iPhone7 Bluetooth issue in the car

The replacement phone is model A1784, which I believe is the same as the off the shelf AT&T phone, just a specially packaged warranty replacement unit that doesn't include any accessories except the sim card tool. (Possibly refurbished.) It came with instructions that included moving over the sim card. It isn't the same as the sim card free iPhone that supports CMDA, this one is still AT&T and T-Mobile only. (AT&T only until I get it unlocked.)

So far I've only had one brief stutter . . . which probably means I'll get the full version soon, but not yet.

I search nearly every day for "iphone 7+ bluetooth issues" on Google and since the release of the Apple AirPods I see that there are a lot of people reporting the same stuttering issue when using this device now. My conclusion would be that the stuttering issue that we have been reporting was mostly noticed in vehicles first because it seems to occur when you are using LTE data and you are close to a cell tower. Since the release of the Airpods this is the first time that many users have used a connected bluetooth device while they are not connected to WIFI thus the issue is now starting to get more reports.

I spent more time this afternoon for this issue with Apple advisers. The online adviser directed me to a 2nd adviser who later gave me a call. The 2nd adviser asked me to try to open and close the car door when the stuttering happens and see whether that helps. She also asked me to try to change the name of my Iphone. After these 2 pieces of suggestions were given, she connected a 3rd adviser with me who was a senior adviser. He told me that this issue was because my car is using non-compatible firmware with new Iphone 7, and that I needed to go the dealership to do upgrade.

Then I went to the Infiniti website page and saw that my car (2011 Infiniti FX35) is only compatible with Iphone 7+ with IOS 10.0.2. The new IOS 10.2 is not listed as compatible.

So the end result is I'm still stuck with this. And now I completely have no idea what the path forward could be.

The firmware excuse is so absurd. If Apple made a phone that's incompatible with many/most major auto manufacturers, if they broke something between the iPhone 6s and the 7, it's on Apple to fix it.

My replacement phone has had three minor fits of stuttering so far. I'm hoping to record one before I go back to Apple.

I've been dealing with this as well now similar to a bunch of people here. My wife and I both have the new ATT 7+ and both of us have issues in our cars.

My phone has been replaced twice, hers once and no change. IOS 10.2 is what I'm currently on and I didnt restore my phone this time built it back up from scratch. What a pain.

I'm been with a new Sr. Advisor for a few days now and that is going well but we are stuck waiting on Apple Engineering to call me. Not sure what they are going to do about this.

ATT wont replace the phone because it's not a cellular or text msg issue that has to do with their network.

Subaru - doesn't have an update for my car - or so i'm told

Apple wont exchange our phones for the 6s+ because they dont know the trade in value of the 7+. and oh yeah, it's not the phone's problem.

WE are very frustrated and the only option seems to be wait for the engineer who has the power to order the buying of the phone back which advisors don't have or pay for the phones outright then buy new ones and sell the 7+.

Under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, any consumer good sold out out California (where Apple is based) must be bought back after a "reasonable number" of repair attempts are made for the same problem.

Maybe it is time the community as a whole demands this process for their phones. My three phones has never been offered to be replaced or repair though.

Restoring the phone from iCloud backup fixes nothing as has been mentioned here. If i have time I will go back to Apple Store today. I guess they will be forced to give me a replacement which won't help either.

so does anyone have a google pixel? if there trying to blame it on the cars, testing another device with the same new technology will really determine where the issue is, I highly doubt its the cars but this at least will eliminate that idea

Yes all the phones are GSM. What I am referring to is the new Intel based ones. However with that said I think it's the position of the Bluetooth and Cellular chips on the phones given some on Verizon are having the same issues.

Stuttering Issue Resolved.

I have posted my fair share of messages here about this problem and I have been holding off for the last couple of days before I reported this but I'm near 99% sure I have resolved the issue.

After reading reports about the Airpods having the same issue as my vehicle was having, I decided to pickup a cheaper set of Bluetooth headphones for $25. I paired the headphones, and drove to my usually testing area were I can visually see a cell tower and there is a shopping center with a parking lot within 200 feet. Previously, every time I drove near this tower or parked in this lot my audio on my car would stutter. Expecting the same to happen with these cheap headphones, I was surprised when no stuttering occurred. I circled around the tower twice with 5 bar LTE signal, Waze, email, Facebook messenger, millage tracker and several other data apps all running and no issue. I then disconnected the headphones, paired my Lexus back and within 20 seconds the issue started again. I then decided to forget all bluetooth devices from my phone, then I did the same for my vehicle (which had my Iphone 7+ and my GF's Verizon 7+ saved). I re-paired the 7+ to the Lexus and since, I have not had a single stuttering issue in over 3 hours of driving over the last 2 1/2 days. I drove 45 mins on major interstate where I previous reported my phone stuttered every few minutes. I drove around that same test tower 4 different times now and I haven't had a single stuttering issue since. I also tried streaming audio from Pandora through the iPhone app (not the Lexus built in app), and I also streamed audio from CNN app too. I'm ashamed to admit that although I have deleted and paired the iphone 7+ like this multiple times before, I have not done it in at least 5 different iOS (b8ta updates).

If anyone else would have reported this fix here I would have quickly blew it off and thought to myself that I have tried this several times before and it did not work so why try it again but I'm extremely happy to report that this has now worked for me. I would highly advise anyone with this same stuttering issue to try once again to forget ALL previously paired devices from your phone, do the same with your vehicle, then re-pair and try again.

SPECS: iphone 7+, 256GB, carrier AT&T 27.0.1, model MN592LL/A, Modem firmware 1.02.15, , Lexus GS 2015 350F Sport, iOS V10.2.1 (14D15)

I heard back from the Apple Engineer yesterday. They admit that they are aware of the issue and lots of people are reporting the issue, but there is no fix for it yet. The only thing to try is to disable cellular completely on the phone and see what happens. I have disabled LTE and that didn't help me but I have not yet completely disabled cellular.... that seems to defeat the point of a cell phone. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I was informed that the next regular OS update will contain the fix. We shall see and I'm willing to wait a little longer to find out. *fingers crossed*

This is a positive development and I believe the first we've heard of Apple actually acknowledging the issue.

As for the promised "fix" with the next iOS, I am of course skeptical and I suppose we will just wait and see.

How can they say the next regular OS update will contain a fix when they don't know the issue? And what update a major iOS update like iOS 11 I mean some people are running latest public b8ta releases and it's not fixed... this should be interesting moving forward

I'm fairly skeptical of this being fixed with a software update as well. I think it's an empty promise which might get people a bit happy and then extremely let down if the fix is not included.

Again, support has acknowledge that this was a problem when I spoke with them about two weeks ago. At that time, engineering had been working on the issue and was not sure what the exact cause of the problem was. Granted, this may have changed during the interim, however I believe that it is very unlikely.

Stuttering Issue NOT Resolved....

I did another 3 hours of driving between my last post post "Issue Resolved" and right now and I was really sure it was totally fixed for me but as I pulled near my regular testing that i have reported in numerous posts the audio stuttered twice in a 30 second period. In both cases it happened about 10 seconds before 2 new SMS messages came in.

Unfortunately, I conclude that although nearly eliminated, the issue still is not resolved for me....