iPhone 17 CarPlay Disconnects and won’t work

Updated to 26.1 and still keeps disconnecting.

Problem is my Pioneer head unit not the iOS.

I got an £20 dongle of Amazon and it’s worked great since, not one single disconnection.

Even though my Pionner is wireless CarPlay. The dongle is sold as turning wired only car play units into wireless units. This bypasses the issue with the Pioneers Bluetooth and uses the better bluetooth in the dongle. Issue solved!

Great news folks - I just downloaded i.OS 26.1 ( the very newest upgrade, released 3 November 2025) and CarPlay now works fine! No connection/ disconnection issues.

So kust make sure your CarPlay unit has its latest software, update your iOS to 26.1 ( NOT iOS 26.0.1) and the CarPlay will connect & stay connected.

Yippee!

This post confirms that not only do you need iOS 26.1, but also you need to download or make sure that the head unit in your car has its latest software. It seems that iPhone 17s have tweaked bluetooth, and if your car doesn’t have the latest version of its own software, it will not connect cleanly with iOS 26. Ihave an aftermarket head unit from 2023, and after installing both iOS 26.1 and the head unit’s latest software, everything worked fine. If your head unit doesn’t have a USB plug or can’t download directly (or its software is not upgradeable) then the unit needs replacing.

“iOS 26.0.1 just released and they fixed the problem of the random wlan and bluetooth disconnects.[…]”

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All the more reason to report bugs to Apple.

I updated to 26.0.1 and one of our two cars started working ok. Our 2022 Ram 2500 works However the aftermarket "CPlay2Air" wireless CarPlay adapter that is connected to my 2017 VW Golf still has the same disconnecting issue. This adapter has been working flawlessly for years with numerous different iPhones.

Updated to 26.2 and the problem still persists. Setup: iPhone 17 Pro, wired CarPlay (USB-A to USB-C cable). I've tried several cables, also branded ones (Anker) that sell under "CarPlay" cable. But it doesn't matter what cable I use, this problem is still here.

CarPlay disconnects usually after 30 seconds to 2 minutes. I then reinsert the cable and it restarts, it loses the connection after 30 seconds to 2 minutes. In about 5 to 10 percent of tries, it works without any flaws for the whole drive that can last an hour and the next time it just disconnects after seconds again.

I've tried everything like disabling VPN (I use 1Blocker that toggles VPN to the enabled position), I disconnected my Apple Watch, I turned off WiFi and Bluetooth, but all those things don't change the behaviour of CarPlay.

On my older iPhone 12 Pro, CarPlay worked flawlessly in this very car. The problem is the combination of iPhone 17 Pro with iOS 26. I will write a bug report to Apple, but I am really disappointed that after two major updates this problem wasn't addressed at all.

iOS 26.0.1 just released and they fixed the problem of the random wlan and bluetooth disconnects. It should be fixed now :)

I still need to test it out but im beeing optimistic

I agree. My aftermarket CarPlay device has worked flawlessly with pre-iOS26 and iPhone 14. But now with iOS 26 and an iPhone 17 CarPlay disconnects after about 10 to 15 seconds. Then after five or so seconds reconnects and then plays for some number of random seconds and disconnect again. This never never never occurred previously. If I connect Bluetooth directly to the CarPlay device, it will stay connected without a problem. But then you have to use your phone as the controller to change songs and of course you cannot use your apps on the card device screen. But if I connect as CarPlay, turning on CarPlay in the iPhone 17, then it will not stay connected (and I know that uses Wi-Fi) so this appears to have something to do with the Wi-Fi connection to CarPlay.

I just updated my phone to 26.1 and wireless CarPlay is fixed and now works as expected with my CPlay2Air adapter.

I also confirmed it still works via wireless on a 2022 Ram 2500. (It never broke on the Ram)

Posted yesterday what I thought might be a fix to iPhone 17 disconnecting from car. Tried it this morning and it worked -

Settings>General>CarPlay>Your model car should appear under My Car, tap your car>Allow CarPlay While Locked turned on to green.

Why Apple makes everything so convoluted we will never know..........anyone have easy way to link a song in Music to a contact without going through Garage Band??? Ridiculously convoluted and complicated.

I have an iphone17 Pro Max, and my carplay worked fine until I upgraded to ios 26.1. After upgrading to ios 26.1, I get a blank screen in my car after connecting to CarPlay. I get the same symptom in my 2018 VW Jetta, my 2021 RAM 1500, and also wirelessly in a 2025 Toyota Camry. Different cables. When I connect using my iphone15, running 26.1, that phone works fine. So, it appears to be something with iPhone17 and ios 26.1. I've tried rebooting several times, resetting network settings, and nothing fixes the issue, nor changes my blank screen. All head units say I'm connected and Carplay is working, but I just have a blank screen on all vehicles.

"[...]syncing correctly and it’s purely the 17 device with ios26 which has problems. And the above seems to be becoming widely reported quickly looking at X and Reddit."

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Report this DIRECTLY to Apple:

X and Reddit are not Apple. Nor is Reddit affiliated with Apple So, to get the word out to Apple, report it to Apple, directly. These are just user-to-user forums. Apple takes no time in reading these forums on their own will and time.

So, do your Part: Provide Apple with feedback on this, letting them know about this issue.  Apple may not get back to you directly, but the more feedback they receive on this, the more they will know what is occurring, and what bug fixes to include in updates to come. Apple will know nothing of this, if you don't report it to them.

1. Go Here: Feedback - iPhone - Apple
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: that this all began after installing an update. Include the URL of this thread.
4. Proceed from there as necessary