CarPlay Disconnecting - iPhone XS Max

So I want to report back and say that so far getting this usb power meter and connecting the phone through it to the car has worked wonders. I haven’t had a power based disconnect since using it.

I have had it not want to work when starting the car once. I had to unplug the power meter and plug it back in a few seconds later and it started working again.

Once my phone connects to CarPlay, I don’t have any issues. I think I’ve driven for about 5 total hours since starting it. This solution is ok for a band aid but I expect way better from Audi/apple and I look forward to not needing to use this workaround.

For reference, 2018 Audi Q7/iPhone XSM 512

This is not a paid post, and feel free to check whatever products out that you want, but this is the exact unit I ordered:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GGXZYV5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_paX.BbGR3CJG0

I still had the same repeatedly disconnecting issue with my iPhone XS Max iOS 12.1.2 

I updated to the beta 12.1.3 last night. I have completed 6 trips today using carplay and have not had a single disconnection.

I am using an Apple OEM lightning cable and I did not change the cable or the USB port that I am plugged into.

I solved the problem - at least for me. I have a 2018 A5 which was working just fine with my iPhone X but disconnects regularly with my xS Max.

Until - just the other day - I tried a genuine Apple lightning cable. And voila, problem is solved. I am suddenly having no issues at all, can run as many apps as I want. I even tried running Waze and Apple Maps at the same time and it was rock solid.

I have generally used high quality third-party cables (usually Anker) and have rarely had issues elsewhere. But all I can say is try the genuine Apple cable and see if it helps. It worked for me.

I had this exact issue on my 2018 Audi Q7 and iPhone XS Max, the way I was able to fix it was that I restored Audi Mmi back to factory settings. I no longer have problems with Apple CarPlay and hasn’t disconnected once since the restore. Hope this helps!

I can confirm that deleting Google Maps and sticking with Apple Maps solved my issue this morning during my commute. An hour in the car with zero disconnects. Everything worked as expected.

Temporary solution: I purchased a usb power meter from Amazon for £7 to see what happens to the wattage as the phone disconnects. It turns out that the iPhone does not disconnect when connected via this intermediary device. It’s called Muker 10VA USB Multi-Meter.

Same here, on Audi Q7 (2018) iphone Xs disconnects when previously used iphone 7 works like a charm.

Tried all suggested fixes, USB meter does not work for me. It indeed feels like a problem with power consumption cause for me disconnects happens more frequently immidiately after plugging the phone into usb. I think current consumption from USB socket is higher at the beginning of charging cycle. Surtain way to trigger disconnect is to ask Siri to play something from Apple Music. Could be that spike in cpu consumption + network drains more juice from USB.

Something i want to try is https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NIGO4NM/ref=psdcmw_464394_t2_B00NIH0RLE

An y-splitter that will draw power from separate USB socket (and not the one where data is coming from), or wireless charging mat. In theory that should help with power problems.

I want to echo jtmcke’s update. I bought the exact same USB tester four weeks ago and have had no problems since plugging it in. I’ve tested it for many hours now, with music, phone calls, Apple Maps, Waze, and Overcast. I previously bought a different USB tester (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J3JSEG6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_OMX.BbBN0BFK7) and it did not work. So apparently the type of meter makes a difference.

iPhone XS Max / iOS 12.1.1 / 2018 Audi A5 Sportback

Installed 12.1.3 on iPhone XS Max today connected to 2018 Audi Q7 and had 0 disconnects for an hourlong ride. Ran Apple Maps, Apple Music, and made phone calls at the same time, no issues. Pushed Siri requests, texts with Podcast and Maps apps running and no issues. Very promising update.

I may have found a cause of the disconnect issue. My 2017 A4 is doing the exact same thing as described by most here (XS Max etc.). So I started to see if I could determine a pattern of the disconnects. Sure enough it turns out alerts that show up on the lock screen were causing my disconnect. Most of the alerts were from Apple Maps on my phone telling me it would take X minutes to get home.

Basically if an alert showed up on my lock screen it would disconnect for up 20-30 seconds then reconnect. It seems if I had the phone in do not disturb while driving all other alerts were silenced but apple maps would still alert and cause the disconnect. Interestingly even if I had the phone unlocked and an alert from say Homekit came through it would disconnect. I see there is an OS update to 12.1.3 so I am going to try that out and see if it fixes the issue.

Mine (2018 A5, iPhone XS Max) now seems to be nice and solid after the latest IOS update. I had mostly fixed the problem by using an original Apple cord but now my "other" cords all seem to work fine as well.

Drove around with both Apple Maps and Waze running today and it was rock solid.

Hi All, The issue I've discovered on Bentley is this. Bluetooth when its on is what the car looks for so if you have a wired phone to USB and unless you have ticked the box which says don't ask again, the car will always be looking for a bluetooth connection. The answer is to try ticking the dont ask again box which tells the car to stop looking for a bluetooth connection. If that fails to resolve the issue, try disconnecting the car in the iphone under bluetooth and it should now only work if wired in. Doing a reset can also resolve the issue but not always. So I connect with a cable, disconnect all available bluetooth options and tick dont ask again.

Check your lightning jack with a wooden toothpick and make sure there isn’t lint stuck in there.

If you read through this entire thread most of the Audi users had their problem solved with a firmware update from Audi combined with the release of 12.1.4. Check with your Audi dealer.

Yes, deleting the VPN also cleared my issues.