Wireless connectivity issue on iPhone 17 Pro Max

Hi fekolino84

welcome to this Apple (user-to-user Community.

Re: "iPhone 17 Pro Max x CarPlay : I have an iPhone 17 Pro Max. My two cars have Apple CarPlay, and I'm

having connection problems. CarPlay connects, and then after a few minutes, the connection drops.

Both cars have wireless connectivity. What can I do? Is there an update I need?

✽ You may be connecting iPhone and Car ok, but not accessing internet

Seems you need to have both wi-fi and bluetooth turned on on your iPhone in order to stay connected.

✽ Keeping iPhone's iOS version

and

the cars infotainment / stereo system's firmware

both up-to-date often side-steps issues.

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Wondering which iOS version is installed on your iPhone.

For iOS 18 About iOS 18 Updates - Apple Support says iOS 18.7.2 is the newest version

and "This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users."

For iOS 26: About iOS 26 Updates - Apple Support says iOS 26.1 is the latest version

and "This update adds new languages ... other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPhone".

✽ You can check if updates are available for iPhone by going to Settings > General > Software updates

Reminder: If you decide to update or upgrade: It is always wise to back-up iPhone first

__________________________

✽ To check for firmware updates : To check what is available: You may need to look in the car-s manual, and / or on the manufacturer's support website ... if needed: you can try asking the car-dealer or car-service provider.

________________________

✽ Trouble-shooting if needed:

Apple support also have a trouble-shooting article online (link below) with tips that may be helpful:

If CarPlay isn't working as you would expect it to,

find out what to do: If you need help with CarPlay - Apple Support

All the best :-)

I think it's a combination of iPhone 17 and iOS26.

Same for me.

I have an iPhone 14 that worked flawlessly before iOS26 no matter what cable or what car.

After iOS26, CarPlay would start freezing now and then. Disconnecting and reconnecting the cable would fix the thing.

Now people tell you it's a faulty cable. Np! It does the same with an official Apple cable. And before iOS26, zero problems. Never.

Then I bought an iPhone 17 Pro. Disaster.

CarPlay freezes about every 30s to 2 minutes. Most of the time, the car can't even recognize CarPlay anymore until the day after.

No, it's not the car firmware. I tried this on 5 different cars, all with up to date software.

Finally, I decided to return to my iPhone 14 and everything works perfectly despite a few freezes now and then.

iPhone 14 Carplay problems up to IOS 18: zero

iPhone 14 Carplay problems up to IOS 26: about 2-3 times a week

iPhone 17 Carplay problems with iOS26: about each time. Impossible to use.

My wife iPhone 15, zero problem with iOS18.

iPhone 15 with iOS26: just like my 14Pro, a few freezes a week.

Bought her a 17 ProMax, Carplay unusable.

Hopefully iOS26.2 will fix those problems (and the numerous internet connectivity issues in both 4G and 5G, as well as global WiFi)

[Edited by Moderator]

Thank you for your reply. You might want to send feedback to reach those who work behind-the-scenes at Apple. If others are affected too, the more info. they receive at Apple, (on which hardware models, iOS versions, and firmware versions, are affected) the better.

Apple's feedback website: Product Feedback - Apple