Apple CarPlay problem with 2019 Acura RDX and iPhone X

That doesn't seem to be the defect. It looks like it is a configuration issue. Go to Settings in your car, choose connections - Apple CarPlay, and make sure your phone is Enable.

I have the same issue. 2019 RDX and iPhone X iOS 12.1.4 with Apple car play that disconnects for no apparent reason. It does this in intervals and I noticed that the Acura link app pupup asking if “I’m safe” to use the app was coming up. Tried uninstalling the Acura Link app and it got better but still the same issie. This was happening before but after upgrading to 12.1.4 it got worse. Unable to use Apple car play because of this...Acura or Apple please fix this!

So I tried connecting my wife’s iPhone 8 to my 2019 Acura RDX’s CarPlay. It worked flawlessly! So I have no doubt the connection problems are on the iPhone X end. The problem is that Apple does not seem to understand or acknowledge this. I don’t have a clue where we go from here!

So I just picked up my RDX and had a long conversation with the Service Director. Here's my thoughts.

Acura has not "officially" acknowledged the problem, but it's obviously a problem. They have certainly been make aware of the issue. They are asking Service Departments to inform them of issues, so they can get a better handle on it. At this point, they have NO CLUE what's going on. Quite honestly, from reading all the posts and tweets, I think there's a lot of "human error" on the part of some operators. That said, the system obviously needs some serious modifications and updates.

There's one way and really only one way, to motivate an automobile manufacturer ... go to the NHTSA. This is obviously a safety issue, as I end up fumbling with my phone, every time the system fails. Physically using the phone is illegal while driving, in many states. I'm going to make a report, today. Here's some advice on reporting: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/how-to-write-a-car-safety-complaint-to-nhtsa/

I applaud all those that tried the workaround from the YouTube video to reboot system. I guarantee this is only a temporary fix (yes the problems will return in due time) as the Service department confirmed the CarPlay problems are widespread and another major software fix is coming out later this year. Not sure how much more patience I have with Acura. One more symptom I'd like to report that I haven't yet seen on this forum is that many times when connecting iPhone and start music it will only play on the top mounted dash speaker right behind the display while left side of screen is either frozen or blanked out. The only way to rectify is to unplug the phone, turn off engine (after you safely pulled off the road ouf course!), wait several seconds then restart engine and reconnect after about 20 seconds. Talk about a surprise but yes, music coming only from that top dash center speaker isn't exactly ELS 3D quality sound.

I've downloaded iOS 13 Beta and installed it on my phone.

The integration with the RDX Infotainment Center, seems to be improved. I've only used it for a few hours, but I've yet to have a dropped call. Apparently Apple has streamlined the software in iOS 13 and perhaps there's less "overload" on the Infotainment Center.

For whatever reason, it seems to be working better for me, so far.

BTW, iOS 13 offers some pretty neat upgrades for the iPhone.

So, a new update, o 8/8/19 I took the car for the 10K oil change and I mentioned the cut off problem. Technician said every customer that used iPhone complained already once or twice. He offer to check. I asked him how would he test, and he said they connect an Android phone on it and wait for problem, if no problem, they assume port is working. No surprise, no problem. I also bought a USB test (to check Volts and Current), and I noticed no change on any of it when the cut off happens, so I suppose no hardware issue. After leaving dealer, I called Acura, and I was told to delete all AppleCar Play data from my phone (Setting - general - CarPlay) and delete all cars I had. After that, I was told to go to the car settings, and delete all phones I have under AppleCar Play, I did it, and for 3 hours, no problem. After that, it came back, as bad as before.

It seems clear that it is a software problem. It is also clear that Acura isn't working as hard to fix it.

Does anyone have any solution? Maybe doing all the above and reseting the system?

Thanks!

As I've said numerous times, it's sometimes hard to distinguish between what's related to Acura's system and what's part of the Apple System.

Apple updated the Beta 13 Software, 2 days ago. The problem with the USB port, seems to be gone. I have not had a disconnect since the Update. Today, I "jiggled" the connection to the USB and still didn't get a disconnect.

I'm back to being reasonably satisfied with the recent Acura update.

I have taken about 16 short trips in the car over the past 2 days. 9 of those trips CarPlay worked ok, but 7 times I got a CapPlay disconnect within the first couple of minutes of driving the car. One of the trips it disconnected multiple times. On a couple of those trips I was not actually doing anything in CarPlay, I just had connected my phone but was listening to an FM station and the CarPlay icon went grey as it disconnected.

This is was with a new lightening to USB cable and I made sure cable was tightly connected to the USB port every time. Also at no point was I moving the cable when it got disconnected. So I have to conclude that Acura Infotainment update D.1.1.4. still has not fixed the CarPlay disconnect issue at least as far as iOS 12.4.1 is concerned.

When CarPlay works, I like it, but too many disconnects is a big issue for me.

To me, it behaves like the Infotainment system somehow get overloaded and disconnects the CarPlay session. When the disconnects happens it tends to be in the first 5 minutes after car is started and if you get past that point you are generally good for the rest of the ride.

My Experience with this problem over a couple of months is sometimes it works fine for a couple of days in a row, but then over the next few days it will disconnect multiple times. So it’s a strange issue and it is hard to know what triggers the disconnect.

On Thursday when I called Acura saying that D.1.1.4 did not fix the issue the person I spoke to said there has been some “heated meetings” where Acura mid level managers have been trying to get Acura upper level managers to devote more resources to this issue but they Acura upper management has still not put enough focus on the issue. They have been getting a lot of upset owners calling them about this so I encourage anyone that has the issue to keep calling them to put more pressure on them to fix it.

I told the Acura client relations person that this is a ruining the Acura reputation of reliability and he agreed with me. So keep calling them about it. The more phone calls of angry owners they get the more pressure it put on them.

It is really frustrating to spend $50,000 on a car and have these kind of issues.

I will try iOS 13 when it comes out to see what difference it makes.

Thank you for the suggestions, but this is not a user problem. There are hundreds of complaints on different fora on the net. I’ve done each of these things a dozen times, on earlier occasions. Bought new replacement Apple brand cables, bought iPhone XS to replace IPhone X, hard reset on iPhones and infotainment system (love that YouTube “how to”!) tried all cabling and phones on rental cars, with no issues. Wife’s earlier model iphone works fine with CarPlay on this Acura. This is some kind of issue with the interplay between later model iPhones and the Acura. It is on Acura to fix, or to get Apple to fix.

Did some research on other luxury cars and Apple Car Play and found that BMWs and Audis are having similar problems. As others have noted, I never have a problem with ACP in a rental - of course, rarely do I get a luxury rental car. The software for Apple Car Play does not work seamlessly with complex infotainment systems.

I, too, use Bluetooth for now. Very frustrating as having ACP was one of my “must haves” when I chose this car.

No need to be rude! First of all Acura Client Relations just told me there is a known issue (as I said above). There are NO fixes for this - even your list of generic troubleshooting steps. Second, there are LOTS of discussions on the internet where people are talking about the SAME issue. Here are a few:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Acura/comments/aaxlum/significant_2019_rdx_carplay_problems/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Acura/comments/9qt7lm/2019_rdx_infotainment_frozen/

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-455/infotainment-system-issues-carplay-972414/

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-problems-fixes-458/2019-infotainment-system-frozen-970892/

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Acura/RDX/2019/electrical/electrical_system.shtml

Lastly, there are even a couple of class-action lawsuits in the works for folks that are not happy waiting for Acura to take their time fixing this issue.

https://chimicles.com/2019-acura-rdx-infotainment-system-class-action-investigation/

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/auto-news/890181-consumers-report-problems-with-acura-rdx-infotainment-system/

I ran CarPlay all day today, from 8 am to 6 pm.

I had a couple of minor glitches, not all related to the Infotainment Center.

I got a "skip" in my music at one point, when my phone received a text. I don't think that was an Acura issue.

I was unable to get the trackpad to "end" a phone call. I made another 20 phone calls today, without any problems.

I had 2 "disconnects". Both times, when I looked at my iPhone, it wasn't showing that the phone was being "charged". I suspected it was a phone cord issue. The first time, I'm unplugged it and then re-plugged it in ... fixed. The 2nd time, I cleaned the contacts and had no further problem. I'm using a fairly new, official Apple Cord and still having intermittent plug issues. I'm convinced it's unrelated to Acura, because the iPhone "charging" indicator, blinks.

Again, I don't like the implementation of the "Messages". They seem to work find, I just don't like the way it works.

Other than the above, CarPlay worked flawlessly.

Read the posts, as I have been having the CarPlay discconect issue that has been plaguing MANY 2019 RDX owners.

I've updated to iOS13 and am running the latest updated infortainment software. Phone is XSMax.

The system disconnected my phone within the first minute the 2nd time I started my car up today.

Acura's infotainment system remains buggy as it pertains to maintaining a stable connection to an iPhone for use with CarPlay.

You can stick your head in the sand all you want but the bugs are still there. Super frustrating. Hopefully Acura releases another update by years end to solve this problem.

A couple of things.

The update to iOS system, is likely to effect your preferences. I was disappointed in the way the infotainment center handled "messages", but found that my Preferences had been reset by either my iOS update or my Acura updated. I changed my preferences back to where they should be, but I haven't yet had many experiences with messages, to see if the implementation is back to the way it was, pre-updates.

As for the "disconnect" issue that was prevalent prior to my first update to iOS Beta 13, it seems to have returned to some degree, but it's not the same.

Prior to iOS Beta 13 & the Acura update, I would get random disconnects and was convinced it had to do with the "wire", connecting the phone. During one window of time (about a week), I as frequently getting disconnects and the connecting wire seem very "sensitive".

That sensitivity seems to have returned to some extent, although not as bad. This is just a guess out of left field. I think the system is using a "connector" that was being used before or wasn't being stressed. I say this, because every time I have a problem, I can "cure" it, but cleaning the contacts on the Lightening side of the cord. This could very well be my imagination, but it does seem to be more sensitive.

I again used the Infotainment Center on CarPlay all day today. Probably made/received 15 phone calls ... I only had ONE issue. I got a call when I went into a convenience store (my phone was in the car). I answered the call on my Apple Watch. When I got back in the car, I was still talking on my watch and the call was NOT showing on my phone, nor did CarPlay pick it up. I'm sure this was an iOS problem, as my phone would not acknowledge the call.