iPhone7 Bluetooth issue in the car

Yes, same issue here on a 7+ 128gb since I got it last November. Bluetooth skips and stutters in the car, when wearing headphones, when connected to speakers. The only solution is to turn off LTE and use slow 3G all day. On the 3G, bluetooth is perfect.

+1 with audio interference using Bluetooth on my iPhone 7 plus model A1784.

Did complained to apple that sent me a new phone (same model number) and still happens the same, or even worst then the previous one.

Did several tests lately, first with my carrier (Vodafone Portugal) in two cars I have, 2011 Audi A6 with MMI and also a Jeep that has a Pioneer SPH-DA120. And both have interferences in certain locations (in dense city areas). But always the same spots, when in 4G mode. If i switch to 3G the interference disappears.

I also have interferences with a bluetooth headphone Sennheiser MM 550-X. Is really annoing.

I should mention that I don't notice any interference when in rural areas, or smaller cities. (i drive everyday 110 KM). Only in medium/big city like where I live (Porto and Matosinhos in Portugal)

I've contacted my carrier, that said it's not their fault. But explained to me that their antennas in big cities operates in different frequencies compared with the rural antenas. And this might explain the above. They also suggested me to try with a different carrier GSM card, since my iPhone is sim lock free and bought directly from apple.

And that's what I did. I bought a pre-paid sim card from MEO carrier and still happens the interferences when in 4G. On different spots from Vodafone, but i think is related to the places where GSM Antennas are located.

I tried as well with my sim card with an old iPhone 5 i have with same ios, and the interferences does not happen in both cars.

I explained all the above to apple support, i hope my examples makes them understand that this is a serious issue, specially now iPhone does not have a headphone jack, and they want us to use bluetooth.

Thanks for posting this Robb, super helpful.

Just a quick update on my side - went to the Apple Store last night and both techs I spoke with were actually really sympathetic about it - I explained to him that if we were going to do a replacement, that I would want the A1661 model and at first it looked like it wasn't going to be a problem - then when he came back out, he told me that Apple only supplies them with a certain model for replacements and the only model he could give me was the same one I have.

So I went ahead and did the phone replacement just for the heck of it (the guy made a good point - if I decide to resell my phone on the market, I could probably get more money for a basically brand new phone). But they both admitted that it was a crappy solution and that they felt bad cause their hands were tied and there wasn't much else they could do. They recommended that I stay in touch with the advisor I've been talking to and that maybe they would escalate the case eventually and perhaps they could give me a replacement with the right model, but I'm not holding out hope. I guess we'll just hope Apple can resolve this ultimately.

Oh and funny enough - as soon as I got in my car and drove home, I started experiencing the issue again haha.

Guys, I'm having the exact same problem.

I just spoke with an Apple Senior tech.

As per her knowledge, this is NOT a known issue. She does not receive frequent calls regarding this issue.

I'm going to troubleshoot this from a Developer's point of view:

Here is what I found:

1. A temporary fix is to simply unlock the iPhone and open/close an existing app.

2. The issue happens even when I'm not streaming audio. I also get it when I play locally stored music.

3. I still encounter the issue when my LTE is off.

4. If you go to your Diagnostics screen, you'll notice a BTServer.cpu_resource entry. This entry will probably indicate that your CPU usage is higher than expected. Hence, I want to believe that the issue might be caused due to excessive CPU usage or lack of CPU resources...

Please try the following:

1. Do you have BTCServer.cpu_resources entries all over your Privacy>Diagnostic&USage>Diagnostic Data log?

2. Most cars allow you to sync iPhone's address book. Can you check if disabling this helps?

Side note:

1. Bluetooth's daemon is considered high priority (12), however, there are other services with higher priority such as the itunesstore, health, and wirelessproxy which may be prioritized if the CPU is too high.

I get a lot of jetsam event logs like the folloing:

{"bug_type":"298","timestamp":"2017-01-20 12:15:24.18 -0400","os_version":"iPhone OS 10.2 (14C92)","incident_id":"5B4401FE-1897-4E50-A5C6-7BD4503C8A2E"}

{

"crashReporterKey" : "35109042d14abad6b7eb8651df302cf3113a4445",

"kernel" : "Darwin Kernel Version 16.3.0: Tue Nov 29 21:40:0....

Do you know why this is?

Also, I get a lot of awdd, core time, etc.

Do not see the message you refer to.

Should this happen with other iphone models if it is not a hardware malfunction?

Apple pulled my response down as soon as I posted it.... citing "because it contained link(s) that weren’t directly related to the original poster’s question." which is incorrect. It is the same skipping issues with their headphones as it is in the vehicles and it is reported in forums all over the internet...

But I thought they did not know about the Bluetooth problmes for the iphone 7+. Or finally someone is reading our comments! Good! Please help us! Is it interference that can be fixed with software! Is it a bug in the programing when it works processes over Bluetooth? Are other apps causing the thing to crash and filling the CPU ussage?

Hi all.. I just want to send my problem too. I have Ford Explorer 2014 and Bluetooth pairing is ok.. it is just that when I make a call using the car phone system which is connected to my iPhone 7... suddenly call disconnects and reconnects and do that repeatedly so I can't continue the call unless I cancel the car system and use the iPhone 7 itself.. Note I have iPhone 6 too and works well with the same car

Many users with the same issue are now reporting that their phones were swapped out with the unlocked versions and this has stopped the skipping / stuttering issue. This again seems to legitimize that the Intel modem is defective:

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/massive-bluetooth-skipping-issues.2018756

>> I can also confirm that I returned my AT&T model because bluetooth was constantly skipping and replaced it with the unlocked version that Best Buy sells for use on any carrier and no more skipping.)

>>I wanted to give it some time so I wasn't making any hasty conclusions. A week is probably long enough to conclude that it really did fix my skipping issue! I don't have the skipping/cutting out anymore.I'm going to go back to the genius soon and let him know that there IS a difference between the CDMA and GSM versions of the 7+. If you're having the issue and your phone is paid for them I'd definitely recommend trying to get it returned and then replaced with a CDMA version.

>>As a follow up, my experience at the Apple Store was a rollercoaster. Showed up at the store with the naive expectation that this would be a painless process. the Genius asked what the issue was, I told him what was going on and that the phone representative told me that they would swap my GSM phone out with a CDMA version. His initial response was that there was no way they could do that. "Their system wouldn't allow it." After nicely going back and forth for a half hour about what the issue was and what was causing it, he ultimately agreed that it seemed that there was at least a chance that the GSM phone could be faulty and that swapping for the CDMA version was worth a shot to see if it fixed the issue.The issue still persisted that because my phone had been swapped out, they wouldn't be able to do a return and allow me to purchase a new phone. The solution was to do a return using my online order number (not tied to the specific serial number of the original phone). The manager allowed me to do this and sold me a new unlocked CDMA 7 plus. Even though it was along process, I'm very glad it all worked out. The best news is that it really does seem as though the CDMA version doesn't suffer from the bluetooth issues. I've been driving around without any skipping issues. I'll follow up in a week or so with a final conclusion.

Ok that was a long message but what are you actually saying. I have a Verizon 7 plus that is already unlocked. I know this because I used it with at&t before porting the number. Are you saying that if I exchange my Verizon 7 plus, there is an unlocked model that will fix the Bluetooth audio issue for me??

Well, I'm fed up and tired of waiting. I don't imagine this post will be around long before the delete button is pressed - so take note.

Not sure if you guys are familiar with the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, but it's a statute that was passed in the 70's which requires manufacturers to follow a specific set of guidelines alongside their offered warranty. Governed by the FTC, it specifically states that a defective product must be remedied "within a reasonable time and without charge".

Four months is not a reasonable time, and as a result, Apple must offer a refund or replacement, else they are in breach of warranty. Now, since the replacements do not resolve the issue, and Apple does not offer refunds; what do we do?

I checked my model number and it's not a1661. How do you check model number because my model number is MN5Y2LL/A? Is it confirmed that a1661 works for all vehicles?

I have a 2013 Infiniti G37 and tons of problems with Bluetooth audio.

there going around for 850-875 right now, i understand your frustration as i was dealing with the same thing, but its clear that they are not going to do anything about the issue.

So either take the hit or deal with a device that cant do basic functions or wait it out

I finally was able to swap out my ATT iphone 7 plus (A1784) for an iphone 7 plus (A1661). I went through 2 replacement A1784's with no improvement in the bluetooth audio and finally convinced an apple genius lead to refund my money. I immediately bought the A1661. My previous A1784 replacements started skipping within minutes. No skips yet on the A1661 but it's too early to tell for sure.

Bottom line. Don't give up. I spent 10+ hours on the phone and went to multiple genius appointments to make it happen.

It's important to talk to the lead genius as they have authorization to allow refunds outside of the typical 14 day return window.

Best of luck everyone. I will report back in a week.

As much as I'd love to be able to do this - my phone is from AT&T purchased thru them on their NEXT plan so it's not an option for me - other than paying the phone off, selling it at a loss then buying a new phone from Apple. Kind of insane what people are going through and having to resort to.