iPhone 13 Pro loses bluetooth connection to car 2-8 minutes after starting a phone call

I’ve had this issue since the iPhone 11. Toyota (I have a 2018 Prius), Apple, and even Verizon all point the finger at each other and no one has any answers. I hoped the iPhone 13 would help, but the issues have just gotten worse and I’ve pretty much given up at this point. I’ve resorted to using wired headphones in my car since that’s the only thing that works 100% of the time. This will be the last iPhone and Toyota I purchase, never again. I’m hoping Apple finally resolves this issue soon otherwise my family and my wife’s family (they all have the same issue) will all be leaving to Android in the near future.

The ios 15.1.1 does not help. I have the same issue - no previous problems with using my 10R to my 2017 Prius. Got the iphone 13 about 3 weeks ago, and it is nothing but trouble when making phone calls. Constantly dropping - sometimes completely losing the call, and sometimes just losing the bluetooth connection. I have not had a call last more than 2 minutes. I have no problem streaming music. Unfortunately, Apple Carplay is not supported on my car.

has anyone tried a different "phone" app?? I don't know if they make such a thing, but maybe it would work! I thought I had read that someone tried FaceTime and it worked, so maybe if it's just the phone app itself, then there's a work around.

I might try to see if I can find one and try it out.

I strongly believe it is a Bluetooth + “Phone” app bug.

My Bluetooth 10-15 second “scrambling” noises have only occurred while the “Phone” app is running in use. As the issue stops when I click on the “Speaker” icon in the Phone app during a call to switch from Bluetooth device to Speaker or putting phone up to my ear. I have not had issues with music or FaceTime, but I rarely use Bluetooth with FaceTime.

I checked in my my advisor today and he stated he still has not heard back from engineers from my logs that were submitted 3 weeks ago. Frustrating.

My problem is that the not only does the bluetooth disconnect, but when you try to switch it back to the phone speaker, it flips back to bluetooth and you get cut off (although the phone call is still happening). This happens with both an iphone 12 and 13. So, basically if the phone is paired with the car, it is unusable in a way that is almost designed to wreck your car if you try to answer a call. I thought it might be the car, as it's an older Cadillac, but my iphone 7s worked fine. I also believe that it's a later software push out that caused it, because I'm pretty sure they were both working and then just stopped (but I'm not 100% on that).

I have a 2010 Volvo and recently received and iPhone 13. It connects to the car via Bluetooth, but I cannot use the hands free feature for my calls. None of my previous iPhones had this problem. I have done everything suggested by Apple and users on another discussion thread, and also been to a Volvo mechanic, all to no avail.

In response to your suggestion to answer a call on the phone then tap Audio and chose Bluetooth, it goes to that setting for a second then switches back to the iPhone setting. My calls simply will not transfer to the car with the exception of a call I am already on as I get into the car then start the car. That call connects to the car’s microphone and speakers but I cannot make or receive a second call that way. I guess I can pull over, kill the engine, make a phone call from the car then start the car, but that is ridiculous and won’t solve not receiving calls.

Whilst everyone’s suggestions are well thought out and may even work for someone, I’ve only seen 1 or 2 responses that a suggested action actually fixed the issue. This is a problem APPLE needs to solve so I wish they’d get on it. I’ve talked to Apple Support 3 times and each person denies ever hearing this issue.

And why doesn’t Apple respond with a fix on these threads?

Hi mahcolo,

Thanks for participating in Apple Support Communities.

We edited your post "iPhone 13 keeps disconnecting from car bluetooth" because it contained a poll or a petition. We understand wanting to share experiences, but these forums are meant for technical questions that can be answered by the community.

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Okay…cautiously optimistic…I upgraded to 15.3 and have made 4 calls from my car, plus had a friend call in. Everything seems to be working so far. I will update again in a few days. 

I talked to 4 Apple support people (at different times) plus a support manager and no one admitted they’d heard this issue. Glad it is fixed and hope this doesn’t happen again!

Volvo XC60 and iPhone 13 Pro Max on iOS 15.3 - today went for longer drive and the problem still occurs.

My phone is connected to the car, I got an incoming call which I accepted with no issues. We spoke about 2 minutes and after that the bluetooth disconnected and call went to iPhone speaker.

This is really dangerous during the drive and I'm really ****** off at Apple for such bad experience!!! This is definately my last iPhone I purchased!

I have this problem with my iPhone 13 pro max when paired to my 2015 Toyota Camry XSE. The call will disconnect from the vehicle, then reconnect every few minutes. Sometimes the call flat out drops. Switching to handset mode does not help. This happens every time without fail so my phone is unusable in the car, it's so frustrating!

I am updating my iPhone 13 Pro Max from 15.2.1 to 15.3.1 as we speak and will report back. Hopefully updating to 15.3.1 fixes the issue!

Since I got the IPhone 12 Pro Max my car does the same thing. It’s a Cadillac Escalade. Car says it can’t make calls with Bluetooth device. Also I have another Bluetooth item in my home that it won’t connect with. Sad thing is, some things it will connect with but not my car and another item in my house. SO FRUSTRATING. I will probably take the phone back because I can’t take my car back. I just HAVE to have Bluetooth in my car for driving. I have tried everything I have seen online. Repairing, powering off, system updates, network resets. I think this phone just has some new Bluetooth hardware that doesn’t play well with others. Adios iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Same issue. IPhone 13 Pro Max with iOS 15.3.1 drops Bluetooth connection to 2013 Audi A4. I disconnected my Apple Watch Series 5 and was able to make 2 short calls before the connection died. At this point there are no active Bluetooth connections other than the car. So the issue is still not fixed for me.

The latest update improved but did not fix the issue. Instead of getting cut off within a minute or two, now I can talk on Bluetooth in my 2016 Toyota Tundra for about 10 minutes before it cuts off - but it always cuts off after about 10 minutes.

Steps I have taken:

I have the latest IOS 15.3.1

I removed my iPhone from my Tundra and added it back as a new device

The only way to get my phone on Bluetooth again is to turn off my engine and restart it.

That’s exactly what happens to me now. IOS 15.3.1 helped, but the phone still disconnects randomly and has to be reconnected manually. Am in sales & on a board so used to use it often while driving. Very distracting and dangerous.

Hi. The car was never my main issue. It was more a problem with the sound randomly becoming scrambled or garbled for 30-30 seconds while on a call no matter which Bluetooth device I was using, including car. I ended up buying a new watch and it’s ok now except it does disconnect from the car sometimes and switch to my airpod or to the phone if I don’t have an airpod in. I had a Series 2 watch. My beef was that I was not told the watch would not be compatible with the 13 pro. Apple says they are very transparent with that but I was never made aware of it. It took 3 months of phone calls, replacing the phone, resetting the phone multiple times during which I lost a lot of contacts and data until I finally figured it out myself after seeing someone comment they figured it out. Apple refused to even give me a discount on a new watch after years of faithfulness to Apple. Wasn’t planning on buying a new watch right now. Not happy

having same issues on with my new iPhone 13 Pro Max and holding calls in my Audi a4 Allroad (2014). Phone connects with the car, can make & take calls, but as soon as a WhatsApp message, SMS, e-mail is delivered the call is dropped from the bluetooth, but still functional on the phone, and then suddenly re-connects to the bluetooth 20-30seconds later. very frustrating.

IOS is 15.4.