I upgraded my iPhone 12 Pro to a 16 Pro, and the new phone will not connect to my 2018 Mazda CX-5 with CarPlay. When I plug it in, it charges but makes no sign of connecting.
iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18
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.
ITS THE CABLE! Needs to be a USB to USB-C cable that does DATA as well as recharges.
I had the same and have managed to resolve it by trying a different cable. It seems some USB to USB-C are charge-capable only. If you have only just switched from a lightning type iPhone to the 16 which is obviously now USB-C, you may not have experienced this issue before now, but CarPlay requires a data-capable cable. The likelihood is it is not your phone or your car that is the problem! Also check your content and privacy settings to ensure CarPlay is enabled. Good luck 🤞
I had a similar issue. I found that I had to use native USB connections. I tried an adapter that was rated for data and was supposed to work. It failed. I ended up purchasing a cable that had usb A and usb C connections rated for all connections. I got some from Anker and Belkin and all have worked flawlessly since.
I had exactly the same issue. As soon as I changed to a USBC- A cable that supported data (rather than just charging) it worked straight away.
my car requires USB (not wireless). I bought new cable specifically marketed for Carplay (data cable). Solved problem for me so far.
I had the same problem on Mazda 2019 bp. iPhone 15 worked on a data cable (non-original), but not iPhone 16. Okay…I tried: 1) Turn on/off privacy. Restart the device, forget the device. Didn't help me. 2) I went to the settings of the auto-connection settings - Smartphone connection settings - Car play settings. And I saw that the new device SE Milord 16 - always off. I clicked next - connection status - always on. And yes!!! It worked.From Ru with love.
P.s I have no idea why the photo loaded like that, although I took it in the normal position.
I had the same problem with my Honda Accord. All I needed was an Apple USB-C to Lightning adapter for my old cord. This was after I bought a new (non Apple) USB C to USB A cord that didn’t work. The Apple Store salesperson explained that some cords will only charge but not carry data. My Honda’s Car Play prompted me if I wanted to use the new phone with Car Play. Works fine now.
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.
Somewhat ashamed to say I spent hours trying to connect my iPhone 16 Pro for CarPlay to my '21 Toyota Tacoma. I went over all the settings, tried it with Bluetooth and also with hardwire. It didn't work even though it had worked just fine with my iPhone 13. It was so frustrating! Then it dawned on me to use the USB A to USB C that Toyota supplied with the truck. It worked easy peasy. Save yourself time and make sure you have a good cord.
OP here. Mine finally works. After trying all of the tips in this thread, and multiple different cables, I threw a hail mary pass and bought a cable from Mazda that they said meets the data requirements of their infotainment system, and it works now. Even Apple-branded cables didn’t work (I tried USB A to C, and USB to Lightning with a Lightning to USB-C adapter). USB is a “standard” is it not? How can there be such variability in performance?
It sounds frustrating! Since your iPhone charges but doesn't connect to CarPlay, try these steps:
If none of these work, Mazda support might have specific troubleshooting steps.
Okay as others have said, it’s the cable. Wife upgraded phones from a iPhone 13 pro max to a 16 pro max. Can’t use the old lightning cable bc the 16 is a usb-c. Thought we could just use a usb-a/usb-c cable to go from the 2021 Rav 4 to the new iPhone 16. NOPE. Nothing worked. No amount of presets or resets or settings. It will CHARGE but it will not activate CarPlay. THE ONLY thing that made CarPlay work was: using the OLD usb-a/lightning cable with a usb-c/lightning ADAPTER. $30 at Best Buy. It IMMEDIATELY worked.
so. Save your old usb-a lightning cable, get a $30 usb-c/lightning adapter, plug in your new iPhone 16 using both the old cable and the new adapter to go from the car’s usb-a to lightning, then from lightning to usb-c to phone. It literally worked the 1st time, after I spent the better part of a day researching stuff on the internet and YouTube that did not work or did not apply to my models. I don’t know or care how to fix the Bluetooth pairing. I just need CarPlay to WORK when she PLUGS IT IN and it DOES now.
I just got an Iphone16pro and had difficult getting my carplay to operate on my 2018 Camry. My previous Iphone 13 was functioning with no problem. I tried to tinker with the settings that was suggested above with no success and initially had the new phone connected to the car using the old cable with a usbc adaptor. It started to work the minute I changed the cable to a seamless USB to USBc cable. It was a connection/hardware issue. Hopefully this helps some of you.
took delivery 2 days ago and had the same problem.
simple fix really, unlike other iPhones the iPhone 16 will not work with a standard charging cable, it only charges the phone but cannot carry any date to the car.
Ordered a USB to USB-C data transfer cable £4.99 from Amazon and now work fine. Amazon advertise a charging cable and a charging data transfer cable make sure you order that one. They both look the same so if you have a old cable to charge you old phone it probably won’t work
I have a RAV4 and recently upgraded to an iPhone 16 with IOS 18.1.1 and was having the same issue. I tried some of the suggestions here with phone settings but decided to go with a data transfer and charging cord and it worked immediately. I got this one at Walmart for $6 rather than paying ridiculous Apple prices for one. This was in the auto section so it’s obviously an issue. Whatever cord you buy, be sure it doesn’t just charge but also transfers data. That seems to be the key. I’m guessing USB-C cords don’t automatically do both like lightening cords. I wonder how many landfills are polluted with old cords because Apple and other electronic companies want to find ways to make more money by creating new cords and charging a fortune for them. Does Apple claim to be an environmentally friendly company? I hope not.
[Edited by Moderator]
CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro
