iPhone5 bluetooth not working

Bluetooth in iPhone 5 is not working. It is not recognizing the bluetooth devices even though its turned on.

iPhone 5, iOS 6

Posted on Sep 21, 2012 7:04 PM

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605 replies

Nov 20, 2012 2:46 PM in response to praveenkay

I am having a slightly different problem and wonder if anyone can help. I have a Mazda CX-5 which connects fine to my Iphone 5, however whenI receive a call it is not coming through the bluetooth system. The phone rings and my car system says 'incoming call' etc and ring, when I press the answer button on my steering wheel, the person who called me can only be heard through the handset but they cannot hear me at all - it sounds dead at my end. I have to go into the call and change the audio source to Mazda bluetooth and hope I do this in time before the caller hangs up or I get caught using my phone in the car!


Any suggestions how this can be a default or anything tips/tricks I can do to make it work?


Thank you!

Nov 20, 2012 2:56 PM in response to clryan9

Hi clryan9, yes I have the same problem with my GM vehicle, which complies with Bluetooth 2.1 and worked with my iphone 4, and still works perfectly with my Galaxy II. My wife has a similar model GM car, a new iphone5 and exactly the same problem. Apple tells me the car manufacturer needs to update.. which is ridiculous since the manufacturer is using the Bluetooth chip and is 2.1 certfied and complaint.


The car manufacturer says they do not need to update anything beacuse I got a new phone, the problem is the phone, their vehicle system still workes with every other phone and device, except .. Apple iphone 5

The problem is Apple, not the car, or the car manufacturer, or the vehicle kit.


The people who are getting fixes due to wrestling this or that way with the phone are symptomatic of how bad Bluetooth has been done by Apple - you shuold need to do any of the keyboard, reset, add this take that gymnastics to get your very expensive phone to work as advertised.


Soem fixes might work for a while, till the connection if reset or soemthing else links to the device and it will all start again - aI have seen some fixes work for a short time, then go back to being problems.


Apple needs to stop the arrogance and fix the problem, first of all, admiting it might help.

Nov 22, 2012 10:31 AM in response to Flashx1

Flashx1 wrote:


The problem is Apple, not the car, or the car manufacturer, or the vehicle kit.



Really - I'd like to see your (or GM's) proof of this.


If anyone at GM would publicly state this, Apple would have to fix their code.


GM hasn't, and in fact multiple device manufacturers are working on fixes for their own software stacks, which they simply wouldn't do if it were, indeed, an Apple bug.


In fact, given the number of Bluetooth developers worldwide, a public discussion of what Apple did wrong would have been made by now, simply to embarrass Apple (especially among Android devs, who typically have no love for iOS.)


It hasn't happened yet.

Nov 22, 2012 2:32 PM in response to deggie

Have a look at the trail of entries here, clearly there are issues that were not there before the 4S and 5.


So, no, your phone working is not enough proof, my phone still does not work with my GM vehicle, regardless of what your phone does with your vehicle.


It's unhelpful to start this kind of aggressive and adversarial dialogue


If your phone works, why are you posting on this forum?

Nov 22, 2012 2:59 PM in response to deggie

I'm trying to find a solution to why my phone does not work, not get into an argument about why yours does OK?


If we knew why some phones work and some do not, there probably wouldn't need to be a forum would there?


Saying your's works so it must be everyone else who is the problem is exactly the issue we have with Apple, since that's their response and we still have problems since buying iphone 5s, but I didn't with my 4.

Bluetooth is a standard, if GM comply with the standard they do not have to issue statement like "The Apple iphone 5 is at fault", that would be ridiculous.


BTW - are you from Apple?


Why the aggressive tone?


Why are you on this forum at all?


If you don't have a problem, why are you here trolling people who do, with adversarial comments?

Nov 22, 2012 3:12 PM in response to Flashx1

I'm not, you invited my comment when you asked for proof.


I'm sure Apple engineers are diligently working on this issue and users can help by submitting as detailed information as possible to Apple. But to assume that Apple's BT on iOS 6 is broken would mean that no one would be able to connect with it. But I can connect mine to a Ford F150, an Acura RX, a BMW and a Lexus. I have not tried a GM model yet. But if I did and it failed would that then mean Apple messed up?

Nov 23, 2012 4:32 AM in response to Flashx1

Flashx1 wrote:


It's unhelpful to start this kind of aggressive and adversarial dialogue


If your phone works, why are you posting on this forum?


Because you started it with your statement:

The problem is Apple, not the car, or the car manufacturer, or the vehicle kit.


If that's not aggressive and adversarial, I don't know what statement would be.


There is not enough data to prove or even really suggest that's the problem, given multiple car stereo manufacturers are currently working on firmware updates to fix the problem, something they would not invest money and engineering resources in were it to possibly simply go away in a future iOS update.


It takes a Bluetooth device manufacturer about 15 minutes with a protocol analyzer to determine whether the fault is theirs in not dealing with a correct data stream or Apple's in sending an incorrect data stream, and were it Apple's fault don't you think Pioneer and Alpine. to name two, would be much happier telling customers to bug Apple about a fix?


But feel free to believe it's Apple's issue if that makes you feel better; thing is if it's not, you'll never see a "fix" for an issue that isn't a bug so you'd best off get yourself something else.


At least until those other companies start supporting AVRCP 1.4 and BT 4.0; what happens when your head end won't interoperate with them?

Nov 23, 2012 6:31 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

You must have your brains hanging in `iClouds` to think that this is everything-else-in-the-world's problem and not an Apple problem, iPhone5 bluetooth doesn't work with almost any bluetooth device we've heard of, but the older iphones work just fine. So how is that not an Apple problem?. My iPhone5 dosn't work with any bluetooth device I have in the house and to mention a few: Sennheiser, Dell, HTC, Samsung, Advent, Nokia ... And I don't think it's because it has bluetooth 4.

I have a business and I take lot's of calls while driving, I just bought my first ever iPhone three days ago and I cannot use it in the car, well that's important to me, I bought (maybe) the most expensive phone on the market and I get what: no bluetooth, no adobe, ...who knows what else I'll find later that is not working on it.. So, lesson learned, at an Apple level expense! Well done Apple, you just didn't win another fan! My first iPhone deserves a return..

Nov 24, 2012 12:35 AM in response to a2next

a2next wrote:


You must have your brains hanging in `iClouds` to think that this is everything-else-in-the-world's problem and not an Apple problem, iPhone5 bluetooth doesn't work with almost any bluetooth device we've heard of, but the older iphones work just fine.


How many do you want?


Many people here have reported their iPhone 5s and older iPhones with iOS 6 work perfectly with, among others:


* Toyota FJ Cruiser head end

* Ford Microsoft Sync head ends

* A variety of other devices from various other manufacturers


"Older" phones work because they don't support the latest protocols - but software phones will be updated and eventually those phones won't work with those devices either.


For example, Android phones with Google's media player don't support AVRCP 1.3 or 1.4 yet, but work is ongoing to make that happen.


If it doesn't do what you need it to, return it - that's why Apple has such a liberal return policy.

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iPhone5 bluetooth not working

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