iOS 15.5 update causing bluetooth issues...

Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. You will have to re-enter passwords for trusted sites.

Personally, prior to trying that I would do a forced restart of the phone then turn bluetooth off then back on, forget all previous pairings with the devices and, most importantly, turn off bluetooth temporarily on all other devices that you have previously used with them. Then try to pair and connect again.

I just upgraded to the iPhone 13 Pro as well with ios 15.5. I could not connect to my 2018 BMW M5 despite many attempts. The new phone connected to all my other bluetooth devices without issue. The issue seems to be the new ios rather than iPhone 13, my wife's phone will no longer connect to the care either after updating to 15.5. The car could see the new phone, and recognized the attempt to connect using bluetooth setup; i.e., it gave me a pairing number to confirm, etc. Each time I tried this method it failed.

I can however connect via CarPlay. Using that method the phone syncs as it should and it looks as though audio and phone work - for now. I had previously disabled carplay in the BMW infotainment center because it didn't work well with previous ios verisons. Once I reenabled CarPlay and tried to connect CarPlay, it worked first try. The interface is now Carplay rather than the standard BMW screens, however it seems to work fine.

Hope this helps.

Update to the latest iOS version, iOS 15.6

The 15.6 update solved my problem, thank you 🙏🏼

Another follow up: I spoke too soon. Everything went FUBAR this afternoon. When connected via wired CarPlay, the steering wheel controls that move through my favorite channels stopped working. Then everything went really screwy. Rebooting the car’s infotainment system didn’t help. I tried a slew of things, switched cables, Forget This Car in the iPhone’s CarPlay settings, turned BT off; nothing was working. Rebooted the iPhone and when connected via wired CarPlay, it caused the iPhone to reboot twice. Turned off CarPlay from the car, Forget This Car from the iPhone, rebooted, changed USB ports on the car. Something finally worked, because it just as mysteriously began working again. Tested BT without a cable/no CarPlay, and it seems to be back to “normal”. Totally weird.

One thing I’ll suggest and try to remember in future is to reboot the iPhone first, before attempting any other fixes. And to turn features off and then reboot, in both the iPhone and the car. In particular, I did Forget This Car from the phone’s CarPlay settings before rebooting. When I subsequently connected the phone to wired CarPlay, it immediately recognized the car and a prompt came up on the phone asking to allow it to work with CarPlay while locked. After that, things corrected themselves.

Tap on the blue link that just says Reset and you will get the option to reset network settings.

Hello and welcome to the Apple Support Community Forum!

I have 2 ideas that might help,

A: Try to restart your iPhone (Restart your iPhone - Apple Support)

B: If the issue persists I would contact apple support (Official Apple Support)

The following articles I have posted below may also help;

Pair a third-party Bluetooth accessory with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (CA)

If you can't connect a Bluetooth accessory to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

I hope this helps!

OrlandoTommy Said:

"iOS 15.5 update causing bluetooth issues...I''ve never had a single problem with iPhone 13 Pro Max and bluetooth, i did the 15.5 update on my phone last night and now bluetooth is acting all kinds of messed up.[...]"

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Report this to Apple:

Do your part: Let Apple know what is going on here. Provide them with feedback on this. They may not get back to you directly, but the more feedback they received on this, the more they will know what is going on, and what needs to be fixed in updates to come.

1. Go Here: Feedback - iPhone - Apple
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: that this occurred after installing this update. Include the URL of this post.
4. Proceed from there aw necessary

I was able to resolve this issue on a Tesla. Put the Tesla software into discover device mode, then in the iPhone rapidly tuen Bluetooth off then back on. The Tesla software should detect the phone instantly.

Sorry to report that I discovered today that iOS 15.5 has broken Bluetooth functionality in my ‘17 Chevy Bolt EV. I’m back to the problems that existed under 15.3.x and were resolved by 15.4.x.

Of course, I deleted the car from the phone, deleted the phone from the car, rebooted the phone and the car’s audio system, then re-paired, and still no-go. If I do the audio-output toggle from the phone after initiating a call from the steering wheel controls — switch to the iPhone’s speaker, then back to the car’s system — it will work, but that’s neither practical nor safe while driving.

I upgraded to 15.5 last week after reading up on the enhanced security features and the general consensus that it was a smart move to upgrade to it.

Now, I’m on the lookout for 15.5.1…

iPhone 11

No, it would have had to be connected with your iPhone. But I’m not referring to entries on your iPhone (although you should remove then) I am referring to previous connections on the head unit in your car.

Updated to a new phone through work (iPhone 13) and has iOS 15.5, won’t recognise any Bluetooth devices.

The devices all connect to my old iPhone (11) even though that also has iOS 15.5 on it…..at least, they did until I tried forgetting all devices on the iphone11 as one of the suggested solutions to getting the iPhone 13 Bluetooth working.

Now neither phone will recognise any new Bluetooth devices and I can’t listen to music on anything, can’t connect to my car, nil. Apple support suggested it was my work settings on my new phone, ignoring the fact that the old phone is having the same issue now.

If they won’t even recognise this is an issue, how long will it be until there’s a fix? Not holding my breath. I currently have zero way to listen to music though & rely on wearing headphones with music to overcome sensory issues with autism so, that’s fun.

And yes, I’ve tried resetting network settings, restarting phone, restarting Bluetooth, restarting every device. None of it works.

There is an other bluetooth issue since ios 15.5. When you playing music via bluetooth in car, the screen of the car doesn’t show the album covers (BMW, Mercedes, Audi etc…). Before 15.5 it worked. There is an other topic with this issue. Something happened with the bluetooth connection protocol in ios 15.5 and it can be related with your Tesla issue as well. I think it should be fixed by Apple.

It’s not with Tesla but 15.5 killed my Boss EV-1-WL foot pedal connection with the WAZA AIR application on my 13 Pro Max. (It’s a wireless volume/wah pedal for guitar) I’ve tried all of the boss and apple reset steps and still can’t get it working. Obviously the update did something with Bluetooth if two unrelated products are having issues. I’ve already contacted Boss support. Just when I thought updates were getting more stable.