iPhone Xs Bluetooth audio quality

Hi Superrojas,

As per your suggestion, I switched off WIFI (via the settings menu) and went for a spin in my car.

Hey presto, the issue has now gone :-).

This explains a lot, as when sat on my drive listening to music (with my WIFI switched on and still connected to my home WIFI) all was good, when the I started to drive the car the issue started to happen, so maybe this is linked to the WIFI connectivity status or when the phone is searching for WIFI?

This also explains why this only happened in my car and not on my Bluetooth headsets, as I always use them at home or in flight mode.

Hopefully with all of this information, Apple should be able to diagnose the issue.

I already have a ticket open with Apple and will update them on these findings.

Kind Regrds

Dan

Turning off wifi works, but you have to deactivate the personal hotspot too! - The hotspot label in the control center must be 'off' - not 'invisible'. Sometimes, you have to deactivate the hotspot several times to completely shut it down! Apple should bring the ability to deactivate the hotspot via siri shortcuts!

I installed iPhone update 12.2 and it seems that this issue has gone away for me. I have an iPhone 8.

Others who have updated to 12.2 said the problem went away as well:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/iOS-iPhone-iPad/Bad-Bluetooth-sound-quality-iOS-12/td-p/4572223/page/10

Since i Bought my Iphone Xs Max 2-3 months ago (now currently on IOS 12.1.2), I have distorted music (Spotify & Apple Music) playing in my BMW 1 Series 2018. This problem is only occuring when connected through bluetooth and having Wi-Fi on. Turning Wi-Fi off has been the work around. Would really appriciate if a developer could look into this issue.

It‘s definitely no BMW issue, the Wifi workaround works Fine and Even before the Update on iOS 12 it worked fine.

After having the first call with Apple and went to BMW afterwards, updating the System and testing it. There aren‘t any faults with the BMW System.

As I said, there is no issue with my SE. It only occurs with my iPhone 8, switching the Wifi off in Settings solves it, but it‘s no solution at all switching the wifi off when leaving home and entering the car everytime.

I had a couple of iPhones from different generations, Never had any issues but having this since the iOS 12 Update is a real joke.

There are several discussions about this issue in Spotify communities and others, so it‘s Time for solving this issue.

I have an IPhone 8 Plus, this worked fine for a year with various Bluetooth devices:

2 x Bose Headsets

B&W headphones

C Class W205 Burmeister Sound System

Upon upgrading to IOS 12, I noticed this issue straight away in my car, trebel sounds fading in and out every 20 seconds or so, really irritating...

I did a quick search on the internet and can see that this appears to be an IOS 12 issue on certain devices.

It does this on Spotify and ITunes music.

I Reported to apple already and they requested that I do full reset and restore via iTunes, after a full hard reset via iTunes and upgrading to IOS 12.0.1 today, unpairing and re-pairing Bluetooth connections etc with my car, this issue still remains.. :-(

The strange thing is, I only notice this in my car, so it must be related to a Bluetooth profile it uses or something.

Other users are also reporting this issue is only present within their car audio systems after upgrading to IOS 12.

One user on the Spotify forum reported that rolling back to IOS 11 fixed the issue.

Dan

Exact same issue and I believe there was an update to the iOS since this was posted 12.1.1 now) I have noticed this issue in my car (2017 Honda civic touring) but since I always use CarPlay I didn’t think much of it since it only happens when it’s playing music via Bluetooth. However, today I’m listening to wireless Bose headphones and I’m noticing the high frequency is dropping in and out. I did try what was suggested here, turning Wi-Fi completely off, and it seems to have helped the issue. I figured maybe posting here and bringing this back to life might get Apple to search for a solution to this issue. It’s one thing if this was some free flip phone I got with my cell phone plan, but this was a $1200 phone!

Unfortunately this issue has affected thousands of users since we discovered the issue, days after the iOS 12 release.. But so far no results.. We are currently at iOS 12.1.4 and still persists

Just to clarify a summary of the issue as far as we know it:

- The problem does not seem to be an application issue

- The recurring explanation is what sounds like a lowering of bitrate in the music(bad quality, loss of top and bottom frequencies(Hence, the suggestions to turn of EQ will not resolve only make it harder to notice))

- The problem occurs when the wifi-unit is searching for networks, not when connected to a network -> explains why most of the complaints is by travelling( cars, headsets etc)

- it does only affect a specific set of makes and models

- Multiple users have gotten diagnostics by apple, and the more the merrier

- This issue is also open in several app forums (ref spotify: https://community.spotify.com/t5/iOS-iPhone-iPad/Bad-Bluetooth-sound-quality-iOS-12/td-p/4572223)

- Quantity of complaints is still vital for apple to put more resources into solving this

Bug seems to be fixed! (iOS 12.2)

We have confirmed this issue with thorough testing on:
- iPhone Xs

- iPhone Xs max

- iPhone X

- iPhone 8

And yes, it sounds like a bad attempt at lowering the bitrate to avoid loss of connection.

Applications used in testing:

- Youtube

- Apple Music

- Spotify

- Chrome

I'm experiencing the same exact super annoying issue after iOS update. The only work around I found is to turn off WiFi when using Bluetooth in my car to have good audio quality (normally use Spotify). Hope apple fix this asap, is really (REALLY) annoying.

Hi Cscottrun,

I don't think this is related with Bluetooth per se, but related with the networking card of the phone... when both networks (wifi and Bluetooth) are actives, the phone may be roaming to find a connection, and when you're in your car, wifi connection is most likely useless but the networking card continues to look for a connection.

That is my guestimate of the situation.

I was contacted by apple and will be running tests with a specialist tomorrow... hopefully they will be able to fix this fast... I haven't found any other solution than turning off WiFi from the settings menu.

I'm having the same issue with treble. I haven't tried the wifi fix yet, but will do so this afternoon. In the meantime, here are my findings from running some trial and error on my own using my iPhone XS in my 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

1. Sirius XM and FM/AM Radio in car - No issues. Playback is normal.

2. Bluetooth from iPhone - Intermittent treble issues.

3. Lightning Cable from iPhone to USB port in my car (with carplay disabled on my iPhone) - Intermittent treble issues.

4. Lightning Cable from iPhone to USB port in my car (with carplay active and operating) - No issues. Playback is normal.

5. Lightning Cable from iPhone into Apple's 3mm converter directly into the auxilary port in my car - Test not run. Will update with results this evening or tomorrow morning.

Does the difference in results in tests 3 and 4 proove that this is not a bluetooth issue? What could be causing playback issues over USB but only when carplay is inactive?

Can anyone with a carplay capable vehicle run the same tests and confirm their results?

Also, I've created a thread on macrumors about this. Please join the conversation there as well. The more discussion about this issue, the better: iOS 12 Audio Treble Issues | MacRumors Forums