iPhone SE Bluetooth issues

Yeh. Strange but I've been experiencing the same very bad static when calling via my Subaru Outback Bluetooth with my iPhone SE. I had a great connection on this car with my iPhone 5S. Better quality with the speaker phone but with Bluetooth I cannot understand what the other person is saying. I am currently running IOS 9.3.1. Hope you fix this issue.

According to Apple Support this is not a Trending Issue and I quote:"Not reported to and by us, no. But that’s why I’m notating this case for engineering, so we can be aware of this issue. Also please feel free to provide feedback to our developers on your experience with iOS 9 directly at http://www.apple.com/feedback/(Opens in new window)(Opens in new window) , your experience is important to us!"

I have had the same issues as everyone else....music and books fine....phone calls have so much static that voices are not discernable.

2016 Lexus ES 30

I just posted previously about my Iphone SE having problems 2 weeks after I purchased it. One of the problems were the bluetooth issue. Just waiting on Optus to check my phone and return it or replace it! Here's my story!!

I purchased an Iphone SE through an Optus Plan on 31/3/16. It worked perfectly until a week ago then the following just happened all at once.

1. Fingerprint ID fails everytime

2. Battery Life is nearly non existent!

3. Talking on the phone via Blue tooth in the car is so scratchy I cant understand the person talking

What I have done:

I have reset the phone twice.

Contacted Apple help desk via phone and the lady was great. She said I need to contact Optus first which I have done.

Optus are sending me a return bag but then Ill be without a **** phone! Optus said they will send me a loan phone.

A new phone will fix 1 and 2 bit it will still have no 3 problem. Its not Optus problem i would be ringing Apple Care and getting a replacement sent to you, don't do it through Optus with a loaner it will be a nightmare and will take forever.

Just tell them about 1 and 2 thats enough for a replacement, no 3 is a lost cause at this point they are all like it.

I rang Apple Care and she said because I purchased it through an Optus plan i need to contact them first.

DAMM I just received the loan phone and posted it, Just hoping this won't be a nightmare!! but yeah ill be keeping any eye on it!

Thanks 🙂

You didn't need to tell Apple care where you bought it, the warranty is with Apple. Same with all Apple products always go through Apple Care not the retailer if you have a problem, doesn't matter where you bought it or even if bought second and still has warranty.

Anyway with Optus for a 19 day old phone i would of pushed for a replacement sent and then sent your's back, if its with in 14 days its a automatic swap anyway. You need to be firmer whichever way you go.

Ok thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it.

Never had this problem before.

So should I just wait for 2 days to hear back from Optus or give Applecare another call?

Think you are stuck dealing with Optus now, thinking about it you may be better off at this time as Apple have a shortage now, and the wait is a few weeks so you may get a replacement quicker with Optus if they have stock. Good Luck.

Yeah true.

thanks again

I really can not decide if this problem with SE is global or not. I see here in the forum that people have problems from all over the world, however it does not seem to be a big issue, I mean there is no huge echo/impact in Apple-related news or blogs. There are a few, but it seems that nobody really cares about it, topics died, but this. Apple gives a **** on this as well. There is no official announcement, nothing. Maybe not all the people try their new SE with bluetooth headser or car, therefore only a few percent of them can report the problem.

Personally Apple is a big disappointment for me. Needs to think twice whenever buying something from them again.

Nope. That's not correct, Senna67

If you read the whole thread you'll realize that there are some people whose SE works ok with bluetooth calls.

I'm one of them... I'm doing calls over bluetooth with my iPhone SE both on my car and with a headset.

Unfortunately my solutions (reset network settings and turn off LTE and/or VoLTE) do not work for everyone.

I have tried to disable LTE with no success. VoLTE is not available on my carrier, therefore not an option for me.

What I really do not understand that how can be that there are phones which are just working fine, on the other hand replacing the phone makes no difference.

Maybe today Apple is going to release the next beta iOS, hopefully it will address this issue..

Well, I would not say, that mine is not working at all. If the line quality to the partner I'm calling is good enough, also the quality via bluetooth is acceptable.

But for example, if I call somebody, who has already a critical signal strength or speaking himself via handsfree, the distortions make the works completely not-understandable. But if I call the same person a minute later directly from my phone, the audio quality is pretty good.

So it seems to me, that only slight signal drops on the other side have a huge impact on the bluetooth audio quality on my side.

I made a test yesterday, after my useless attempt to reset the phone and setup as new from scratch:

- Called my wife, who was herself driving in her car and speaking handsfree -> quality was completely crap, her words where not understandable, my voice came through to her very clear

- Called my daughter, who was sitting in our house, speaking directly on the phone, quality was pretty clear and good

- Called my mother, who was walking around on the street, speaking directly on the phone, quality was bad, although it was still understandable so a lot of distortion but not as bad as the call to my wife.

- Called my voice mailbox, quality was good and clear

So I would be careful to state, it is working, if you are calling a "good" line or landline, you will maybe not recognize anything.

On the other hand, I would also not state, that it is not working for anybody, but there seems to be definetely an issue and for me it seems to look like as distortions due to a bad connection are getting amplified by bluetooth audio.

It cannot be just the bad connection of the partner you are speaking to, because then you would have the problems also, when you speak directly with the phone, which does not happen in my case.

Hi Lalamper,

Unfortunately I don't have an answer to why some phones work while others don't.

Mine works ok.

But replacing the phone may not make any difference as:

1) Imagine the problem is hardware and Apple has different bluetooth chip providers. If you get a replacement from the same store you'll probably get one from the same batch of iPhones. Getting a replacement from a different part of the world could fix it...

2) Imagine the problem is related to the carrier. I have not read of anyone trying a different carrier on their SE, resetting the networks settings (important step) and checking if it works. For me it didn't work the first day, until I did a reset, as my phone got the settings from the back up which was an iPhone 5s with T-mobile settings from USA. Now I am in Europe with a different carrier.

3) Imagine the problem is related to the combination of BT chips on the phone and the car. Say some cars don't work, others do. Replacing the phone will make little difference until you replace the car. I know people are reporting many different car brands which don't work. I just can say my car works and my bluetooth headset works.

4) Imagine the problem is related to the cell(s) in the network where you are. If you move to a different area (let's say where LTE is disabled) you get the phone working, but if you only try it in the same area (i.e. at the parking of the Apple Store) it does not work.

Etc.

Hi bwinter,

What you say is important, because it is contradictory to many people's words in the thread who promise that they can not understand a single word of the conversations.

To me, either you are not suffering the exact same problem as they report, or they are not doing enough testing and just did a call or two with the same bad result.

In my case I have not found differences depending on who I call to or receive a call from.

I'm not an intensive user of calls in the car, but I've done already a dozen or so. All of them to mobiles. I have not tried talking to a land line.

But I have already done good quality calls to:

iPhone 4s, holding phone, standing still

iPhone 5s, holding phone, standing still

iPhone 5s, using speaker, moving in a car with no handsfree

iPhone 5s, connected to a handsfree at the car, moving.

Android phone (some Samsung model), standing still.