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.
This was happening to me too, I tried everything, then I thought that maybe the problem is that the car is programmed to recognize the lightning cable not the USBC so I got a lightning to usbc converter, used it with the lightning cable I had and voila! It works!
The ‘Belkin BoostCharge USB C charger cable’ fixed the problem for me. I ordered it on Amazon for like £9. I read somewhere that the iPhone 15 and up need a stronger cable to make CarPlay work. Hope this helps.
I couldn't connect my new iPhone 16 Pro Max to my 2024 Prado. I spent nearly an hour on the settings in the car and the phone.
Then. Light bulb moment!
I swapped the cable for a new Belkin BoostCharge USB A to C cable and everything workled.
The cable I had been trying was a charge only cable.!!!!!
Make sure you are using your iPhone MFI certified cord. I had the same problem, and just switched cords and it worked. Under Content & Privacy Restrictions, make sure it’s turned on, seems like it might come defaulted to ‘off’.
I had this same exact issue and finally figured it out. You need to buy a USB cable that transfer data!
Translation: Even though it may be charging your phone or playing music (through Bluetooth) CarPlay won’t work.
I went to the Apple Store and bought Mophie brand cable “USB-A to USB-C” for 19.99. Like magic it finally worked!
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I had the same problem: IPhone 16 in a Sienna 16. The issue is the cable, nothing else. I switched to one that can transfer data, not just charge the phone, and it worked, after also turning on „Apple Intelligence and Siri“ in Settings ( really? I just want to see the Google map on my display, not be exposed by that dumb „Apple Intelligence“. Didn’t see a way to do it without it. Sigh. )
As others have stated the problem was fixed 100% by using the Apple USB-C to Lighting Adapter. I have the iPhone 16 Plus and after a year of frustration finally bought the adapter today and voila it is fixed. Just mad I didn't do this sooner.
USB-C to Lightning Adapter - Apple
It’s because of your charger! Not every charger (even the iphone one) can transfer data. You have to try other cords
The Bluetooth in the car may not be multi-link meaning that you cannot have controls designed for dialing and accessing contacts connected to your phone and concurrently allowing a Bluetooth Car Play connection. Review the CX-5 owners manual and check with the Mazda Service department to determine if Mazda has released a CarPlay firmware update for your vehicle, or if the Mazda CarPlay implementation in 2018 is not compatible with CarPlay in iOS 18.
OP update (2018 Mazda CX-5). I found that the cable I had borrowed from another device in my home was one of those that provide power but not data.
So CarPlay “works” now. But very oddly. I’ve seen this pattern repeat for the past three days:
It’s so bizarre, and completely repeatable. You would think it would either work or not work.
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I had this same problem and doing a "Reset to factory settings" on the car radio is what fixed it for me.
I have three GM vehicles (two 2017 Chevy Cruzes and a 2019 Chevy Traverse) that I had been using with my iPhone XR via CarPlay for years. When I upgraded to an iPhone16 Pro the Traverse and one of the Cruzes worked immediately, but the second Cruze wouldn't recognize the phone via CarPlay no matter what I did. After two days of fiddling I finally did "Reset to factory settings" after which it instantly recognized the new phone.
Update: I just returned my first 16 Pro Max & swapped it for another… IOS 18.1 & running CarPlay, Bluetooth & AirPlay perfectly now! T-Mobile said this is unfortunately becoming a very common issue and they’ve had many returned iPhones lately.
I HAVE A SOLUTION!!!! If your car works with the original iPhone cord, get an adapter that makes it USB-C and that’ll fix it. I tried for over a week to fix my car or phone and I got an adapter for the iPhone cord and CarPlay immediately worked!!!!!
I hade same problem with 16 Pro and Alpine system. Reset everything, wiped carplay settings in phone, erased phone several times from Alpine. Reset Alpine system, none worked. Finally found out that when I add the phone, I have to tell it to do Car play and Hands Free. Clicked on that and it connected right away. Working now.
Hello, I encountered a similar issue trying to connect multiple iphone 16s to a 2020 toyota highlander and wanted to share how I fixed it. Took it to the dealer who had an iphone 13, his paired no problem, but he had no clue otherwise. So I went home and tried a few things.
The fix for me was to first reset the car radio to factory settings, then remove the old 'my cars' connection from the iphone 16, and then disable apple intelligence, and under 'talk to siri' setting, turn on 'press side button for siri' which prompted do i want to enable siri. select yes, and voila, carplay works.
HTH
CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro
