CarPlay disconnects using iPhone 16 with USB C

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CarPlay disconnects using iPhone 16 with USB C

I've had issues with CarPlay disconnecting from my iPhone 16 Pro since updating to 18.4.1.

I've tried everything, but since 18.4.1 my CarPlay connection is flaky: if I touch the cable or drive over a bump, or in any way slightly wiggle the USB C cable it disconnects (it keeps charging though).

After trying everything (yes everything):

Clean port, new cables, resetting the car and the iPhone network settings, trying different phones running different iOS's, renaming my phone, turning off Bluetooth, VPNs, roaming, tethering.

I've even bought a very expensive USB A to USB C cable directly from Apple and it still disconnects.

I've narrowed it down to:

iPhones with Lightning ports running 18.4.1 are OK. (Lightning ports have a more secure fit than USB C).

iPhones with USB C ports running 18.4.1 all have the same disconnect behaviour.

It seems like the update made the USB C connection over-sensitive to even slight movement in the port.

18.4.1 had fixes for wireless CarPlay, it also seems to have introduced issues for wired USB C CarPlay.

The only thing that has me stumped is one phone (USBC iPhone 16 not running 18.4.1) also exhibited the disconnect behaviour.

I don't know whether updating my iPhone to iOS 18.4.1, updated CarPlay and then it also installed some sort of protocol in my car that now makes non 18.4.1 USBC iPhones randomly disconnect.

Although I know that CarPlay doesn't do this, it just mirrors your phone's display.

I guess we wait for the next update, otherwise I'm buying a wireless CarPlay adapter.

iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on May 1, 2025 10:55 AM

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Answer 1

co1indarby Author

Level 1

30 points

May 6, 2025 11:08 AM in response to co1indarby

UPDATE - It's Apple Intelligence that's causing my problem.

All of a sudden one cable (that had not worked previously) suddenly worked again (a Juice one).

It worked flawlessly again, wiggling the cable did not make it disconnect - the connection didn’t skip a beat.

I thought about what had changed and I remember reading on Reddit that someone mentioned Apple Intelligence.

I’ve tried restarting it before and it didn’t work, but I remember that I hadn’t tried every cable, for some reason restarting AI makes this (and only this) cable work.

So I tried the other cables, assuming they would all work, and here is where it gets weird.

Trying the other cables didn’t work, but it also then made the Juice cable not work again.

So I restarted Apple Intelligence again and it worked again.

Looking at this logically, Apple Intelligence is doing ‘something’ to the information that it stores about cables.

I don’t even know if it does that, I know it checks for MFi cables, but is it keeping track of each cable and then that gets confused by Apple Intelligence?

Anyway this worked for me and only this cable works, not other cable works even expensive Apple & Beats ones.

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CarPlay disconnects using iPhone 16 with USB C

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