check these against your integration first — they are the most likely to affect an existing console.

• NPE Serial service (transparent BLE-to-host pipe)
• NPE Serial client — “BLE Live”, 0xFFFE scan token
• Fitness Machine client 0x1826 (central role)
• iBeacon scanner
• USB CDC-ACM host transport
• External NFC tag — NTAG I2C Type 2 with host-set NDEF
• Per-feature licensing
• ANT Broadcast Mesh (NPE proprietary network)
• Bike Power TX, Bike Speed & Cadence TX, Stride Speed & Distance TX (ANT+ transmit profiles)
• Bike Power CTF decoding and frequency diversity RX
• Cycling Power, Cycling Speed & Cadence, Battery and heartbeatz / BLAST NPUS BLE services (config-enabled on GEM3NFC)

Reduced, not removed

• Concurrent BLE central links 2 → 1
• Radio test — CW, BLE DTM, ANT modulated, frequency sweep Seperate FW Image

Show the full 47-feature matrix

Feature	GEM3	GEM4
BLE services — peripheral
Fitness Machine Service FTMS (0x1826) + Control Point	Yes	Yes
Wahoo GymConnect service (vendor)	Yes	Yes
Apple GymKit Eurotas service (0xFE13)	Yes	Yes
Samsung Enhanced Gym service (0xFD00 base)	Yes	Yes
Cycling Power service (0x1818) + CP control point	Config	No
Cycling Speed & Cadence service (0x1816) + SC CP	Config	No
Battery service (0x180F)	Config	No
Device Information service (0x180A)	Yes	Yes
Bond Management service (0x181E)	Yes	Yes
NPE Serial service (transparent BLE-to-host pipe)	Yes	No
heartbeatz / BLAST NPUS service (AES-encrypted)	Config	No
OTA DFU GATT service	Yes	Yes
BLE receiver — central clients
Heart Rate client (0x180D)	Yes	Yes
Cycling Power client (0x1818)	Yes	Yes
Fitness Machine client (0x1826)	Yes	No
NPE Serial client (“BLE Live”, 0xFFFE scan token)	Yes	No
iBeacon scanner	Yes	No
Concurrent central links	2	1
ANT+ transmit — module as sensor
Fitness Equipment FE-C master (device type 17)	Yes	Yes
Bike Power TX (device type 11)	Yes	No
Bike Speed & Cadence combined TX (device type 121)	Yes	No
Stride-based Speed & Distance TX (device type 124)	Yes	No
Frequency diversity TX (FE-C sync + async A/B)	Yes	Yes
ANT Broadcast Mesh (NPE proprietary network)	Yes	No
ANT radio test (CW / modulated)	Yes	Yes
ANT+ receive — display role
Heart Rate Monitor (device type 120)	Yes	Yes
Bike Power (device type 11) + calibration request	Yes	Yes
Bike Power crank-torque-frequency (CTF) decoding	Yes	No
Bike Speed & Cadence combined (device type 121)	Yes	Yes
Bike Cadence only (device type 122)	Yes	Yes
Bike Speed only (device type 123)	Yes	Yes
Frequency diversity RX (per-profile alternate frequency)	Yes	No
Paired ANT+ sensors supported	4	4
NFC, GymKit and wallet
External NFC tag (NTAG I2C, Type 2) with host-set NDEF	Yes	No
Apple MFi auth coprocessor 343S00177 (I²C)	Yes	Yes
Apple iAP2 stack over BLE L2CAP CoC (LE PSM 0x80)	Yes	Yes
Tap-to-pair: Apple GymKit (LESC OOB)	Yes	Yes
Tap-to-pair: Samsung watch (LESC OOB)	Yes	Yes
Apple Wallet VAS pass reading New	No	Yes
Google Wallet Smart Tap v2.1 pass reading New	No	Yes
MIFARE tag reading (Mini / Classic / Ultralight / Plus / DESFire)	Yes	Yes
Host interface and platform
GEM HCI protocol over UART	Yes	Yes
USB CDC-ACM host transport	Yes	No
Radio test: CW + BLE DTM + ANT modulated, freq sweep	Yes	Partial
UICR license validation	Yes	Yes
Per-feature licensing	Yes	No
KMU runtime key provisioning over HCI New	No	Yes

Regulatory

New IDs for your documentation and labelling

GEM4NFC is a qualified Bluetooth end product. Anywhere your artwork, manuals or compliance filings quote the GEM3NFC identifiers needs to be updated:

• FCC IDXRH-NPE111
• IC ID119221-NPE111
• Bluetooth Declaration IDQ380777

• United States Certified
• Canada Certified
• European Union Certified
• China SRRC and other certifications In process

Apple MFi

A hardware design change

Because the module is different hardware, Apple treats the swap as a design change to your product. You will need to submit a new Product Plan, complete certification, and acquire a new PPID before shipping GEM4NFC-based equipment. The requirement is documented in the Apple MFi Portal, in the MFi Licensing Handbook under Updating an Existing Product Plan.

Start it early. Certification timing, not board bring-up, is usually what sets the schedule.

Apple MFi Autheication Chip Procurement

The owner of the approved PPID is responsible for procuring the Apple MFi authentication components required for GEM4NFC production and supplying those components for use in the manufacture of their GEM4NFC modules. This differs from the legacy GEM3NFC supply model and should be incorporated into your procurement and transition planning.

The part number is Apple MFI343S00177 and is available in the Avnet MFi portal

The migration path

Eight steps, in order

1. Submit your 2027 GEM3NFC forecast

   Due September 30, 2026. This is what reserves build capacity for anything you still need on the old part.

2. Place last-time-buy orders

   GEM3NFC Last Time Buy closes December 31, 2026. Final GEM3NFC shipments run through December 31, 2027.

3. Confirm your part number

   GEM4NFC is a drop-in for the GEM3NFC only. If you are on GEM3NFC-LP or one of its variants, talk to us before planning — there is no direct replacement yet.

4. Open a new Apple Product Plan

   Submit the plan, and collect a new PPID.

5. Audit your integration against the feature matrix

   Twenty-two of forty-seven features differ. Flag any use of NPE Serial, iBeacon, USB CDC-ACM, the P2 external tag antenna, or per-feature licensing.

6. Bring up GEM4NFC samples at 115200 baud

   Same connector, same HCI commands. There is no auto-baud on GEM4NFC, so fix the console to 115200 before you start.

7. Re-test every console feature

   Some minor behaviours changed even where the feature is still supported. Run a full regression pass.

8. Update labelling, manuals and filings

   New FCC ID XRH-NPE111, IC ID 119221-NPE111, Bluetooth Declaration ID Q380777. Note that China SRRC and other certifications are still in process.

9. Perform Apple GCA Testing

   Submit the test results, certify. Procure and consign MFi authentication components to NPE and schedule build.

See all fitness equipment modules.