Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16 Pro

lobsterghost1 wrote:

iPhone has NEVER paired with a computer via Bluetooth, Mac or otherwise. When you have your AirPods and want to use them on your MacBook Pro, tap the Bluetooth icon at the top of the MacBook screen and look for your AirPods and then tap them to use them on your Mac.

I'm not sure what the current use case would be for Bluetooth pairing an iPhone to a Mac — back when I did it, the justification was using Bluetooth instead of Personal Hotspot to access the internet from a MacBook via an iPhone, something I believe is no longer supported on the latest macOS versions and hardware — but it's wrong to say it was NEVER supported, and it might even also be wrong to suggest there's no longer a use case for it.

Anyway, here's a screenshot showing where it used to be managed in older macOS versions:

Whether you could at one point in time, I don't recall. I don't believe iPhone ever paired with a Mac or a PC via Bluetooth. Even in your screenshot, the iPhone is not lit, indicating it may be there, but may not be available to pair. It's academic however, as you can't pair an iPhone to a Mac via Bluetooth now. If you want to get internet service from an iPhone to a Mac, you use Hotspot as your option.

It's fine — I didn't make that screenshot myself (I no longer have a use case for Bluetooth PAN on my MacBook, nor time to try setting it up for the purpose of this discussion), but it's from one of the many articles you'll find out there when you Google how to pair your iPhone and Mac.

Here are a couple more — one from a Mac displaying a connected iPhone, and another from a different article made with an iPhone displaying a connected Mac:

I'm definitely not trying to drag anybody here, and I'm also painfully aware that the functionality of Apple devices can change as OS software updates — sometimes even functionality for some users' job-critical use cases.

But this isn't just pedanticism. When users are describing difficulty doing things they've always and very recently been able to do before upgrading to the current iPhone 16 hardware, it's important to be clear about what has or hasn't ever been possible with past hardware.

ted2tall never said they were talking about Bluetooth PAN specifically, or anything that would indicate that Personal Hotspot was the way to resolve their issue. Without more information, I'm not sure it's possible for any of us to say whether they're experiencing a technical issue or reduced or modified functionality — but if they're trying to accomplish something they'd been doing with their iPhone 11 as recently as September, it's quite possible they're having the same issues other users are describing here.

I’ve just bought a 16Pro Max and have got this problem. Out of 3 Bluetooth devices I have (including a brand new NVR), only 1 device connects (a speaker). I have tried every single “solution” given here - and those on YouTube - but nothing works. My old iPhone didn’t have this problem. Had I known about this I would not have bought the new phone….. Major problem…

Jeff Donald wrote:

That’s just NFC for Tap-To-Cash. The framework was added it iOS 17.

Yes — but as someone explained it to me in the past, Apple uses the NFC chip to support payments (Pay, Tap‑to‑Cash, Transit Cards, etc.) and file transfer (AirDrop) — but also device pairing (more here, I think). Until we know more about this issue, it seems to me there's an extremely nonzero chance changes to NFC-related settings could be relevant.

FuXi272 wrote:

Hi everyone, last time I turned off the airdrop auto-connection switch, and the connection problem finally recovered. Today I turned on NFC and used it to take the subway. I came to the office, then bomb, the Bluetooth disconnection problem appeared again. I had no choice but to turn off NFC and restart the phone. After running for a few hours, the problem did not occur again before I posted this.

That's interesting. Please tell us how you turned off NFC on your iPhone. There is NO setting on iPhone to turn it on or off.

NFC was a manual setting on older iPhones — I could be wrong but I think the 2018 models (11/XS/XR) were the last ones to have it. That year’s models are the oldest to run iOS 18, too, so it’s very possible some users are still seeing an NFC setting under Settings → General. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a solution for users of phones built since then, tho’.

It does add some intrigue to the notion that fiddling with settings like AirDrop is a reason some users are having success fixing this issue, too.

I have an Xr and it doesn’t have NFC switch under iOS 17 or currently iOS 18. XS is an earlier model than Xr. I had one, but don’t remember it having a NFC switch.

It might a developer tool and require adding additional software to enable the switch.

I can confirm that iPhone 7 does not have a switch either.

Jeff Donald wrote:

I have an Xr and it doesn’t have NFC switch under iOS 17 or currently iOS 18. XS is an earlier model than Xr. I had one, but don’t remember it having a NFC switch.

I don't have a ton of time to look into this, but that jibes with this WikiHow article from a couple months ago that says, "iPhones older than the XS don't support background NFC reading." I should know better than to trust my memory. At least some versions of the iPhone 6 and later had this option for a while, tho'; it looked like this.

Regardless, it would absolutely be interesting to hear more from users who say they do see "NFC" under Settings → General, and that futzing with it has an impact on their Bluetooth pairing issues — especially given that Apple links those technologies, for example to provide features like displaying a "Xxxx's AirPods Pro" modal when you open their case near your iPhone.

Yes, I found it in my iPhone 7 Control Center. So, iPhone 8 and below and SE would have it in Control Center, but there is no switch to disable/enable in Settings > General.

The Control Center NFC switch doesn’t appear to be on/off either. Tapping it seems to just enable the NFC tag reader. It’s not on off for Apple Pay.

This is driving me crazy, I have reset network settings and still doesn't connect to my car. It pairs fine but won't reconnect the next time I get in. My 13 pro max was solid, this 16 pro max is rubbish.

This is NOT going to work for me. I will demand my money back. I have two pairs of earbuds, two headphones, my car and several speakers. I use my phone for music and for the ads I make for my business so I literally use several different types of music accessories and none of are discoverable on this new iPhone. I will pack five of my speakers, both headsets and earbuds and whatever else I find that won’t pair and I will sit at the Genius Bar until they fix it or give me a a phone that will. I didn’t pay $1500 for this phone just to have to go through a huge inconvenience to fix the issue. They are going to have to be nice and give me something nicer than a phone case for this. I’m MAD!

Please remove this reply. It’s flagged as the top answer and this does NOT work.

At least provide that basic level of service to your users/customets, please.

Thank you…from every Apple 16PM owner who is experiencing this issue, and just wants their device to work as advertised.

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mgrad92 wrote:

I did some thinking about this, because the Bluetooth kit in my car doesn't have an unpair/forget function — but I realized I could accomplish the same thing by pairing it with a different device. (My car kit maintains only one paired device at a time.)

So I took a new iPad mini (A17 Pro) out there and paired it with the car kit to make it "forget" my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I then verified that the car kit was forgotten in the iPhone settings, too, and then reset network settings on the iPhone. When everything was up and running again, I tried forgetting the car kit in the iPad settings and paired the car kit with my iPhone again — and the iPhone still would not reconnect automatically when starting the car.

The new thing I learned during this process, tho', was that while the iPad was paired with the car kit, it did reconnect automatically. This now feels even more to me like an iPhone-specific problem, and possibly hardware-related?

I think I've mentioned this before, but it still seems important to me that if I have Bluetooth settings open on the iPhone when I start the car, I get a pop-up modal saying the car kit wants to pair (or connect, I forget the wording) and asking me to approve/deny. I don't think I've seen that modal on any other device, ever.

I'd say it's more an issue with your "car kit." My iPhone pairs automatically every time I enter my car. If it was an iPhone specific issue, it would be happening to everyone, but it's not. You should reach out to the car manufacturer and see if an update may be required for your cars infotainment system.