1.16 clients got support yesterday, today 1.16.1 clients get support. Most updates have different updates to their protocol - the only exception is 1.8 and below. Past 1.8, every patch update has a different network protocol, and a prime example of this is how 1.12 clients cannot connect to 1.12.2 servers, unless support is added for it, whereas pretty much any 1.8 update can connect to a 1.8 server (eg, update 1.8.6 can connect to a 1.8 server).