Wireless Carplay disconnects at the same place on my commute with new iPhone 13

I know this is an apple community support however I thought everyone should know that I am having the same problem with Android Auto. There is a certain spot on a highway near the city I live that effects both Carplay and AA. I know this because my coworker use Apple and has complained about the same location and problem. The system cuts out and resets.

Happens to me as well. Bmw 2022. iPhone13 pro. So I bought the car nine months ago, everything was working perfectly but around two months ago apple carplay started to drop in certain spots. If it was connected back itself in a seconds or minutes I would not say a word! But to connect it back I have to perform weird procedure. I have to stop, turn off engine, leave the car, lock it, wait for a minute or two, and then when I get back into the car it connected back itself like nothing happened! Without this you can sit in the car for hours and do everything possible and impossible but it will not be connected back. First I thought it’s my phone issue. But with my son’s phone (also 13 pro) was exactly the same. I went to BMW. They gave me the loan car (2023 bmw) and no problem at all! I was driving it for two days same route. When I picked up my car from service it happened again on my way back home. I called BMW. They said to come back. I came, left my car again, new loan car didn’t have issues again. Yesterday they told me to pick up my car and said there’s nothing they can do!! Because it’s not a car, it’s applecarplay. My brain will explode. It’s really frustrating because nobody takes responsibility. And I can’t drive like this. I live in New York. So when it happens in the city - ok, I will park, leave the car and I have connection back loosing only 10 minutes of my day. But two weeks ago I was in trip to Baltimore. And it happened on that crazy multi level road so I didn’t know where to go. And I was in the car alone so I had to open my phone and look at it while driving. But it’s dangerous. The most idiotic thing that first complaints on this issue I saw in Internet were from 2021!! So it’s been almost four years and still no solution, just pointing on each other.

BmmrBoiN63 wrote:

Yup, same spot for me too. Happens like clockwork. Interestingly enough, if it’s a wired connection, I have no problems. I wonder if Centennial Airport or Sky Ridge has anything to do with it? Just a wild guess…

Not at all wild. Some radar that is used at airports operates in the same microwave spectrum as Wi-Fi.

I have an Iphone 12 Pro Max and happens the same. I have noticed it happens every time a pass a celular antenna tower. This is happening after the antennas carry 5G network.

i have this issue too, it’s disconnecting when I go outside of a 100m radius from my home or enter about a 50m radius to my home. I’m quite sure it has nothing to do with WiFi connecting or something as the distance is too great for that and there are buildings blocking the signal.

I do have a Nuki doorlock that is changing status (ready to unlock and ‘away’ mode) pretty much exactly at these distances. I have the feeling that whatever the Nuki app does is interfering with CarPlay.

actually it will be easy to test this and I’ll do this on my next trip. I’ll disable all the options in settings for Nuki app.

will post results here soon

There are two places where I encounter it, going from the Mid-Cities to Fort Worth, I lose it just after the bridge over the Trinity as you are passing Richland Hills and entering Haltom City, that one lasts the longest but it does eventually reconnect, the second one is as you are passing Sylvania and approaching I35, that one is very quick. AT&T is aware of both issues, the one at the bridge/trinity is because there is no place that they can put a tower that will cover 121 due to the river and flood plain. This affects all carriers. The second one is more of a mystery to them but has never been fixed. I also get a deteriorating signal at Campbell and lose it shortly after that for about a minute. Same thing near Bachman Lake due to the airport.

There won't be anything anything that Apple and the carriers can do about the ones where they can't place a tower due to property/radar/airport. There is also a spot in Reston, Virginia where everything fails, including the car navigation but that is for a different reason and again nothing can be done.

Just to add to the discussion, I also experience this issue (iPhone 13 Pro)...and noticed it always happens when certain type of cameras are installed along the street; those cameras have big antennas to communicate between them and I think (pretty sure) that causes interference with WiFi and Bluetooth connections. This happens with the two cars I've tried (Kia & BMW), same spot, same result...it disconnects and take a while to reconnect and get back to normal. It would be nice if we had access to any kind of log on the phone to check what's really going on in deeper detail or to share it with Apple so they can try to fix it.

Yep, also happens to me. iPhone 14 pro and Mercedes C300e 2022.

I can pinpoint exactly when it happens. It’s everything I pass under a toll reader (Portugal) or at the entrance/exit of parking garages that use the same technology.

Basically the radio frequency interferes with the wireless CarPlay and just cuts the connection.

Reading this topic and seeing that many car models are affected, the problem can only rely with Apple!!

Please fix this!

Both my wife and myself have two cars with CarPlay. She has a 2021 GTI and I have a 2019 Mini Cooper S. She has an iPhone 13 and I the iPhone 14Pro. This issue ONLY happens in her VW and not my Mini. With either phone. So it's not related to the phone model. It's not related to 5G. It's not related to geo fencing as this is no where near our home. It's just one specific area we drive through once a week and has been going on since we purchase her car in March of '21

I got the exact same issue, I thought I was going nuts, but yeah I know exactly where it will get disconnect (and I’m using wired Connection) and I have been in touch with costumer services and they always says nothing is wrong, and this is an issue only few people are having it. They won’t acknowledge that this is actually an issue that needs their attention!

someone said it is something with 5g connection, so I made an automated command to only connect 4g when CarPlay is enabled. Working pretty good so far, less disconnections.

I have a brand new iPhone 13 and I have the same problem. It also happened on my iPhone X when I went to a few locations it was disconnected and it disconnected every time in the same location so now I switch to Bluetooth before I get to that location and that seems to work then I turn the CarPlay back on once I’ve passed the area, it would sure be nice to know how to solve the problem permanently

If you are disconnected at a specific location that always means that there is S band radar operating nearby, which shares the spectrum with Bluetooth. This will happen near airports, military installations, and anywhere else that ground-scanning radar is used.

If you are disconnected at a specific location that always means that there is S band radar operating nearby, which shares the spectrum with Bluetooth. This will happen near airports, military installations, and anywhere else that ground-scanning radar is used.

It happens to me since the 16.4 update. BMW X5 2023, wireless CarPlay. It's near the area there 4G drops to 3G.

I am facing the same exact issue. It’s not time related but place related. This happens to me at many places. One such place is in Richardson TX, when I am driving on highway 75, exactly when I pass E Campbell Rd. It’s a regular place. No overhead wires or anything. I am using iPhone 13 Pro Max on my 2023 Acura Integra. Same used to happen on 2022 Honda Civic. Both have same systems. I don’t have other models of iPhones to test this. I will try this on 2022 Audi Q3 sometime later when I get a chance.

CarPlay screen either freezes or disconnects and reconnects. When the screen freezes, audio works fine in background. Only if I turn off WiFi Bluetooth and turn back on, it reconnects again. Until that point it’s shows the same frozen screen. It’s same issue even if I don’t use use any navigation apps. Just Spotify.