Bluetooth issues on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with iOS 17.0.3

That’s very helpful to know nslattery. My phone disconnects consistently at the same call time, every time, also less than a minute.

If you are able, would you be able to run a quick check to see exactly how long it is?

If your, or anyone else’s time is exactly the same as mine, I think I might be able to point Apple at the specific problem.

Love your work.

And this may be exactly true, but there is more to it.

Notably:

• my instance to disconnect does not take 40 seconds, it's quicker, unless handshake is earlier than the call initiating

•some iPhones with this spec manage to connect successfuly

• devices other than the cars you mention are also experiencing BT drop outs.

But I suspect that you are on the right track all the same.

There are a couple of apps which can scan BT signals and analyse them.

I found BT Inspector & BLE Hero.

I need a friend with a proven phone to monitor my car and phone while connection/disconnection occurs to see what that reveals.

@MacbookAndy - please let me know when you are flying to Melbourne Australia!

I’m on a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My IP11Pro had no issues at all, but my 15PM won’t hold a connection for phone calls. They will drop out mid call, can’t reconnect to the car unit, etc. Interestingly playing music or podcasts via Bluetooth seems to be ok - guess phone calls are handled different on this device since it will say “no phone connected”. Doesn’t seem to be an issue with my AirPods, etc - just the car unit. Perhaps it’s some sort or Bluetooth incompatibility with older protocols?

My experience following three calls and one online chat with advisors was that they could only offer the basic stuff: switch it on and off; forget and re-pair with the car; reset network settings; reset phone: change device name.

I would expect that all calls will be logged and once the reported problem reaches a critical mass, the problem will get onto the engineering backlog for resolution … so get reporting!

One advisor did run some diagnostics remotely but concluded there were no device issues and that I should contact Audi and request a software update for my car.

The latter approach doesn’t resolve the broader problem facing AirPod, Beats, Bose, VW, Porsche, Ford and Dodge owners.

In my experience to date, the problem seems limited to the 15 Pro and Pro Max, both of which uniquely have the new A17 Pro chip.

I linked this thread last time I spoke to Apple.

This is really interesting that you are getting the dropouts at certain places, as I’ve just stated I did not get dropouts when stationary but did while travelling. Mine didn’t drop out whilst passing particular houses but driving down the motorway.

Maybe the switching of cell phone masts does have something to do with it… you probably would find that happening when driving past the same house as the masts are stationary so switching should take place at around the same location.

I have a 15. It’s also become my favorite paperweight. Spotty reception been happening almost from the start. I own a 2015 Porsche Cayman and 2016 Macan. Same problem. Even cuts out on my JBL speaker.

The Apple senior advisor told me exactly this last night: well, if you have an older system in your car it sounds as if you'll need to update the radio software. I said, "I called the dealership and there is no update". She said, well, I guess you won't have functionality unless you get a new unit or car. I could not believe my ears. She also tried to tell me that since my battery was only 75% efficient, I should change it because that could affect bluetooth connectivity. I told her my battery is FINE and usually almost fully charged because I always plug it in when driving. SOOOO frustrating.

This is exactly how I feel.

To add salt in the wound, my system was developed with Apple back in the day-even includes a proto-version of CarPlay called iPod Out. Was demoed on stage by Steve Jobs!

I’m going to try disabling the A2DP in my car, via coding, to see if that somehow changes things. Call with Apple is still scheduled later today.

Wow, so it's not only me. Apparently my JBL Tune 520 BT headset seems to be working fine, but my car (Opel Insignia from 2010) drops Bluetooth connection during phone calls, and the voice is jittering. I read about the "40 seconds" rule, I didn't measure how long it takes in my case, but I think it's very close. The phone stays connected to the car for as long as I'm not making any calls.

iPhone 15 Pro @ iOS 17.3

Just encountered this issue myself with my new 15 pro max… keeps dropping from my car after about 30 seconds or so - was previously working without issue. So disappointing, I had no idea this was a thing until now…

FYI the car is a 2015 Golf and I’m on IOS 17.3

Mostly all iPhones are having the same problem with the Bluetooth disconnecting either in the car or with an audio device. I have asked people the same question with older iPhone as back iPhone XR and the current ones and still Bluetooth seems to be the issue.

@Hoody007 & @DaveOJr

Odd thing happened today - made 3, yes THREE calls without disconnection.

Was thinking about what Hoody007 and I were talking about over the weekend : possible stack overflow in relation to the phone books.

I turned off phone book sync in the Bluetooth setting on my phone but this had no impact.

I then had a look through the menus on the car and found an option to swap between “TEL” or “TEL & SIM” which presumably changes what the car looks for and tries to sync over Bluetooth.

I don’t have any data stored on my SIM card so wondering if toggling the setting might have reset how the phone and car share interact with data.

I had noticed, but discounted, that the phone book in the car is quite often scrambled, for example instead of HOODY, it might show @HOODY@/home, so clearly there is some data sharing issue.

The only other thing that I’ve done is sit in the car with a Bluetooth scanner app. Nothing interesting happened other to say that thereafter I made three successful calls.

Have a look in your own vehicles and see if you can see anything.

NOTE: I have the 2 Gen Audi Multimedia Interface (AMI) in the car which is quite basic. As stated in other posts, it doesn’t support media streaming via A2DP without an aftermarket peripheral plugged in, in my case a ViseoO Tune2Air.

Regarding your other message about the phone book, I am also noticing “phone book downloading” or a similar message I’ve never noticed on my 2017 Jeep UConnect screen. I don’t have Apple CarPlay but have a iPhone 11 Pro and the UConnect. After allowing the iOS 17.2.1 update two weeks ago, my car Bluetooth stopped working with my phone. It worked fine with my son’s older phone and older iOS. Same as many on here - it will connect and UConnect recognizes my phone stored, but the Bluetooth drops after a few seconds. Oddly, I can restore if I manually re-pair my phone to UConnect. But the catch is I can only do this via the voice prompts in my car, and pressing the phone button to start the voice prompts also doesn’t always work (after this iOS upgrade), so I have to keep trying until it does.

I don’t know what to make of the phone book downloading message that seems to be hung and doesn’t go away until the Bluetooth session automatically disconnects.

i am investigating ways to reset my phone to the v16 iOS and even though apple says this isn’t possible there may be a way to do this.

So guys, maybe I found the “solution”: yesterday I was in chat with Apple support, and the lady suggested trying to disable Wi-Fi (directly from the settings). I've done numerous tests, and until today, I haven't experienced any more disconnections of my AirPods (2nd generation) . Probably, if things stay this way, it's some Wi-Fi networks interfering with the Bluetooth signal, and when someone walks or moves in a car, they encounter different Wi-Fi networks, which could conflict with the Bluetooth signal... at least that's what the Apple support lady told me. For me, it's working now. Another thing she suggested trying is to reset the network settings, but for now, I haven't done it yet because I've read about users who didn't solve the issue by this way.

Give it a try and let me know.

Have found that turning Bluetooth off for a minute and then back on again helps the sound return. Has been back for full day now.

iPhone15 OS 17.3.1. hapticks, phone ringer, YouTube all come back - am starting to suspect that it could be caused by updating the OS - but won't know for sure until 17.3.2 comes out and then hoping not to know as hoping by then Apple will have added a fix to it!