iPhone 11 on iOS 13 having Bluetooth connectivity issues

I received an email from Apple Engineering regarding 13.2.2. I didn’t see anything in the release notes, but there must be something in it to address the ongoing BT issues. Anyway, I installed 13.2.2 last night. I made two long calls this morning and had no issues. I don’t want to get too excited but maybe they found a solution.

Two calls with no issues with Sony Bluetooth headset so far. What I did was that I followed these reset instructions on my iPhone 11: press volume down then up and then keep power button pressed until phone reboots. Then pair the devices. After this there has been no issues. At least today with the two calls I made. Let’s see if this continues to work or not...

So I’ve just discovered that if I initiate the call from my actual phone on speaker phone, it will ring once and then connect to my vehicle’s Bluetooth without any distortion or static; I’ve tried this a few times and it’s worked for me each time. The person I’ve called has said the call sounds great with no static in their end either. This only works if I make the call from my phone. If I accept a call from my vehicle the distortion and static is still present. Not a great solution, but at least makes placing calls an option for now.

I had this issue as well when I upgraded my iPhone 7 to iOS 13. I thought my iPhone 7 was dying. Then I got an iPhone 11, also with iOS 13. Same problem. I have four Motorola bluetooth earpieces for making phone calls, two slightly different models from each other. ALL of them have the same issue. It connects, then maybe 10 seconds later if I don't hurry up and make a phone call, iOS gets impatient and disconnects from the device. I go into Bluetooth settings and I can literally see the iPhone constantly disconnecting and reconnecting. This is definitely an iOS 13 issue.

There is a workaround that can help. If the device stays active, its always ready for other use and wont disconnect. You can create a silence audio file (one about 60 seconds long and with zero volume). Then if you use iTunes/Apple to play this and loop, the device will not disconnect. It burns battery, but stays active. Then any other use, like Uber or Lyft, cuts through and works, and the silence file goes back to keeping it active.

My replacement 11 arrives Monday and we'll see how that goes. My guess is that it will have the same problem.

Having talked to a number of different Apple folks over this, its clear that they do care...and want to see it fixed. It didn't take much to show them my existing 11 was defective in some form. They agreed to send me a second phone quickly which is now in route. It wont take long on Monday, when is shows as arriving, to determine whether it has the same issue as the first. If it does, that opens a much larger can of worms.

....and it is not just vehicles. The iPhone 11 has playback problems with Apple Earpods, Bose QC35 II Headphones, UA Boom speakers etc etc. Sound skipping and stuttering. It is not all iPhones 11s. I have a 11 Pro Max that works just fine with all the same devices that three separate 11s had issues. Issues that we regenerated with Apple support with loggings on. The logs were collected by "senior support" (what ever that means)

I have been a promotor of Apple products and services for more than 10 years, however, this issue has significantly degraded this. I will state that the apple support staff that have attempted to support my issue have been persistent in attempting to resolve my bluetooth issue, I cannot help feel that it is well beyond their expertise. On my iPhone 11 the bluetooth call quality (buzzing noise and dropping out) seems to have been rectified by changing the mobile data options/voice & data to 4G, VoLTE to off. The "hey Siri" function remains unuseable with Siri spinning around and not responding to requests such as read my last sms or telephone whoever's mobile. If I hold down the side bar (Siri manual shortcut) the function works as it did with the iPhone 8 through the car speakers etc. I am expecting a follow up call from Apple on Tuesday.

My replacement iPhone 11 arrived this morning. It has taken multiple hours to get it set up and restored. So far, Bluetooth is working correctly. I set up the same Plantronics headset and it hasn't dropped connectivity at all so far. Its had about an hours of use so far.

My experience this week or so has been as follows:

iPhone X (my original phone before 11 purchase). Rock solid on Bluetooth for all versions of iOS incuding both 13.2.3 and 13.3...as well multiple earlier versions over 2+ years of use.

iPhone 11 (purchased unit that arrived last week). Bluetooth completely unreliable with disconnects occurring between 30 seconds and a few minutes after a connect. This was the case for both iOS 13.2.3 and 13.3.

iPhone 11 replacement unit that arrived this morning. Rock solid so far on a few hours use. iOS 13.3 from the start.

Will post more info as the week progresses...

First few hours of use with the replacement iPhone 11. First 2 hours were solid. Then began getting a few drop outs. I cycled through 3 different Plantronics headsets of varying vintage. Each had a dropout or two. This 11 is clearly better than the first, but not there yet.

I noticed that when dropouts started, the 11 was warm to the touch. I normally have it in a car cradle that has wireless charging built in. I disconnected the wireless charging part, removed the phone from its case and no more dropouts for the next 45 min or so, at which point I took a break.

Still seems likely to me that the 11 Bluetooth chip (the U1) may have issues. This is a new Apple component that replaced previous third party chips used in iPHone X and earlier.

More to follow as the week progresses.

Lets put it this way to simplify this:

You have devices A B C D trying to connect to devices 1 2 3 4 and 5

Device A has issues with 1 2 3 4 and 5 (poor connection, drop outs, stuttering etc.)

Device B has no issues with 1 2 3 4 and 5

Device C has no issues with 1 2 3 4 and 5

Device D has no issues with 1 2 3 4 and 5

Which device you say is the most likely to have an issue? I am saying A and you are saying 1 2 3 4 and 5.

I this case A is the iPhone 11 and 1 2 3 4 and 5 are Apple EarPods, Bose Headsets, Bluetooth speakers, Apple Laptops and different car manufacture head units. This is what I have personally tested with three different iPhone 11 phones.

There is probably some issues on all the devices out there, but I am pretty sure that iPhone 11 has the major issue here as it is the only device in the picture that seems to have issues connecting to everything. The weird part is that it is not every iPhone 11, so it might be some U1 chip tolerance deviances that causes to HW to malfunction. Root cause is still a mystery, even to Apple engineering according to the senior support guy I have talked with.

While this is not the best solution, it is somewhat better than nothing. I turned off my wifi before getting into my car and it now works. I can use my cell hands free and it no longer disconnects every 30 seconds.

At the beginning of this thread i keep reading about replacing phones and car headsets. I really don't want to go through all that and still have the same problem.

again not a solution, just more “tolerable” way to where i can now use my phone.

I've had the same issue but mostly when I have my Apple Watch on...I had the best Apple Tech and she said to unpair the iWatch then repair and it worked. I hope it lasts...I can now connect my iPhone 11 via Bluetooth to my car...

(Reporting back with results as requested).

This update appears to have also worked for me (iPhone 11 Pro Max).

I followed the exact steps utilized in previous attempts (forget device on iPhone, reset network settings, turn phone off, approach and enter vehicle, delete phone from vehicle, turn phone on, re-pair vehicle/iPhone).

A few things to note:

The “pairing” phase occurred much faster for me this time (it would previously require multiple attempts before MB would even recognize this iPhone). The recognition occurred on the first attempt...and quickly.

Secondly, I did not sync contacts (per previous recommendations).

Thirdly, I wanted to attempt this without adjusting any U1 chip settings. So left as is.

Tested for approximately 15 minutes and not.one.drop.

Its a Christmas miracle ... albeit a bit late ;-)

I had the same issues as all here and I’m an old Apple user who is still learning the obvious. We still have our old phones in the house. After unpairing the BT devices from our old phones, they showed up on our new 11 pros. Hope this helps at least one person.