iPhone 7 Bluetooth connectivity with Ford SYNC malfunctions

I ended up returning my iPhone 7 Plus (model A1784) and repurchased an iPhone 7 Plus (model A1661). So far the music skipping and random disconnects while on calls is gone. I did a lot more research on these Apple forums before going into the Apple Store and ultimately deciding to return and repurchase. There is another forum that has 43 pages of responses about the same issue. I posted a very long response there and am including a link if you'd like to go there and get more information. It's worth a read as it may help and will explain my logic for doing the return and change in models.

Re: iPhone7 Bluetooth issue in the car

I Finally resolved this issue by switching from an iPhone 7 model A1774 to model A1660.

There is another thread with more discussion about this and similar issues.

Re: iPhone7 Bluetooth issue in the car

Good luck to everyone trying to solve this issue.

mcgalb wrote:

Apple needs to be honest with consumers and let them know that their product, the iPhone 7, does not live up to expectations.

Go ahead and tell them that here, http://www.apple.com/feedback

Got this from Apple today 11.08.17

Thanks for contacting us.

Hi @@@@@,
@@@ here from Apples Senior Division. As discussed, Apple are aware of the issue regarding the iPhone 7 having bluetooth connection issues with Ford SNYC stereos.

This is currently under investigation with our engineers who are working on a resolution however, there is no resolution at this time.Your case ID is : @@@@@@@@@

Please let me know if you would like to discuss your case further.All the best ,
@@@l
If you want to put some product feedback in , you can here
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
If you need further assistance, contact a member of our technical support team on 0800 107 6285 in the UK or 1800 804062 in Ireland.
Best Regards,
@@@
iOS Senior Technical Advisor
Apple Distribution International,
Cork, Republic of Ireland

Pretty conclusive!

I had no issues with my 6S or 6S+ in my 2015 Ford Fusion, as soon as I got the 7+ Bluetooth connectivity stopped completely. At first I was confused why my "car" was having problems but in Ford syncs compatible devises list, it doesn't list the iPhone 7 or 7+ unfortunately. I think Apple needs to fix this bug in the iOS software, because I'm pretty sure they were having severe Bluetooth issues in the latest software release which prevented the anticipated release of the AirPods last year.

Ever since the latest Apple IOS update that gave us new emojis a couple weeks ago, my iPhone 7 Bluetooth does not work with my 2012 Ford Escape's Sync system anymore. I'm forced to plug into USB, which is very inconvenient.

Apple -- fix this please!!!! ASAP! Very inconvenient. My iPhone has so many songs on it due to the large memory that the USB gets fussy at my phone. Need my Bluetooth back!

Also -- Apple Music doesn't remember I was listening on SHUFFLE when Bluetooth or USB hooks up to Sync. It's like the new Apple Music is an idiot compared to the old version. So sick of Apple breaking what doesn't need fixing.

I have the same issue with my 2014 Ford Explorer and my iPhone 7 using T-Mobile. It works with a 5s, Nexus, Samsung, an old flip phone, my iPad Pro....but not the iPhone 7. I actually tried three different iPhone 7's and they all dropped while I was talking to someone. They reconnected between 15 seconds and 2 minutes. I called T-Mobile and they said that the iPhone is not on the compatibility list for Ford Sync. That seems like a cop-out to me, but I guess we know that there is something not correct between the two. It's disappointing because it seems like neither company wants to take ownership of the issue. I mean if it's a known problem, it would be nice for someone to acknowledge it. The closest I get is that it's NOT on a list. Bad on both sides. 😟

@Apple - Honestly, if everything worked before and you bring a new device to the party, my first impression is that you own the issue. Please let me know how I can help you (aside from coding) either fix the issue with the phone or prove it's not your issue to fix. I can't buy a new car, I can't take back the phone (it's a work phone), and I can't change carriers (it's a work phone). Ping me! 🙂 Let me know what I can do to help if you need a 2014 Explorer to troubleshoot with.

I have the exact same problem with my iPhone 7 and my 2014 Ford F-150 with SYNC. It worked flawlessly for almost 2 years with an iPhone 5S. As soon as I upgraded to the iPhone7 it started randomly disconnecting and re-connecting the Bluetooth connection during every phone call and sometimes while playing music. I tried deleting and repairing, restarting the phone and using another iPhone7... nothing has fixed the problem. I contacted Apple And theye opened a case, but after troubleshooting they said I need to have the firmware in my vehicle updated. I just looked it up on MyFord site, and I have the latest firmware, there isn't an upgrade.

This is definitely an iPhone7 issue as I can use any other version of iPhone (other than 7) and it works perfectly. I am disappointed in Apple's inability to recognize and solve this issue. I have loved every Apple product I have owned, until now...

Any feedback from others who have solved this issue would be greatly appreciated.

I can connect my iPhone 7plus to Ford Sync in my 2013 F-150. The problem I have is that it will not work with text messaging. When I send I get an error and I can't read them either very frustrating.

I spoke with Apple care twice now regarding this issue. The other difficulty I am experiencing is that when I use voice text it will not resume playing the radio until I disconnect the phone entirely from the car. I have tried removing my phone from my car as an identified phone then reset it up. No change. Tried connecting to the USB in my escape. Same issues. My car's sync is up to date. I do not want to have to switch to airplane mode to use these features. Apple told me this is the first hey have heard of this issue. Funny because there is a whole list of others here with the same issue...

I am having the exact same issue with Bluetooth in my Ford Edge. While on a call, the Bluetooth will disconnect randomly and then reconnect 20-30 seconds later. The phone call will not disconnect as I can change to speaker or iPhone and continue the conversation. I can use my iPhone 6s and have no issues at all. So very frustrating and making me wish I had never upgraded to the iPhone 7. PLEASE fix this!

Update to my previous post:

I checked the My Ford site again, and confirmed that the iPhone 7 is not listed on the SYNC compatible device list for SYNC version 3.7. I tech chatted with Ford SYNC tech support to advise them and they told me that there is actually an updated version of SYNC (v 3.8) for my vehicle, and it must be installed by the dealer. The My Ford site says that my vehicle has the most updated version and there isn't a version 3.8 listed, but the Ford SYNC tech support rep was confident that this upgrade will correct the problem. I have a service appointment this week and will update this post after I get the upgrade to let everyone know if it works or not.

Hello, I first apologize since I do the translation through google translate. I have a ford fusion of the year 2016 (here in Spain is ford mondeo), before I had the iphone 6 and everything worked fine, buy the iphone 7 plus and I have problems with bluethot, disconnections during a call etc ..... I am very interested in this subject, I would appreciate if you kept me informed if you have solved it. Thank you!!!

Latest Update: I had my Ford F-150 at the dealer all day today. They installed the latest version of Sync on my system (SYNC v 3.10). Unfortunately, my iPhone 7 still does the same thing: while using the phone through the SYNC system, the Bluetooth connection will disconnect and reconnect randomly. Sometimes it will go several minutes without disconnecting and sometimes it will do it every 20 seconds. It never drops the call, it just disconnects and reconnects the Bluetooth connection. This never happened with my last iPhone (5s), it worked flawlessly for almost two years. I am going to update my Apple service request, as it appears the ball is back in Apple's court.

I just picked up an iPhone 7 Plus this weekend and am having the same issues with random Bluetooth disconnects while on the phone or skipping while playing music via Bluetooth. Sometimes music will play for several minutes, other times it will skip several times a minute. I have a 2013 Edge with Sync MyFord Touch running the latest version of the software (according to the sync my ride website). While I am glad to know I'm not the only one having this issue while trying to use an iPhone 7, it is rather discouraging and I'm considering going back to my iPhone 6 Plus because I didn't have these issues. After further review I also notice that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are not listed as being compatible on the sync my ride website. Hopeful there is another update coming on the iOS side to make the Bluetooth compatible (or whatever the issue is that is causing the miscommunication on the Bluetooth frequency) or on the Ford side to make the sync software compatible, or both.