CarPlay keeps diconnecting

[orccro]

i bought a new 2016 Chevy Malibu with CarPlay back in April. I love the car, and I love CarPlay...when it is working! It disconnects at least once a day. Sometimes it disconnects and after a few seconds it reconnects. Sometimes it disconnects and I unplug my iPhone, and plug it back in and it reconnects. Occasionally it disconnects and I cannot get it to reconnect unless I restart my car. I have tried the followings:
--turning off blu-tooth
--resetting iPhone
--buying brand-new cable from Apple
_-reset network settings
--trying what another macrumors forum member (peteLP) suggested in another thread (in bold):

"One thing to try is to delete the bluetooth-paring from the iphone (forget this network) and pair it again and connect again. Carplay is supposed to use bluetooth in the carplay setup process, and a problem with bluetooth could be the source of your problem with carplay. it's worth trying even if bluetooth appears to be working ok."

Other things to try:
- Reboot the iphone (you probably have), try connecting with carplay again.

- Turn off the carplay setting on the iphone, go back a level in settings, leave settings. Then go back to settings in the iphone, turn on the carplay setting, try connecting

- "Reset all network settings" on the iphone, setup bluetooth again, turn on carplay again and try."

I even went to my Apple store and they replaced my 6s-plus iPhone! I And I still have the problem...errrr. So, a possibility is that when I reset my iPhone, and import everything back into my device, whatever it was that caused the problem in the first place gets imported back into my iPhone.

The last thing that I am going to try is to set up my iPhone as a brand new phone and then test it before importing back all of my iTunes, apps, etc.

But before I try this, does anyone else have any suggestions?

_- Orccro.

 

[orccro]

Ok, I tried the nuclear option: I set up my iPhone as a new phone. I still get disconnects. Bummer.

 

[PeteLP]

Man, I feel for you. Nothing's more difficult than an intermittent problem.

I respect you greatly for being one of the few people I've seen with a tough problem who's tried all posted suggestions from a wide variety of sources.

Here's a post (LINK) from someone with the same car and same problem who's found a solution. It just happens to be the next thing I was about to suggest before googling.

"I have a brand new 2016 Chevy Malibu connected to my iPhone 6s Plus updated to iOS 9.3.4 with brand new Apple cables I got from the Apple Store.

I have reset my network settings, removed the device and re-added it to CarPlay and rebooted my phone several times. However nothing has helped. ...

Update: I switched to the second USB port in the car and bam, no disconnections. I went from it happening constantly, to never happening again. I'm wondering if the first USB port is malfunctioning or if it is some kind of software bug."
​

This is a strong indication that the problem is specific to the car. Either a faulty USB port or faulty USB wiring in the car, likely due to a manufacturing defect in one of those parts.

 

[xraydoc]

Man, I feel for you. Nothing's more difficult than an intermittent problem.

I respect you greatly for being one of the few people I've seen with a tough problem who's tried all posted suggestions from a wide variety of sources.

Here's a post (LINK) from someone with the same car and same problem who's found a solution. It just happens to be the next thing I was about to suggest before googling.

"I have a brand new 2016 Chevy Malibu connected to my iPhone 6s Plus updated to iOS 9.3.4 with brand new Apple cables I got from the Apple Store.

I have reset my network settings, removed the device and re-added it to CarPlay and rebooted my phone several times. However nothing has helped. ...

Update: I switched to the second USB port in the car and bam, no disconnections. I went from it happening constantly, to never happening again. I'm wondering if the first USB port is malfunctioning or if it is some kind of software bug."
​

This is a strong indication that the problem is specific to the car. Either a faulty USB port or faulty USB wiring in the car, likely due to a manufacturing defect in one of those parts.

Or there's a software update for the car that the dealership will need to do.

 

[PeteLP]

Here's a post (LINK) from someone with the same car and same problem who's found a solution ... "I switched to the second USB port in the car and bam, no disconnections."
This is a strong indication that the problem is specific to the car. Either a faulty USB port or faulty USB wiring in the car

Or there's a software update for the car that the dealership will need to do.

My point is that if an intermittent problem is fixed by switching between two of the car's usb ports, its extremely unlikely to be a software bug, and very likely to be a simple hardware flaw (which, btw, could appear in all cars or some cars of the same model.)

 

[itsLouieV]

I keep having the same issue. Sometimes the reboot fixes it, sometimes it just won't work. I'm going to reset all settings tonight, but once i finally get my iPhone 7 in november I'll just start from scratch.

 

[orccro]

I've tried switching ports. Same problem with both ports. Several days ago I purchased a foot-long iPhone cable that seems to improve things a bit. I drove around 360 miles over three days without a hitch. Then the dreaded disconnect reappeared. Three times over the past three days. I have a service appointment with a Chevy technician next Friday. This will be my second appointment with this problem. Last time they told me that the software and firmware on the car (Chevy MyLink) was up to date. But I am now on my second iPhone with this problem so I will let the technician know about that. If I find out anything I will report back.

 

[xraydoc]

My point is that if an intermittent problem is fixed by switching between two of the car's usb ports, its extremely unlikely to be a software bug, and very likely to be a simple hardware flaw (which, btw, could appear in all cars or some cars of the same model.)

Ah. Didn't see that statement. Yes, in that case, I would agree with you.

 

[PeteLP]

I've tried switching ports. Same problem with both ports. Several days ago I purchased a foot-long iPhone cable that seems to improve things a bit. I drove around 360 miles over three days without a hitch. Then the dreaded disconnect reappeared. Three times over the past three days. I have a service appointment with a Chevy technician next Friday. This will be my second appointment with this problem. Last time they told me that the software and firmware on the car (Chevy MyLink) was up to date. But I am now on my second iPhone with this problem so I will let the technician know about that. If I find out anything I will report back.

I just read that apple is now claiming that a very large percentage of cables sold on Amazon claiming to be from APPLE are fake. Did you buy your cables from an actual Apple Store? Or from the Apple website? If not maybe that's worth a try as well

 

[orccro]

I just read that apple is now claiming that a very large percentage of cables sold on Amazon claiming to be from APPLE are fake. Did you buy your cables from an actual Apple Store? Or from the Apple website? If not maybe that's worth a try as well

I bought mine from an Apple Store.

 

[orccro]

I bought mine from an Apple Store.

Actually, let me clarify: I tried three different three-foot cables, all purchased from an Apple Store in Tyson's Virginia. I purchased a one-foot cable from Amazon, branded as Anker if my memory is correct. It seems that the one-foot Anker cable might be giving me less of a problem, with fewer disconnections.

 

[orccro]

Ok, it appears that the problem is solved. About two weeks ago I took my car in to the dealership's service department. The tech reinstalled the MyLink software (I think he called it a re-flash). No problems since then.