my new iPhone 15 Pro Max won't discover any of my bluetooth devices

Update: I brought the phone in to the Apple store and they were not able to find anything wrong with it. To be clear, I had no issues connecting to some bluetooth devices (three apple products and two others). But I had three devices the phone would not "see" when they were in pairing mode.

I brought one of those devices with me to the store and the tech could not connect with it either on his phone. Turns out than when I upgraded to the iPhone 15 and iOS 17.5.1, I also needed to upgrade the firmware on some of the devices I was trying to pair.

For one of those devices, a Sena bike helmet with a bluetooth intercom set up, this was a complicated procedure, but after installing new firmware the devices were all recognized by the phone and were successfully connected.

I was able to solve it for most of my devices. It looks like the 15 pro max does not automatically pull up Bluetooth devices that aren't actively searching for new phones like the earlier iPhones would. I had to go to each device and hit the "Bluetooth" button while my phone was looking for it and it would appear. After you have it on the list it will stay there.

HOWEVER, on my 2020 Chevy Equinox it would not connect to carplay. It pulls up the car and the verification code but when the code is entered it reads "connection failed" and asks if you want to forget this car (its the only option). The car is on my carplay list now but it will not connect.

Let's put "Easier Bluetooth connectivity" on the list for the next iOS update

Make sure you have updated to 17.4.1. 17.4 resolved the issue I was having. If it still won’t work forget the device on your iPhone turn off the device you’re trying to connect to, then turn it back on and start the connection process again. Hopefully that should work

Trucker16x wrote:

iPhone 15 pro max won’t discover Bluetooth devices either. Help?

Have you put the devices in pairing mode per the manufacturers directions? For a phone to see and pair with a Bluetooth device, it MUST first be put in pairing mode.

I had to do a “hard reset” on each individual device per the manufacturer’s instructions for everything that was previously paired to my prior iphone. I’ve had iphones since the 2 or 3 and have never had to do this before. If this nightmare ever happens again, I’ll go back to Androids 4 sure. This was stressful and frustrating. Good luck!!

I couldn’t find that answer either…read heaps of posts…Turning phone Bluetooth on and off & turning phone off did nothing. Found the instructions for my Tribit stormbox hard reset and my phone found and connected in seconds! 15 Pro Max. BTW Took a couple of tries to connect with my car too.

Have you updated to 17.4? As soon as I updated Bluetooth worked perfectly. Try that.

Pairing your Bluetooth device could be painful, but it works at my iPhone 15 pro.

Please try the following steps:

1, Turn off Bluetooth at your iPhone 15 for more than 20 seconds;

2, Turn on your Bluetooth device;

3, Make sure your iPhone and your Bluetooth device in the range;

4, Turn on your Bluetooth at your iPhone 15.

Your iPhone should find and connect to your Bluetooth device. If not, redo the 4 steps again.

Had the same Bluetooth issues. Updated to 17.4 and Apple seem to have fixed the issue phone connects perfectly now no issues.

All Bluetooth connectivity has been restored with the 17.4 update. It won’t work until you update. If it still won’t work then restart the device you’re trying to connect to.

Hi JTesk,

Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities.

We understand that none of your devices are pairing with your iPhone. Turn Bluetooth off, restart iPhone and try pairing. Make sure each device is charged, within 30 feet of iPhone, and in pairing mode. You may need to refer to manufacturing documentation of the product on how to enter pairing mode.

Pair a third-party Bluetooth accessory with your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you still can't pair or connect your Bluetooth accessory

* If you previously connected your Bluetooth accessory to your iOS or iPadOS device, unpair the accessory, put it back in discovery mode, then try to pair and connect it again.

* If you can pair your accessory with some devices but not your iOS or iPadOS device, unpair the accessory from your other devices. Then try to pair with your iOS or iPadOS device again.

* To find out whether your accessory is compatible with your iOS or iPad OS device, contact the manufacturer of the accessory.

* If you still have any of these issues, contact Apple Support:

* You can’t turn on Bluetooth or the setting is grayed out.

* You can’t connect any Bluetooth accessories with your device.

* The accessory manufacturer confirmed that your accessory is working correctly.

Those steps are from the article that you viewed prior to posting:

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

Contact Apple Support if this continues.

Get Support

Regards.

Hi! The answer is written by a person here. It worked for me as well. First, turn on your headset. Next turn off your blue tooth. Then when turning the blue tooth back on Hold The Blue Tooth button (on your headset) , down for a few seconds. The headset will then say “blue tooth pairing” once this occurs your iPhone 15 pro max will pick the device and will allow you to pair.

Same problem. I had to hard reset my Bluetooth devices to factory settings (I googled how to for the device).

First, turn on your headset. Next turn off your blue tooth. Then when turning the blue tooth back on Hold The Blue Tooth button (on your headset) , down for a few seconds. The headset will then say “blue tooth pairing” once this occurs your iPhone 15 pro max will pick the device and will allow you to pair.

Same problem with Bluetooth. Spent almost an hour with an Apple tech on the phone and he couldn’t fix the problem after downloading the latest 17.3.1 update. They made an appointment with Geek for me. Geek technician was able to connect with a small speaker that I brought with me but was unable to connect to my car’s phone while in my car trying. Definitely something wrong with this i15 pro!!