iPhone 16 Pro not connecting to Bluetooth devices

Had the same problem. iPhone 16 Pro Max connected to Apple Watch and Pioneer receiver in my car. Couldn’t even see any other Bluetooth devices. Tried standard Bluetooth fixes - didn’t work. Saw a video that suggested the following: Go to Settings - Screen Time - Content & Privacy Restrictions. Turned on and then off the Content & Privacy Restrictions slider. Now I can see Bluetooth devices that wouldn’t show up before…

SUCCESS!!

Just got a new iPhone 16 Pro and transferred all my iPhone 12 Pro info via iCloud. BUT had all the same problems with bluetooth mentioned here. I tried EVERYTHING mentioned here and online ... to no avail.

THEN, I did the following:

1. Clicked "forget device" on my OLD iPhone for EACH device
2. Turned off my bluetooth on my OLD iPhone
3. Turned off my OLD iPhone

THEN I was able to discover and pair to all the devices I used to have on my OLD phone! Just follow instructions for pairing for each device.

The problem seemed to be the OLD Iphone. ;-) Good luck!

Hi ! I had the same problem and was unable to pair my JBL earphones with my Iphone 16 pro but was able to pair them with my MacBook. Iphone 16 pro was still able to pair with all of my other Bluetooth devices, BUT the earphones. A pop up appeared at some point telling me Iphone could not connect with the earphones and I only could click on ''forget this device'' which I did (and thought this was the issue). Ended up calling apple support, the apple support employee had me try everything in the support page for Bluetooth connection and nothing worked. Ended up speaking with a senior employee who told me to not only disconnect the earphones from my MacBook, but to actually power the MacBook off. Then miraculously, the JBL beam earphones appeared on my phone to pair. Then I was able to pair them with both my phone + mac book. Hope it helps.

SUCCESS!!

Just got a new iPhone 16 Pro and transferred all my iPhone 12 Pro info via iCloud. BUT had all the same problems with bluetooth mentioned here. I tried EVERYTHING mentioned here and online ... to no avail.

THEN, I did the following:

1. Clicked "forget device" on my OLD iPhone for EACH device
2. Turned off my bluetooth on my OLD iPhone
3. Turned off my OLD iPhone

THEN I was able to discover and pair to all the devices I used to have on my OLD phone! Just follow instructions for pairing for each device.

The problem seemed to be the OLD Iphone. ;-) Good luck!

Hi, I’ve had the same problem with all my devices. Tried everything advised and nothing worked. (I didn’t reset Network Settings)

Then read about going to old phone and forgetting each device. Settings- Bluetooth- Device name (i)- Forget This Device

Finally, device was findable and successfully paired!

Good luck

My issue, whatever it was, appears solved for the last ten days. Without the old iPhone, I had luck with:

1) Resetting Network Connections - this is scary because if you’re not careful you may perform a full factory reset, which would be bad…

This also takes more time than just a plain reboot. Note you will lose all WiFi credentials and have to reconnect to every network you use.

2) Reconnected to the home WiFi

3) All Bluetooth devices connected without issue.

My reaction at this point was “Agony and frustration is over! And why did Apple not catch this glitch during testing?”

BUT… All legacy Bluetooth devices FAILED TO CONNECT AFTER THE THIRD DAY!!!

Kept my cool (the meds are working) and repeated the steps. This time added one more step:

2a): Turn Bluetooth off, wait a minute or so, then turn it back on.

Did that over at least 10 days ago. Since then every device connects every time. Rock solid, just like the good old days of my iPhone 13.

With luck this will keep performing as it should have out of the box.

PS: If the process of migrating to the 16e is to blame (aka the user), and not Apple’s software, then Apple still has a problem: My migration was done by an Apple employee at an Apple Store.

Good luck everyone!

I had this issue when trying to pair my new iPhone 16 Pro with my Rav4, my Sony headphones, and every other device. The fix is, you MUST go back to your old phone (or any device) that has been previously paired and "forget device." Once that is completed, you must restart your phone and the device you're pairing with.

I think I found the problem and it might help a few users here.

I got disconnected and had trouble connecting to my Rav4 auto.

Iphone 16, OS 18.2

All was working fine until I told my iPhone to forget my Asus PC.

The next time I received a phone call when in my car only the iPhone answered.

It took several tries before I managed to reconnect

Had to remove my iPhone from the Rav4

Had to forget the Rav4 in the iPhone

Had to reboot the iPhone!!!!

Selected add device in the Rav4

The iPhone then saw the Rav4 and produced a pairing which I accepted.

the pairing worked

DELETING A DEVICE FROM THE IPHONE SEEMS TO MESS UP ANY EXISTING PAIRINGS.

See this article.

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

making my other iphone forget the device actually worked thank you so much

this is my first ever time commenting anything over here but I just had to tell you how grateful I am, this is the only thing that solved the issue for me

Had the same issue! Fixed it by resetting my network settings

Settings > general > reset > reset network settings

mine is fixed! If your device is connected to any other device (ie your old phone or iPad), the system won’t even see it. I disconnected all Bluetooth devices around the house and there it was.

Had the same issue. One user advised flipping on then off the privacy setting inside of screen time in settings which worked for me.

i was able to connect my Bluetooth headphones with apple 16 pro

1. ensure your Bluetooth devices are forgotten from any other iPhone device.
2. factory reset the Bluetooth device

hope this works !! Good luck 😊