Apple CarPlay problem with 2019 Acura RDX and iPhone X

After 3 days with the update, here's my experience.

No direct problems with Apple CarPlay. I have had 2 or 3 momentary disconnects, but I think it was due to my USB Wire being loose or me jiggling it around. No dropped phone calls. No issues with switching to different functions.

Quite honestly, if I keeps working like it has, I think Acura's current implementation of the new ApplePlay, is elegant.

Of course, I'm also running Beta 13, so I have the updated version of ApplePlay. I was wrong about the "right side screen", it will show Album Art. That said, I still think it's redundant, now that the new ApplePlay implements essentially the same "double screen".

I'm not sure why anyone else is having a problem with the upgrade. I didn't delete my existing profiles or phones ... just uploaded the upgrade. Quite honestly, I suspect there's a good deal of User Error with the system.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm thrilled to death so far.

The CarPlay disconnect problem came back again for me on the past 2 days.

I updated to D.1.1.4 last Wednesday, worked ok until yesterday. Since then CarPlay has disconnected repeatedly (about 15 times in past 2 days).

Back to using Bluetooth

I will try iOS 13 when it comes out.

Sad news for those of us hoping iOS 13 would fix this problem. It doesn’t. The CarPlay connection fail we’re all complaining about still occurs in the RDX 2019 when I use my iPhone XS with the public beta of iOS 13. iOS 12 also dropped the connection with my previous phone, an iPhone X. This does not happen with my wife’s phone, an iPhone CE running iOS 12, nor did it happen when I used my phones on iOS 12 and my Apple cables in a rental car. Fortunately, the car is leased, and I don’t plan to lease another Acura when this lease is up. I don’t know about you, but this is supposed to be Honda’s premium auto, and you would expect that they would be able to get it right, and that if the problem is Apple’s then Honda would stay on Apple’s case until this got fixed. There are hundreds of complaints and no solutions.

You can think what you wish, but the latest Acura update, solved the vast majority of the issues ... not related to the iPhone itself.

I agree it should work with an iPhone X, the same as it works with an iPhone 8, but I can't speak to the X, as I don't like it and don't use it.

I can tell you, if you use an iPhone 8 and clear everything out of the system, the infotainment system will work reasonably well, with few, if any, interruptions.

As I've said numerous times in this thread, there are lot of "user error issues", to go along with everything else. I'm not going out of my way to back Acura on this, I'm part of the Class Action Suit ... but this latest update, is a major improvement and makes the system usable, far in excess of what was even possible, prior to Beta 13 and Apple's upgraded CarPlay.

I have an iPhone 7 that worked flawlessly with CarPlay in my 2019 Acura RDX, which I purchased in April 2019. Flawlessly, that is until two things happened. First, a few weeks ago Acura installed a software update, and then Apple updated a software on my phone to iOS 12.4.1. If memory serves I had no issues after the Acura software update but problems began after the phone software update. Navigation works. Calling seems to work, but I don't call all that often. Playing iTunes is a problem as it cuts in and out, and a message that says CarPlay is not available appears on the infotainment screen. I wait a bit and the music starts again. This is not a chord issue. This is an issue with either Acura, Apple, or both software. This needs to get fixed. BTW, an Acura tech told me to turn of Bluetooth as that might help - it didn't.

Again, read the posts.

I couldn't find a single post in any of those threads, dated after Acura updated the infotainment software last month.

There is a Class Action that's already been filed against Acura, for the infotainment software. It's been filed by Hagens Berman out of Chicago. I'm part of the lawsuit.

There still some minor glitches in the system ... no more aggravating than the glitches in Apple's software or anyone else's.

For all intents and purposes, the latest Acura update, solved the vast majority of issues and the system works fine. If you're still having major problems with your infotainment center, it's most likely user error or some conflicting software that's loaded on your phone.

Either that, or Acura produced some "special software" just for me, that works just fine.

It may work to turn the cable, it may work as a coincidence, even if you don't turn the cable, just insert it again, it may work. Still, we have a car with a defective system, you may have been lucky, like I was lucky for the first many months that I never had a problem.

Brian, Drove the car a couple more times and it the disconnect happened again, turning the cable did not fix it, same behavior as before. Sounds like it works for your iPhone 8, but not working for my iPhone XS. In my case it is not the cable, I am pretty convinced it is a bug in the Acura Infotainment system.

i have the 2019 RDX. Apple CarPlay caused my Navi screen to not turn off. It’s so disruptive, I had to bring it in to Acura. They had to reset my battery. Is it working yet? They know about this issue. This happened 2twice in a week.

There is no fix available from Acura yet. Acura has sent a memo to all of the dealerships about this issue letting them know that they are aware of the issue and that there is no known fix. As you can see from this forum, the issue has many different effects. As a software engineer myself, I can see how this can be a very challenging issue to fix, but I don’t understand how it can take over a year. Obviously there is something bigger going on that we are not privy to.

Looking at the listed fixes for version D.1.2.1, it sounds like it addresses a LOT of the issues we’re having. Looking forward to doing the update tonight!

https://owners.acura.com/Documentum/ota/2019_RDX.pdf

Apple Car Play randomly showing itself to be "unavailable" when trying to connect, or randomly disconnecting itself while in use, are the only problems I've had, and neither one is specifically mentioned in this update, unless you count these two items:

• Resolves the potential for CarPlay connection error message, when reconnecting an Apple CarPlay® device during ignition ON.
• Resolves the potential for the Siri Eyes Free session to end prior to the user ending the session.

One could argue that the "connection error message" referred to above includes the "unavailable" message, but that seems a stretch, because it is limited to reconnects during ignition On (a limitation I don't think I fully understand). Also, it would seem that the reference to the "Siri Eyes Free" session refers only to the act of speaking to Siri while using CarPlay, not CarPlay in general.

So, in my case, the two issues do not appear to be resolved. And in fact, after installing the update, I had a random disconnect while driving. So I'm underwhelmed.

WHAT ACURA TOLD ME (2019 RDX, with intermittent loss of CarPlay):

I registered a complaint with Acura by email and was assigned a case number, a few days before the update came out. Today I got a call from a representative asking me if the problem has been resolved. I said it occurred once since the system update, but the car hasn't been used much in the last two days so I don't consider it resolved yet. She said the update was supposed to take care of CarPlay randomly cutting out, and that I should monitor it for a while longer and, if necessary, delete all connections and reinitialize. If that does not work, she said to call her back on her direct line. Bottom line:

They know they have a problem and it seems that they're trying to resolve it and they at least are going through the motions of reaching out to customers who lodge complaints. We'll see.

Yesterday I tried deleting both CarPlay and Bluetooth profiles, then I did the YouTube reboot procedure twice in a row. I am using an Apple cable. I drove the RDX three times this morning and CarPlay disconnected twice. When that happens, unplugging the Apple cable does not even get CarPlay to connect again. Have to tun car off and on. So this recent update does not fix the CarPlay disconnect problem for me. Same exact behavior as before with the previous version of the update.

I called Acura client relations two days ago. And they are under the Impression that this update was supposed to fix the CarPlay disconnect problem. They said anyone that is having the problem should call them to let them know so they can pass along to the engineering group. Like a lot of you. I wonder if they will ever be able to fix this problem.

The Acura client relations person that I talk to thought that the hardware might be different for the 2020 RDX which is why they may not be seeing the problem.

I did notice that launching SiriusXM channel the first time after car is started seems to be a lot faster is the one good thing I have seen from this update.

I will be calling Acura client relations on Monday to report back that all the resets I tried did not work.

Hi All,

On Monday, I drove the Acura and tried using Apple CarPlay. On my way to a restaurant, using my phone, it worked perfect. I did the Update while eating. On the way back, perfect again. Next day wife took the car, and stated same problems, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, all the time disconnecting. Friday We took the car, using her phone again, and it disconnected twice. I did a movie showing the problem (https://youtu.be/xBhfsbVK_**).

On the way back from the restaurant, I used my phone again, and again, no problem. For a second I was blaming her phone, until today, when I took the car in the morning, and again, same problem.

When it works, it is just random, at least for me, no connections with deleting profiles or reseting the infotainment. I tried all of that, many times, with different cables (even one that Brian recommended) with no luck.

Wednesday I am going to the dealer again, as they told me they are not aware of any issues with this car (Santa Barbara Auto Group). I will take the car there for 3 times and tried a lemon lawyer, I am already tired and I believe they won't be able to fix it.

Please, check the video, and let me know if this is how the problem happens with you.

You can use the video to show to dealer.