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

Reply
605 replies

Jan 13, 2013 9:12 AM in response to supersparksteve

Bluetooth 4 is a standard that's backwards compatible with earlier versions of Bluetooth. Over 17,000 companies from many fields determine what the Bluetooth standard is and it's compatibility. The standard says it's backwards compatible so that's what Apple says. But like with anything else, an older version (car radio Bluetooth 3) may not work with a newer version (iPhone Bluetooth 4). It doesn't mean either one is broken, it means that the old version needs to be updated to work with the new version (if possible). Assuming no bugs anywhere, it means the old version wasn't implemented completely or properly.


Because these problems only affect a small number of radio manufacturers, I believe it's a problem with the radios. I just bought a Honda and I need to figure out who makes the radio (Panasonic I think) so I can poke around the forums and see if they're working on it. I assume Honda and other car manufacturers are at the mercy of the radio manufacturer(s) and they are pressuring the radio manufacturers to provide a fix. It appears Infinity and Nissan have been successful and are fixing the radios.


But... I could be wrong and there's a problem with Apple's implementation of Bluetooth 4.0. If so I would expect more car radios to be affected. The good news is that the cars I've seen mentioned (with problem radios) and the iPhone are high-end and I don't think both sides to walk away without a fix. I'm OK if the radio manufacturers patch it or Apple does. 🙂


Here's a similar thread with addition information. In it someone reports they contacted Nissan and were told a radio update is being sent to Nissan dealers soon. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4349029?answerId=20870003022#20870003022&ac_cid=tw123456#20870003 . Infinity also has a fix on the way.


Apple published a KB entry on radios that need firmware updates to work properly for the specific problem described here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4483?viewlocale=en_US


Good luck to all of us!

Jan 13, 2013 9:29 AM in response to PNutts

I think you are incorrect. There have been problems reported with mazda acura honda infiniti nissan subaru volkswagon mercedez bmw ford as well as devices from plantronics, jawbone, jabra, bose, logitech and motorola. I cannot believe that all these are at fault and Apple is not to blame. The iphone 5 uses a totally new chipset for Wifi/BT from a new manufacturer. Some poeple have even reported problems pairing with Macbooks.


The issue is here Apple has become so big they can force other companies to fix or patch thier problems.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

iPhone5 bluetooth not working

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.