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That's bizzarre because I too have the exact problem with my iPhone 6s Plus and my VW head unit. The phone drops the handsfree connection constantly and as you point out, this is vey new and recent behaviour!
Glad its not my bluetooth module in my headunit. That would be a pain.

Looks like this comes down to a problem with the 6S software.
 
Very helpful. So much hate so early in the morning.



Very helpful. So much hate so early in the morning.



My airpods and iphone 7 function perfectly. How come so many of you have so much hate ready to spill out as soon as ANY article is posted here? How do you folks express your hatred when you aren't reading this forum?
I voted with my wallet I don't like what they did with iPhone 7. I don't like it.
 
I have now gone through three sets of AirPods and because I was never able to return them for a new one I am well past the return policy.

The AirPods I get have many bugs including the one in this article but also include: audio out of sync between the two earbuds, sharp edges in the ear as if the parts are not glued together evenly, and also intermittent pops and gaps in playback from the Music.app on iOS 10.2.

Long ago are the days that Apple payed attention to detail before they released a product.
 
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It's not just AirPods. It also happens with my Bose Soundsport wireless earphones as well. Using them with an iPhone 6S Plus.
 
That's bizzarre because I too have the exact problem with my iPhone 6s Plus and my VW head unit. The phone drops the handsfree connection constantly and as you point out, this is vey new and recent behaviour!
Same issue here with my Golf, only a recent occurrence, sometimes only way i can reconnect is by switching the car off and back on again
 
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Apple is investigating multiple reports from iPhone owners of AirPods randomly disconnecting and reconnecting during calls, MacRumors has learned.


Article Link: Apple Investigating Issue With AirPods Randomly Disconnecting During Calls

It's not just AirPods. I have 5 different bluetooth headsets...2 from LG and 3 from Plantronics. The Plantronics headsets do the same, though I can't say it's specific to phone calls. But they regularly drop the connection, followed by a reconnect within 1 to 2 seconds, sometimes less.
 
I just noticed something today when doing a call. When even using just one earpiece, if you take OUT the earpiece for a second, the call trips over to the phone - probably using the proximity sensor on the earpiece, and then when removing it tries to switch to a 2nd audio connection - the phone speakerphone, it goes RIGHT back to the earpiece when one puts it back in. MAYBE this is something that is happening with the disconnects, it's thinking there is an earpiece - would be both earpieces and that they are out of the ear.
 
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My iPhone 6s paired with my car stereo will disconnect after I call someone and then my whole phone freezes up. Sometimes when they call me, my phone will disconnect and reconnect to the headunit.

Running the newest version of the software... was never doing this before.
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My phone does this EXACT thing when streaming to the headunit in my Toyota (this just started).. NEVER had any problems on the older software.

All this stuff started when they updated the BT stack for the Earpods. It was fine before that for a few months. Really the only time BT was solid since iOS 7.1.2.

I wish they stop messing with it.
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This is an iOS issue. The feedback on beta builds has largely been ignored about this. Ever since 10.1.1 I believe, Bluetooth functionality has been degraded.

Also, it seems to impact people differently. It's such a sporadic issue.

Yes that was the version that BT was solid, just for the first time in years. A shame they messed it up again.

Last time they blew Bluetooth it was too add code for handoff in iOS 8. It wasn't right again for years. Sigh.
 
The use the same frequency area. They do frequency hopping to avoid it, but if you have the "wrong" wifi channel in use they nuke each other (or more likely the wifi nukes bluetooth).

http://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...i-interfering-with-one-another-since-yosemite

Same with the Macbook Pro:

"Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11/b/g/n (WIFI) use almost the same frequency bands:

  • Bluetooth: 2.402 - 2.480 GHz (79 channels)
  • WIFI 2.4 GHz (IEEE 802.11/b/g/n): 2.4 – 2.4835 GHz (11, 13 or 14 channels depending on the country)
Usually Bluetooth uses frequency hopping and changes the possible 79 x 1 MHz bands 1600 times a second to avoid disturbances while WIFI uses fixed channels.

Obviously something went wrong developing the latest Bluetooth- or WIFI-drivers.

The only workaround until Apple gets their drivers fixed is using dual band wireless access points. Those devices use two different frequency bands: 2.4 – 2.4835 GHz and 5.18 - 5.825 GHz (with some gaps). Connecting to WIFI 5 GHz (IEEE 802.11a/h/n) will not interfere with Bluetooth.

BTW: Not only typical RF-based devices (like wireless phones, etc) but also bad-shielded USB3-devices and cables interfere with WIFI (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth."

If that were truly the issue, even using dual band wifi might not help - especially if you moved out of range of the 5 GHz signal. Yes, it does seem like a driver problem, especially since the OS version caused it to start.

As far as frequency hopping goes, dropping one or two audio packets shouldn't disconnect a device completely like that.
 
Having the same problem with my PowerBeats3. Constant Bluetooth issues. Removing the headphone jack and then offering an inferior wireless experience is the latest Apple lapse in quality.

is this interference or other signals affecting this? Sounds very similar to what I experience using Jabra Sport Pulse's on subway ride when signal is occassionally interrupted as signals for controls by the public transit affect bluetooth. I see others at the same time post the same screwface expression when their tunes are similarly screwed up.
 
Hopefully they'll be more readily available soon. I just happened to click on the website just as they received a shipment and ordered a pair for in-store pickup. By the time I was done checking out they were out of stock again, so I was very lucky to have snagged a pair.

Their eta for having them in-store isn't until March 8, and the date keeps slipping further each time I check. -_- Really don't like my current BT headphones, and want to give these a try...but first they have to be more available.
 
Happens frequently on my 6S+ during Skype for Business calls.

The onscreen indicator that says "AirPods" changes to "Earpiece" during the drop then goes back to "AirPods" when they reconnect. Drops every several minutes for about 5 seconds each time.
 



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Apple is investigating multiple reports from iPhone owners of AirPods randomly disconnecting and reconnecting during calls, MacRumors has learned.

A MacRumors forum thread and a long thread on Apple's Support Communities website have been generated by AirPods users who are regularly experiencing Bluetooth connection dropouts during phone calls, despite the fact that the wireless earphones almost never lose their connection when used to listen to music or anything else. MacRumors forum member protobiont wrote:
At present, the issue appears to be limited to iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices, with several users reporting no such problems after upgrading to an iPhone 7. MacRumors was also unable to replicate the problem on Apple's latest handset.

Initial reports suggested the dropout issue only occurs if users also have an Apple Watch paired to their iPhone, but MacRumors was able to replicate the problem with a Fitbit Blaze, suggesting a more general conflict when other Bluetooth devices are also connected.

Unpairing and then repairing the AirPods does not appear to solve the problem, neither does rebooting nor resetting the iPhone. Until Apple offers a solution, users are advised to use only one AirPod for conducting calls, as the dropouts only seem to occur when both earpieces are in use.

Article Link: Apple Investigating Issue With AirPods Randomly Disconnecting During Calls

Happens to me too, only thing that isn't perfect about the buds. IPhone 6s
 

6s Plus, with AirPod disconnect issues.

I have same disconnect issue with a 2016 Subaru Outback, and it started long before the AirPod issue.

it's a 6s Bluetooth issue.

 
Girlfriend on an iPhobe 6, calls are fine (she's at the phone literally hours a day).
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Don't be ridiculous. Both products are huge hits that any other OEMs would kill to have.

Given poor supply, success of AirPod is an unknown . I see more apple watches than AirPods......

Also the benchmark is not other OEMs, how is the iPhone 7 performing against 6S sales?
 
As another data point, I haven't experienced any issues with AirPods with iPhone SE (and Watch). Last night while out walking I did a 30 minute FaceTime call on LTE with AirPods without any issues, then continued for another half an hour listening to a podcast in Overcast without any problems either. For me they've been rock solid. But with so many devices, there are bound to be some with issues - good that Apple is investigating problems.
 
Having similar issues with both my AirPods and my car system. Randomly, even while my phone is asleep and in my pocket, notifications that come through while connected to my car will come through to the phone but NOT my watch (90% of them come through to the watch).

This has only been happening since iOS 10.

The AirPods issue is new for me. I've had them since launch week, and have hadn't no disconnecting issues during calls until iOS 10.2.1 arrived this week. This update subsequently killed the battery in my AirPods case (had to do another AirPods reset to fix, like the original problem people had with excessive drain) and now I'm seeing the AirPods dropping from phone calls randomly. They're still "connected" to the phone as they still show as an option on the phone, but I have to manually reselect them to pick up the call in my ears again instead of the phone itself.

For clarity, I'm using an iPhone 7 128gb, an Apple Watch series 2 and were only using one AirPod when on the phone calls mentioned above.
 
Girlfriend on an iPhobe 6, calls are fine (she's at the phone literally hours a day).
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Don't be ridiculous. Both products are huge hits that any other OEMs would kill to have.

Apple is not just another OEM. We hold them to a higher standard.
 
Same thing happens to me on my iPhone 7, I thought it was just me! Guess I'll try it out with 1 AirPod in so I don't go crazy


Nope, even after verifying that my firmware was updated to 3.5.1, I'm still having random disconnections while on a phone call, on my iPhone 7. I even updated to the 10.3 beta and it didn't help at all..
 
+1. Happens when I am connected to Apple Watch Series 2 and AirPods on my 6s+. Does not happen at all when AirPods are connected directly to Watch. Bummmmerrrrr dude. Not trying to lose 10.2 to get them to work after a software update :(
 



airpods-4-250x263.jpg
Apple is investigating multiple reports from iPhone owners of AirPods randomly disconnecting and reconnecting during calls, MacRumors has learned.

A MacRumors forum thread and a long thread on Apple's Support Communities website have been generated by AirPods users who are regularly experiencing Bluetooth connection dropouts during phone calls, despite the fact that the wireless earphones almost never lose their connection when used to listen to music or anything else. MacRumors forum member protobiont wrote:
At present, the issue appears to be limited to iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices, with several users reporting no such problems after upgrading to an iPhone 7. MacRumors was also unable to replicate the problem on Apple's latest handset.

Initial reports suggested the dropout issue only occurs if users also have an Apple Watch paired to their iPhone, but MacRumors was able to replicate the problem with a Fitbit Blaze, suggesting a more general conflict when other Bluetooth devices are also connected.

Unpairing and then repairing the AirPods does not appear to solve the problem, neither does rebooting nor resetting the iPhone. Until Apple offers a solution, users are advised to use only one AirPod for conducting calls, as the dropouts only seem to occur when both earpieces are in use.

Article Link: Apple Investigating Issue With AirPods Randomly Disconnecting During Calls

I'm having the same issue and I can confirm that this problem is not isolated to people using an Apple Watch. I do however have a Fitbit charge HR
 
I'm still having this problem. AirPods have disconnected multiple times during a call I'm on at work. Usually I can get them to reconnect. Sometimes I have to remove and replace in my ears. Very frustrating. The firmware update to the AirPods did not solve this.
 
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