That it happens at certain locations makes me think that your phone is trying to auto connect to a wifi in that area. Perhaps you have Xfiinity, and have configured your phone to auto connect to those hotspots? I had to kill that option because streaming radio stations would cut out when I stopped at a traffic light while near an Xfinity hotspot (this was before I had CarPlay, but it might be the same thing).
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Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates
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It’s official … I am now actively looking at jumping ship on iApple … over to best of breed hybrid … I’ll be listing out all my iApple hardware and software then putting forth a plan to execute over 2026
26 did it for me … I’ve had enough of apple QA/QC
26 did it for me … I’ve had enough of apple QA/QC
I don't have Xfinity and I've even turned off “Ask to Join Networks.” This issue occurs throughout Europe – I’ve experienced it in Italy, France, Slovenia and Croatia. Many others have reported the same problem. It’s very easy to reproduce: whenever I drive past a certain spot on my daily commute, my iPhone disconnects from my car’s infotainment system. I use wireless CarPlay, and my car’s software is regularly updated. The issue seems to affect cars from the VAG group (Audi, VW, Škoda, etc.). Apple are puzzled and don’t seem to know why it’s happening. I’ve also spoken with my car dealer, who claim it’s Apple’s fault, as no changes have been made on their side.
I use wireless CarPlay in my Chevy every day and haven’t had any issues with my old 16PM or new 17 Pro with any of the iOS 26 beta builds 🤷♂️
Same here.. Framework Desktop incoming and Pixel 9 "upgrade". It's the year of the Linux.. papercuts are better than the incumbent sucker punches.
Something has to be happening at that location. I would disconnect the iPhone from CarPlay, and take a passenger who will look at the phone while you drive through that area. Does it try to connect to wifi? Or bluetooth? Does the cell service get screwy somehow?
I’ve already tried quite a few things. I reset all network settings, removed and re-paired my iPhone 17 Pro Max with the car’s infotainment system, updated the infotainment to the latest version and even disabled all widgets.
As mentioned, many people across the country are reporting the same issue and the common factor seems to be cars from the VAG group (Seat, Škoda, VW, Audi etc.). When driving past certain spots, the audio begins to stutter, then the frame rate drops sharply and finally, the iPhone disconnects completely. The car then immediately tries to reconnect, usually without success for about a minute.
There’s a theory that this could be caused by Wi-Fi channel overlap or some other kind of signal interference in specific areas. Interestingly, if a passenger holds the iPhone (with wireless CarPlay active) and records the infotainment screen with the camera, the disconnect never happens. Some think this might keep all A19 Pro cores active, making the connection more stable – but that’s just speculation.
Apple asked me to send follow-up log files and are currently investigating. I’m on iOS 26.1 RC now and the issue is still present.
The dropouts happen with all sorts of cars, not just VAG products:
Here it’s a Jeep: Here, it’s a VW and a Hyundai: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255907593?sortBy=rank
Honda: https://www.civic11forum.com/threads/carplay-cuts-out-on-certain-road-only.6705/
Clearly the problem is not limited to one manufacturer but rather is almost certainly environmental.
Hope they fix the wallpaper issue, I haven’t seen such a stupid feature drop since Gil Amelio’s time.
I am no longer able to select a folder of pictures to use as wallpapers. i can't even set one picture to be used as a wallpaper, it keeps it for a minute and then reverts to an Apple wallpaper. I have been wondering if Apple "Intelligence" which turned itself on when I upgraded to Tahoe (since disabled) didn't like or flagged the folder of pictures I was using. Whatever, what I use for such purposes is none of Apple's business and even if it was a benign folder of panda pictures this feature should not have disappeared.
Any itsycal users here? It's been working just fine with Tahoe, but just stopped for me. Won't even launch. I'm pretty sure it's abandoned, but I still love it; even deleted and reconnected by primary non-iCloud account.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
Still works for me, and I think I got an update (0.15.8) within the last week.
Has anyone been able to test wireless CarPlay with an iPhone 17pro? Sure hope they have fixed the CarPlay bugs with the iPhone 17 Pros. Totally unusable as of the latest IOS 26.1 beta!! Constant disconnects and attempts to restart.