Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16 Pro

Case solved with the update 18.1.

Upgrading to IOS 18.1 solved my problem. My phone connected via Bluetooth to my Cadillac Cue Infotainment system and no more issues.

Is the 15 Pro nearby and powered on?

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.

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 setup my iphone 16 via a transfer from my iphone 14. Spent a day trying to get the bluetooth to work. Not sure if this is the solution, I went into my old iphone 14 bluetooth setting and selected forget this item on the items I tried to connect to the new iphone 16. After forgetting the items on the iphone 14 they all showed up on the new iphone 16. I guess my iphone 14 was jealous of my iphone 16. For now, my fitbit, and sony earbuds are connected to my iphone 16 bluetooth. I will see if this solved the issue.

I have the iPhone 16 Pro Max and I have the same issue. I have found that if I reset network settings every single time I get in my car that it will connect. If I forget to it connects and disconnects over and over. Sometimes for 10 minutes sometimes for 35 minutes. Its crazy. Do better Apple.

I am gonna solve all your Bluetooth issues at once. I had the same issue with my iPhone 6 pro and it wouldn’t recognise many Bluetooth devices and I was about to return it to the Apple and swap it with Another phone but I figured it out the way to fix the issue. Even the Apple support didn’t know about it. so basically, Apple made the Bluetooth pairing much more difficult by putting a specific protocols for first pairing which means for each device you need to go to your devices manual and find out what is the step-by-step pairing instruction and follow that exactly as the device manual says and it will work perfectly but every device is different so you have to follow each devices individual manual instructions, if you dont have it google the model number and it will come up. For example for pairing my Sony headphone I usually turn it on and also turn on my phone bluetooth and I simply click on the name on bluetooth list but it didn't work on iPhone 16. The Sony headphone manual says turn it on and hold the power for 5 seconds when it start flashing twice at the time its ready to pair , so I followed it and it worked.

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.

In my experience it’s always best to make an appointment first. The general sales floor staff are good, but depending on their years of experience may have less experience. The real Genius’ you have to have an appointment to see.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Rebel Kell wrote:

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!

Without "quoting" who you are responding to, it's hard to know what didn't work. Please answer this simple question:

For any device which you say won't pair with your iPhone, did you put them in PAIRING MODE per the manufacturers directions for them to pair? I find it almost impossible to believe nothing will pair with your iPhone. And that would be true, if nothing was put in PAIRING MODE first, for your iPhone to be able to see and pair with.

Have you gone through this support article to learn more about how to pair Bluetooth devices to your iPhone --> Pair a third-party Bluetooth accessory with your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

PDL7 wrote:

I have tried all my manufacturer's instructions to the tee on my iPhone 16 for my iPad, car connection, and my wife's for her ear buds, but no connection. It is not just the precise instructions detail, but Apple's software failure in connectivity. I also did complete network connectivity reboots and tried other possbile fix methods, no success. I had no issue whats so ever with my iPhone XR.

Apple, PLEASE assist in resolving this or I will simply return our phones or put in a warranty claim on the carrier's warranty and let them deal with Apple after those claims start to multiply rapidly.

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.

After the aborted purchase of the iPhone 16 at John Lewis, today I went and bought the identical phone from the Apple Re-seller near me. They set up the phone by connecting to my current iphone. I took the phone to the car and connected it via the cable and the CarPlay immediately worked. I don't know what the issue was at John Lewis but they were extremely unhelpful and almost put me off trying again but the team today were the complete opposite and I couldn't be happier.

I saw a lot of people having the same issue as me and perhaps you could try re-setting your phone and setting it up using the current phone you use. At the time I said to the team I had tried using the iCloud backup but they told me not to use that - maybe this will help some of you.

If it happens in specific places, and the same places every time, it is almost certainly microwave interference→Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference - Apple Support. The frequency range used by Bluetooth is in an unlicensed band, and is also included in S band (2 to 4 GHz) radar. Uses include airport surveillance radar, air traffic control radar, surface ship radar, weather radar and ground penetrating radar. So if you are near an airport, body of water when larger boats and ships or weather stations that is a likely cause. Bluetooth’s 2.4 GHz is right in the middle of S band.

Update to my previous replies.

TL;DR: I purchased a new 2025 car and bluetooth now works flawlessly with it. Makes me think the issue is something about newer bluetooth protocol changes and lack of backward compatibility in the iPhone 16 software.

Summary: when I upgraded from an iPhone 12 to a 16 PRO, bluetooth would not work in my 2019 vehicle. It also wouldn't work with another device (a pickleball ball machine). But it did work with my (old) Apple ear buds.

I tried all the suggestions here, from forgetting all devices (and personal data) in the car to completely rebuilding the phone from scratch (which was done by Apple techs in an Apple Store) and that didn't fix the problem.

Now it works in my 2025 vehicle. I assume it still doesn't work with the pickleball machine but I haven't had a chance to try that (I don't own it).