iPhone 12 Pro Max Bluetooth Issues

Ok folks here’s what finally worked for me! Be sure your old phone is wiped! Whatever device you are trying to connect to your phone hold the power button for 15-20 seconds making sure your phone is searching for Bluetooth connection eventually it will show the device now pair with it. Did this to several devices now all are listed and no issues.

As for connection to my truck I had to go in and add new phone several times before they found one another code matched than I could hit pair and again now this phone automatically connects.

First iPhone I had to do this with other than that hiccup all else is awesome! Thanks Roy for leading me away from the phone and working more on the device to connect to!

I am having exactly the same problem, my iPhone 12 mini doesn't connect to any Bluetooth device including my Macbook pro, 2 days back I purchase AirPods or any other iPhone. I tried to reset network settings and even restoring the iPhone to factory reset. And I checked with iPhone 7, and the older version of iphone5/6 they work fine. I believe all the preorder version models have this problem as a friend mini having the same problem. I was using Bluetooth for the first time after purchasing but, surprisingly airdrop works fine. Moreover, the funniest thing that happened was when I chat to apple support team the guy said all iPhone 12xx product doesn't support Bluetooth connection between apple devices. He responded by asking me to share with him the link where apple declares that Apple supports Bluetooth connectivity on its own devices. When I tell him, in my home, I only have apple devices and for so many years all connected further, asked him to connect to some senior technical representative, and he disconnects and left the chat window. Nevertheless, I didn't get any complete resolution from the apple support team until now and my 90 days support/warranty is about to end. Well losing my interest in buying Apple gadgets gradually..

I remember exactly the same problem first encountered in iphone5s initial models and the issue last quite long (few months), and in fact of the models never get fixed, many people sold/throw the phone and apple lost quite a significant market after this issue, and, customers switched to Google phones for better wifi and Bluetooth connectivity.

It’s been months and I still have the same issue. iPhone has not done anything to fix it. I’ve been on the phone with them numerous times. At this point I just want my iPhone X back. Can they return your old phone???

Here is what i had to do. Reset my headset. Then in my car i had to add the new phone. Bam Bluetooth worked for everything. It was not the iphone nor the phone service. It was the devices i was trying to add. Reset Your devices not your phone.

(I factory reset my cars BT, deleting all pairing. I “forgot device” on my iPhone. I powered off iPhone. I turned on iPhone. I’ve previously checked on find my iPhone that I have no other iPhones connected to my account. I then connected my phone to my car. Both car and iPhone says they are connected.) All of the precious actions I’ve done more than 5 times in the last month each time after the latest iOS update.

if I try to call out, the car says unexpectedly disconnected from device. I have to use speaker. Sometimes randomly an hour or so later the car may just pick up the Bluetooth. It will last for the duration of that call. Then the next call... disconnected again.

Oh and I now have a ticket for driving using my phone (even though it was on speaker) with a serious fine and points on my license. In Jan 2nd I’m calling apple and demanding my iPhone X returned and a full refund. I also have a lot 100 in accessories (screen/case) that I can’t return! I’ve been with apple for YEARS, iMac, ipads, iPhones, you name it. DONE!!!

Hi KevinSWilliams,

I am facing the same issue like you and tested everything similar to as you did, in fact reseting the phone and being an average RF semiconductor engineer almost every Technical and software/app based test etc. etc. but it doesn’t fix this.

After reading many complaint and reviews on different websites it seems like Apple Technical team failed to find the cause of the problem from a decade. And, I can see how efficiently they hire talents and support staff after talking to there technical representatives.

Apple really need to learn to hire talented professionals what they deserve to be in there company and shouldn’t just push everything on their core 20% Engineers. In fact they never check profiles on there job portals and uselessly pay a lot to a good amount of less qualified hires.

Anyways with some possible testing I performed I think the probable cause could be

1) Bluetooth Receiver firmware. as iPhone fails to receive the signal -( can be easily fixed by iOS update if it’s just instruction protocol mismatch) or else could be transceiver design bug or IC Mask layout integrity issue.

And if it is a other hardware lacking :

2) defected Bluetooth ICs or Packaging of miniature RF antenna inside the BT-IC. Could be % Yield issue.

3) Packaging defect specific to this model design ( as this is almost identical to iPhone 5/5s design which had wifi / bluetooth problem too). The closely placed and routed Bluetooth IC and the Wifi chip and broadband signals on the motherboard causing interference. As I notice it disturb SIM signal reception when we enable BT during device search.

4) And lastly could be, the magnet of compass is near RF antenna, notice some tolerance of few percent in showing North. All those models which has Bluetooth issue also has variations and shows wrong North and gps location.

Companies like Qcom / TI / Brdcom could have put a dedicated team of paid engineers for doing this failure analysis even if it is a defect in a design by their own technical project team. Surprised ! What Apple was doing for the whole decade!!

I am having the same problem. Any relief yet? I am new to Apple, tried all I could think of with no solution. Bought several bluetooth devices, bought new router to try 5ghz band, Finally ran out of tricks. As with you, I tried other iphones, a Yamaha amplifier and a couple of Android phones. All devices worked perfectly on all but my shiny new zillion dollar 12 PM.

When I transfer from iPhone6s plus to Pro max got same issue with Sony WH-CH700H and another MDR-ZX770BT, just in Bluetooth device list their never show-up and i-watch can not pair to then either after upgrade the new iOS

I just received a brand new iphone12 (Dec 24, 2020), got it up-n-running, and sure enough, it doesn't recognize any bluetooth devices. Apple knowing they have a problem with bluetooth, but shipping the phones anyway demonstrates their lack of commitment to quality. All I can say is that I was going to purchase earbuds for the new phone, so that is "ON-HOLD" until somebody fixes this issue. In the meantime, I've spent a lot of money, and lost Bluetooth. You can't replace people like Jobs.

Reset everything including your headphones..

I had these issues first time I tried to pair to the same exact headphones, I completely wiped all Bluetooth devices from my new phone and reset all Bluetooth devices also and have not had one issue since

I can say that the issue is intermittent and as far as I can tell completely random. Things that didn't connect at one time will....eventually. My AirPod Pros work fine, the ONLY thing that doesn't connect is my Omron Blood Pressure machine...NOW. All of my MPow headphones connect with no issues, my TV, Receiver, Car all are connected...finally. Computers connected. I haven't found any one thing that is the cure, it's purely, as I said, random.

The same thing here- it keeps toggling on and off of my usual bluetooth electronics even though I used the same SIM card. It does not work again until the phone has been shut off and turned back on, so the means that if I want to listen to something via speaker, I have to turn it off and turn it on again after using my AirPods. This is really annoying.

I used all of the troubleshooting techniques for bluetooth (turning bluetooth on, off), my AirPods are new and shouldn't have any issues associated with them, and overall this is a poor user experience for a brand new and advanced phone.

I have had the same issues. I just turned off my old iPhone and shut it off completely. Then I shut off my iPhone 12 pro max and turned it back on. Opened Bluetooth, turned on my Bluetooth earbuds and turned Bluetooth on, on my new phone and it found all of my devices within seconds!

Had the same darn problem. On/off, not very good sound at either end when used with phone, very good sound with Bose NC headset. Apple sent replacement and shazzamm......perfection. It seems all BT functionality is just perfect. I actually bought 3 different BT items to make sure it wasn't a problem at my end and none worked right. Now they all perform flawlessly.