CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro

I had the same issue with my 2019 Toyota Avalon. I tried some cable adapters (both lighting and USB A) to convert one of the ends of the old cables I had. That failed miserably and didn’t work.

I bought an Anker USB-A A to USB-C cable for about $10 from Walmart. It comes with a cable wrap which is nice in the center console to keep things organized.

The new cable worked right away. CarPlay booted faster than ever before. No issues at all.

I have the same issue with my iPhone 16 Pro. My 15 pro worked fine.

I solved the issue!

screen time>content & privacy information >car play (was disabled)

as soon as I enabled it my car prompted to finish setting up car play and everything showed up again.

I agree. I bought the Pro 16 and tried everything to connect to CarPlay on my CRV. It was very frustrating as the other home phones were still connecting as before. I researched for a couple of days making sure the settings were correct, etc. But even though I was reluctant at first, "forgetting" ALL the phones in CarPlay did the trick. I had a cable that was brand new and didn't work. It just charged. So I bought a second cable from the local Apple Store (they also checked my new phone) to make sure their cable would charge and transmit data. But when I "forgot" all the phones in my CRV and then set up the 16 again in CarPlay, both cables worked! I forgot all phones that had been connected both via CarPlay and those that were only (or also) connected by Bluetooth.

**FIX**

You need a USB C cable that is capable of data transfer. Some of them can only charge but there are specific ones that are also data cables and this is what you need to make CarPlay work in your vehicle. Amazon has tons, I got these and tested them today - work perfectly, connected with no issue:

https://a.co/d/9tslBQf

I solved the problem. Buy a Nimble USB-A to USB-C cord. The Apple adapter does not work, because the old USB-A to lightning cords do not work. I suspect because they cannot support the same wattage. Since I changed the cord without the adapter, it has not disconnected. I upgraded from an iPhone 12 Pro Max to a 16 Pro Max.

For most people, this was not the issue. I asked this question before I figured it out that you need a cord that has data and charging not just charging. It does not have to be Apple, but it does have to have a data availability. The simple cheap one I was using Didn't work. I just had to change the cord. I tried the privacy settings and that didn't help.

I had the same problem with my 2018 Honda CR-V. Thanks to all the feedback on this forum, I replaced my cable with another one that I know has successfully served as a data cable. Shazam! It works great! The cable I used initially was connected to a wireless charging device. I had no idea that USB-C cables are either charging or both charging and data cables. Thanks to everyone here for sharing your solutions.

Yes my Mercedes too only has USB-A inputs thus I had to buy the USB-A to USB-C Adapter from the Apple Store.

USB-C to USB Adapter - Apple. Separately -- I went to my internal Mercedes Infotainment center, and to "Systems" and completely reset the infotainment center to its default settings. Using the same cable (data plus charging) that I knew worked earlier for Apple CarPlay, but now with the new USB-A to USB-C adapter attached, and after having rebooted the infotainment system to default setting then attached my new iPhone 16 Pro to the system and it then did recognize the new phone and I was able to proceed to set up the new phone. The only real downside is that one will need to completely set up all the other in-vehicle settings that one wants inside the vehicle but that only took me just a few minutes to re-establish. I hope this works for you.

I just had the same issue. One thing to check is your usb to usbc cable. I grabbed a few and turns out they weren’t rated for CarPlay. I dug through my cable box, found the Anker set rated for CarPlay and it worked fine.

Finally it works! My previous iPhone was the 14 Pro Max which used the lightning charging cord. After trying all the fixes found on different sites, I came across a thread that said the charging cord may be the problem. I went to Amazon and purchased a new one (see below) and that worked. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08558B183?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I also purchased some Lightning to USB C Adapters for my old lightning cables (see below) and tested them out. They also worked. I hope this helps.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DHZZ6Q64?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I had the same frustration after upgrading to iPhone 16. I tried all the suggestions below and checked all the settings to no avail. I was using the original Apple Lightning to USB Cable with Apple USB-C to Lightning Adapter, but that would not even maintain charging. Came across a thread that said the issue was the cable. I purchased an "Anker Car Carplay Cable for iPhone 15/16/16 Pro Max/Plus, USB A to USB C Flow Cable" and the problem was solved. Phone now connects quickly and maintains the connection.

Last week I replaced my iPhone 12 with a new iPhone 16 Pro and the Apple Car Play in my 2017 Honda Civic would not acknowledge the new device when I plugged it in. I tried two different cords, both of which were data (not just charging) but neither one worked. I followed the "9 Ways to Fix Apple CarPlay" instructions, stopping just short of doing a complete reset of my car's electronics. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to try the cord someone had recommended here: "Belkin BoostCharge Braided USB-C to USB-A Cord (1M/3.3ft) for iPhone 16 Series". When I plugged the phone in using this cord, my car's system promptly connected to the device and my CarPlay was back! That was $10.49 well spent!! Amazon link here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08558B183

I got the answer (hopefully)!

I had the same issue. I drive a 2021 Mazda CX30 and I upgraded to the iPhone Pro 16 Max and the phone wouldn’t connect to Carplay. I saw it was a problem everywhere online so I had given up. I decided to look on Youtube and I found a guy sharing the gospel. Apparently, there are TWO types of USBC cables made. One for charging and one for Data sharing (that also charges). Find a cable that says it’s for data sharing in the description of the product and you got it! I bought a USB to USBC cable a Target for like $6.

Had the same issue with my iPhone 16 Pro and 2024 Ford Puma ST (Sync 3). Just simply changing the cable to a better quality one worked for me. I was using a cheaper Anker cable and it did nothing then swapped for the cable that came with my Bose speaker and it work fine, no other changes to phone or car settings.

Hope this helps, thanks

I have the answer. I had the same problem, so took my car into Lexus for advice. Apparently, the charging cable is different to a data cable, which also charges the phone. Once I bought a data specific cable, it worked fine. Hope this helps. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D5Y8ZV4V?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1