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

I have had the same issue on my commute. It is limited to a half mile area but extremely annoying when on a call or listening to a podcast. Same issue effected the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro. CarPlay should not disconnect based on cell service or geograpghy. Please help Apple!

My wife has this problem with her Hyndai and I have the problem in my 2022 F150. Same spot in both cars, happened on previous iPhone 13 and now on 14 Pro. To me this is an interference issue and nothing apple can solve. Someone near by is likely blasting rf way out of spec which completely kills your bluetooth. As others have metioned, phone calls are fine through these areas, it's the connection between your phone and car for wireless carplay.

In the Denver Metro area for example, in Parker at i225 and Parker road, it will blank out, and in the south near Lone Tree on i25 and Lincoln, it will die as well, but its much worse in that area.

IMO with a bit of an rf background, this is't something Apple can fix. The vehicle manufacturer would to incorporate better protection of its electronics from outside interference.

It is not a cell data signal issue. And it only happens in my wife's GTI, not my Mini Cooper S that also has CarPlay. It's also no where near where we live. So it's not related to geo fencing as some have suggested. It's the exact same place every time it happens.

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

Wireless CarPlay is a fraud. I have three cars with wireless CarPlay. And one of them I even replaced the head unit with a newer unit. CarPlay cuts in an out due to some sort of radio interference on my commute every single day on SR 92 in Lehi Utah. This also happens at the same place in Park city no matter what car I'm driving.

I am happy to test any beta version of any software that Apple wants me to test. The cars are 2021 Silverado, the 2022 bronco, and a jeep wrangler with a brand new pioneer head unit.

@scjnsn - I have the same issue on SR92 both ways on the commuter lane or main road. It fades in an out close to Center Street. I have an aftermarket JVC headunit in a Mini Cooper. I have not tested in our 2 other cars (Jeep Wrangler and Nissan Altima) as I don't drive them much. Very annoying.

I have the same problem with my iPhone 14 on my electric BMW at that exact same location. I wonder if there is a business nearby that could be interfering. However, there doesn’t appear to be any significant infrastructure, like an airport.

I honestly gave up on CarPlay and now just using my wired connection with BMW software. It's a shame, but I no longer get annoyed when my calls are basically dropped or my music randomly stops. I couldn't figure out how to connect CarPay with the wire, it only gives me the option to do it wirelessly.

The wired connection with the BMW software works great. A few small annoyances but nothing as big as this problem. Cheers ya'll

It only happens on our VW & not my Mini. Same phone. Actually it’s been four different phones that disconnect on the VW. Never on the Mini. It would be interesting to gather all of the car make/models for this.

And from everyone’s description of the problem it is caused by a source of local interference, and has nothing to do with Apple. And it is only specific car models, in addition, and different models of phones.

I don't think you understand what I am saying. I am not claiming that there is no technical challenge. I am sure, everything works, exactly as implemented. The idea is that vendors are responsible for solving these problems. That's how great software works.

And you don’t understand what I am saying. There are things that are not controllable by a vendor, and interference in the unlicensed band that Bluetooth uses is one of the things that a manufacturer can control.

pagnmickie2 wrote:

How is it that my same phone doesn’t drop in the specific area from a different car? That isn’t a radio frequency problem.

Because the car that it happens with has a weaker Bluetooth module.

scjnsn wrote:

I'm sure it has to do with how the makers buffer and manage connections, it seems like if Apple could use the standard Bluetooth frequency/protocol for wireless CarPlay there would be no problems since Bluetooth never has an issue

Apple DOES use the standard Bluetooth frequency and protocol for wireless CarPlay to establish a Wi-Fi connection. Wi-Fi is required because Bluetooth does not have the required bandwidth for video communications and could not display navigation apps.

I also have the exact same issue in Fort Worth. The same part of 121 heading in to downtown. I wanted to test this with my Pixel 7 as well using Android Auto and it does the exact same thing. So this is not exclusive to CarPlay. I use an iPhone 13 and 2022 Hyundai Tucson.