Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16 Pro

omg! it took a year and finally fixed the problem with airdrop off, Thanks!

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).

I finally fixed the bluetooth issue I had with my Bose speakers. My phone was showing the speakers but wouldn't connect. I had tried everything from forgetting the device to rebooting iPhone, doing the network settings thing suggested, etc. In the end I had to reset the speakers themselves and then repair them.

I had this problem, until I discovered that I had to go to all the third party devices that had been paired to my old phone and “unpair” them (at the third party device). That was easier said than done as many devices are very difficult to unpair….

This is going to be a longer post than I intended. There's no solution here for this issue, or specific advice for troubleshooting it, so please feel free to skip it.

The most important, productive piece of advice you'll get from any discussion in this forum will be to make sure you contact Apple Support. While this user forum is a great place to discuss your experiences or vent your frustrations, it's important — to everyone sharing your issue — that you also make actual Apple techs aware of what you're experiencing, so they can research and resolve it.

If you're having a problem that you need fixed immediately, in addition to posting about it here you should install the official Apple Support app on your phone and use it to report your issue; the app will direct you to the best place to find help, possibly in person, possibly via phone support, etc. You could also just go directly to Fortunately, iPhone 16 devices are new and still fully covered by AppleCare+, so you're likely to get a response that's quick, friendly, and free.

It's important to be aware, tho', that searches on Apple Support's official website, support.apple.com, will often direct users to these discussions as well as to official support articles; that might seem unusual, but it's because of Apple users' long history of discovering workarounds and sharing them here.

We're still waiting for that breakthrough in this thread, obviously — but when it arrives it'll come from someone who ignored posts suggesting their problem doesn't/can't possibly exist, or that if it exists, it must be an easily-resolved PICNIC issue.

And feel free to disregard statements that there can be no problem with software like iOS unless it affects all users — it's obviously false, unhelpful, and discourages you from sharing information about what does, in fact, seem like it could be unusual behavior. It's the opposite of what these discussions are meant for.

(There are, naturally, myriad reasons why some users experience issues with a software or software product while others don't. Apple is better about quality than most, and by a wide margin — but not perfect, and many popular, successful Apple products have at times experienced problems that were prickly to troubleshoot *precisely because* they only affected a small subset of use cases. If you've owned or used many Apple products over the past 40 years, you probably recall a few.)

The good news is, Apple is also better than most at solving even the prickliest of these issues, eventually; it just takes time. In the meanwhile, please simultaneously use Apple Support and post in this forum about what you've done to troubleshoot this problem, whether on your own or with Apple Support's help — and don't let anyone deter you from doing that. Even just venting your frustration here is fine; in fact, it's probably better to do that here than to Apple Support techs, as long as you're using both.

Apple users have a proven track record of poking around until they find something that works, and this forum has a proven track record as the place those workarounds are shared. Please don't be discouraged by unproductive posts implying that since not everyone shares your problems, the problem must be you.

I have a fix. I just keep my old iPhone 11 Pro in the car. I use WiFi to update it, so I have all my music on it. It still connects to all my Bluetooth devices, unlike my 16 Pro Max.

So now I can listen to music while driving.

I visited the Apple Store too. Tried to get my issues addressed, but they said my phone was fine.

Suggested maybe getting a newer vehicle may help with Bluetooth. (not joking).

Use your old iPhone, the one that works, maybe at some point in the future Apple will address this.

I made a video demonstrating me connecting the 11 Pro and playing music in my car, filmed with the 16 pro Max, but I can’t post it here.

After studying this issue for over a year I’ve narrowed it down to a Bluetooth issue with the Qualcomm cell modem in the pro max models since the 15. How I diagnosed this is that in Airplane Mode the issue disappears. In the EU, traveling with the same 16 pro max no issues. Only on the US. So, airplane mode disables the cell modem. In the EU the cell towers broadcast differently. Don’t know exactly how. But it seems to be an issue only on the US, which leads me to the conclusion it’s an incompatibility between the cell modem and 2.4 GHz interference. BT operates at 2.4 GHz btw. Further analysis: The Bluetooth protocol of AAC that the iPhone uses seems to be the key. So, my $179 workaround was to purchase LDAC Bluetooth headphones (Anker earbuds) and use a USBC dongle from Questyle (found it via a YT review on Amazon, released in September 2025). I setup the earbuds as normal, set up the Questyle USBC device, disconnect the earbuds from the iPhone BT settings, connect them to the Questyle device. VOILA! No more Bluetooth issues. Zero. Also works with other Anker LDAC Bluetooth headphones btw. Took me more than a year and endless frustration to solve this. Hopefully with the 17 pro max Apple will be using a new cellular modem that addresses this issue but I’m not holding my breath. Their support is non responsive on this issue. I suspect they know about it but don’t intend to fix it via a replacement. So, LDAC, 2.4 GHz interference from US cell towers, and a poorly tested cellular modem. Thanks, Apple. Bang on lack of thorough testing.

Had several issues with Bluetooth connection migrating from 13Pro to 16Pro. Disconnect of Bluetooth and resetting all network settings solved them all except one. My TagHeuer connected won’t connect still (ios18.0.1). Genius send me to developer of watch. But new connection on my wife’s 13 running 18.0.1 goes smootly???? So Apple fix this!

Reset network settings worked

I have a 16 promax. The other day my car bluetooth would play but no sound was coming out.

i “forget this device”. Restarted phone. Reconnected to the car. In the bluetooth setting on the phone, chose the car, clicked the info button, went to device type and chose the car stereo. Worked fine after that.

hopefully this might help someone else!

jeckcs55 wrote:

I spending hours and hours trying to connect my iphone 16 but still unable to connect to bluetooth. I upgraded from 11 to 16. Any idea other idea how to work this bluetooth? Thanks!

What have you tried? The single biggest reason Bluetooth Devices don't connect with a new iPhone is they didn't put the device in Pairing Mode per the manufacturers direction on how to pair their device. We'd be happy to help you, but you need to explain what you've done and what isn't working for you.

This worked for me on a BMW X5. Start connecting iphone 16 to car's BT, when asking for pin, type either 0000 or 1234 and click OK (don't wait to any more messages on car's dash) as soons as you see the option to input those number on your phone, go ahead and do it. Should work. Good luck!

PDL7 wrote:

You're not writing anyone from Apple here. This is a user to user only forum. If you want Apple to help you, schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar, take your phone and however many Bluetooth devices you can't pair with you and let Apple help you in-person.

-point taken lobsterghost1. It still is a shame so many software’s of today are not vetted properly anymore. Or released and the public used to vet them while the public suffers after paying for higher end products.

I go way back in this area and while I understand the numbers, it’s a low quality product world anymore.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. But please keep in mind if this was a software issue on iPhone 16, it would be happening to everyone who has an iPhone 16. But it's not. There are several people in my office with iPhone 16. I have several friends with iPhone 16. No one I know is having any Bluetooth connectivity issues. That doesn't mean you're not. But you can't assume this is a software issue with iPhone 16. It COULD be a hardware issue however. You could have an issue with the Bluetooth Radio in your iPhone.

That's just reason I would recommend you take your phone and devices you can't pair (except your iPad, because you can't pair an iPad and iPhone via Bluetooth) to your closest Apple Store Genius Bar and let them help you in person.

Remove the old iPhones from your head unit. Name your iPhone correctly in Settings > General > About > Name (first item). Restart your iPhone and pair with head unit.

I just spoke to Apple support .

Turn off everything

Turn phone back on .

Turn bluetooth device on .

Then it connected .

Go figure.

Turn it off and turn it back on !