CarPlay stopped working after iOS 26 update.

I have same issues with a 2020 Toyota RAV4 and Iphone 17 (pro and pro max) on 26.2. My fix:

Connect Iphone with USB cable !!before!! starting car. Alternatively you can delete the BT pairing in the car and the phone. Wired carplay does not need BT. The issue seems to be if BT connects, Carplay (wired) will not. I've spent many, many hours trying to figure this out. I have applied all available updates to the RAV4 nav unit. Connectivity on 26.2 is very flaky on older cars.

Apple figured out my problem! After the 26.3.1 update, my wireless CarPlay stopped working. I tried everything...resetting the car infotainment, backing up my phone and reinitializing as a new phone, forgetting the car in my phone's bluetooth, etc etc. I even thought it might be a car issue because I had an update for the car as well that happened at the same time (naturally). It wasn't the car at all because the dealer tried two different iPhones from different people and they both connected to wireless CarPlay.

I finally called Apple....and I will say that I got EXCELLENT help! The first advisor walked m through a few things and that didn't help so she escalated the issue and I got connected to a Sr. Engineer. Here's what he had me do, and it took only 10 minutes.

1) Forget car from bluetooth

2)) Reset network settings on phone (phone restarts)

3) On iPhone, Rename phone via settings>general>about

4) Reconnect phone bluetooth BUT NOT IN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS UNDER GENERAL.  Go to Settings>General>CarPlay and click your car there.

Voila! Let me know if this helps you.

I think I got my car play to work. After I started having problems with the iPhone 17 I installed the 26.0.1 update and the problems got worse. CarPlay would shut off, then come back on, using Siri locked it up completely, and it would shut down during phone calls. I reset the phone, my jeep’s audio system, paired and re-paired the audio system and the iPhone. Nothing worked until I went to the Apple Store and bought a Morphie brand USB A to USB C cable. It solved the problem. I used CarPlay for an hour and a half without a single drop or lock up. Strange but true.

Update, have finally had success with Apple Car Play feature in my car! After months of trying everything posted in this thread and with apple support, I finally found a fix. I reset factory network setting on my phone then tried using a different USB port in my car. Trying each of the 4 new cords I purchased in the other usb port, only one of the cords works every time. So, now I use a different usb port (not the port I have been using for YEARS!) and a specific cord for my 17 pro max and my kids phones use the other port with a different cord. So dumb -- but it works. I can finally enjoy using Apple Car play with my new phone. So for those of us still suffering, try using a different port to connect your phone and try all the new cords you bought and hopefully one will work. Good luck.

UPDate: i spoke to customer support today and it was escalated to a senior engineer. Was asked to delete VPN, reset network settings, deleted my car from CARPLAY, deleted my iPhone from my CAR’s config and then re-added my phone to the config: NOTE: they also told me to rename my iphone to iphone1.

I did a quick 20 minute ride with maps running and music: result, no freeze and music played cleanly. I’ll have a 90 minute ride tomorrow and will update

I have a 2015 Porsche Boxster GTS which does not have a factory CarPlay feature. I installed a GTA CarKit PCM Head Unit 2 years ago to provide CarPlay functionality and a reversing camera feature (for when you back-up). Wireless CarPlay was perfect until IOS 26 which frequently dropped the connection. My solution was to purchase Ottocast MirrorTouch which offered a solid wireless CarPlay connection. It has Screen Mirroring which needs a cable to the iPhone when you (more so your passenger) want to watch Youtube, Netflix, Prime Video, FoxNews, etc... without having to use your Personal Hotspot data. More importantly, the PCM screen allows bi-directional control of your iPhone's functions.

Yesterdays 26.1 update has fixed my issues with CarPlay. In fact the widgets are gorgeous!

All of you, please update your iOS to the latest version, 26.1. I’ve tried it, and it worked for me, eliminating all disconnections.

Disabling the active VPN for me immediately fix the issue as well. In my case, it was Windscribe VPN.

I noticed that the problem gets worse when I use the Waze app. I deleted it, and for now everything is working normally.

I updated OS to 26.2.1 yesterday and Apple Car Play worked today.

I'd been having this too. Cleaned USB port, new Anker USB-A to USB-C cable, used port closest to screen, up-dated to 26.0.1, disconnected other devices in car. iPhone 17 Pro been dropping every 5 minutes or so using Waze. Drove five hours today -- knock on wood -- without a single drop. Not sure why.

While CarPlay widgets may be causing issues, it isn't anything to do with the Head Unit; CarPlay simply uses the head unit as a screen and input device; All of the code, including Widgets, is actually running on your phone.

Turning CarPlay widgets off and the back on seemed to resolve the problem I was having with the screen not being responsive to "swipes".

Hopefully Apple will address this bug in an update

Updating to iOS 26.1 actually made my problem worse. It was good with iOS 26.0.1 after disabling the widgets.

To help with maintain a connection I have created an automation in the shortcuts app that restarts my WiFi when CarPlay disconnects. This is also helped me somewhat debug the issue. What I’ve noticed is this seems to be related to when the phone switches cell towers as I live in a fairly mountainous region I lose my carplay connection at around the same areas the phone should be switching cell towers. That being said, I don’t think the cell towers are the actual cause but point to a bug in Apple‘s code that causes a small Wi-Fi glitch when cell towers are being switched.

I have attached a screenshot of the automation in case anybody is interested.

I have found if after connecting I turn off WiFi and then turn it on again which forces Carplay to reconnect. Thereafter it works ok.