Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16

After hours fighting with this and with tech support from Apple and Verizon, I found a fix for connecting to my car. If I start a phone call before I start my car, it will transfer to bluetooth and stay connected. So until there's a real fix, I will make a call to a dummy number right before going anywhere

I can’t even get my 16 to pair with either of our 2 cars. Never ever had this problem with the 12. Paired it at least 20 times with various rental cars over the years too.

The problem isn’t it won’t connect but that it keeps stuttering when connected . If I unlock my phone while playing music to a speaker it cuts off

Finally got all my bluetooth devices to connect reliably. It turns out the iPhone 16 pro max was fine all along even if the transition from the previous model was not seamless as before. The fix for me was to use the Google search bar with a query such as "XXX issues with iPhone 16?" where XXX is the Bluetooth device or its app. The resulting advice worked for me but is specific to each device.

Same problem here between 2013 car and AirPods 2nd gen. Phone keeps switching back to AirPods and having to manually switch back to car.

My CarPlay disconnects and my watch refuses to unlock ☹️

I have the same issue. Is it possible to return the phone? Is it covered by the 1 year warranty?

I’m having the same Bluetooth issues with my new 16 Pro. I was unable to connect my Apple Watch at setup. I followed online advice to forget the watch and set up as a new watch and it cannot connect to my new phone. Initially my new phone connected fine with my car’s starlink then later in the day the Bluetooth started stuttering. I turned my phone off and back on hoping that would fix the issue. Now it won’t connect at all to the starlink. This is supper frustrating! I made an appointment with a genius but it doesn’t sound like that is going to fix the issue either. Apple please fix this!

How is it possible that they still haven't released an update to fix the Bluetooth problem? We're talking about Apple and a new iPhone. I've done everything I can think of and it doesn't work. It's frustrating.

this makes absolutely no sense. Why should we have to start again as new, losing all of our settings and saved passwords because Apple has a defective product? Apple has to fix what they broke.

I agree 100%. This 16 pro max is the worst phone I have ever owned. I want my 12 pro max back. Never ever had an issue with Bluetooth on that phone. Getting ready to return this 16.

It work good for 20 minute on my car, and after that it is impossible to keep connection more than 1 minute without crash connection.

On my AirPods it’s more stable, but I have crash too

My e-bike, I cannot connect at all. It crash immediately then « connect » but no function work. So I think the iPhone is connected but cannot share data with the bike.

I tried to remove all device, reboot, reset network settings, nothing fix my issue ..

Upgraded my iPhone 16 pro max to iOS 18.0.1 but still cannot connect via bluetooth to my Richo GRIII camera and Omron device. They were fine with iPhone 15 pro max and I have tried resetting network settings on iPhone 16. Fortunately CarPlay and the iWatch bluetooth connections seem reliable.

Get to the point where Bluetooth literally shuts off and won’t let me turn it back on on my phone. I paid more money for a phone with less features than most flagships because I thought the premium was for stability and reliability. This is definitely not a good look especially considering how Apple were the ones who pushed the market towards wireless connectivity making bluetooth a necessity instead of a feature. Deal with it already this should be #1 on the priority list RN

Call Apple at 1-800-MYAPPLE. (692-7753). They're very quick there. Just tell the first person you talk to (you know -- politely. Don't ruin his day and make him feel like a useless raisin lol) that multiple people in Apple Discussions are having the same problem and you think you're probably going to need a senior advisor because it's a complex issue with multiple possible causes. Or words to that effect.... That'll get them to move along quicker.

And never hang up before you get a case number bc if you need to call back, they'll never find your case (I know this bc as a broadcasting teacher, I had lots of Apple products and was often on the phone with them, especially at first).