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iPhone 16e Has a Bluetooth Audio Problem

We are having VPN issues with the 16e. We have a VPN connection to HQ, it connects, but can’t see anything on the network. We have SEs, 11, 12, 14, 14 and 15 models all working fine, but the 16e doesn’t work.

I haven’t had a chance to look more deeply into it, but deleted and re-added the VPN connection (built in VPN, not a consumer VPN app).
 
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I haven't experienced this on my 16E. My biggest issue with the iPhone is how poor the audio quality is in terms of reaching a respectable loudness through my headphones. It's a night and day difference when I listen to the bluetooth audio from my Mac Studio versus my iPhone. The iPhone just will not play loud at all. It's kind of frustrating that the company that helped reinvent mobile audio had reduced their sound quality from the iPhone to barely adequate.
 
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That occasionally happens with my 13 mIni and has been happening for quite a while. It's not a source issue since the music is downloaded to the device. Happens with CarPlay, earbuds, and BT headphones.

Doesn't happen all the time.
 
I’ve had BT audio issues on both a a 12 Pro and 14 Pro Max, which likely started after upgrading to iOS 18: but I can’t recall when it really began. It happens on a BT enabled receiver, speaker, and a BT transmitter I use for a wired headset.
 
Imagine what the C2 could do.

Engineers are aware that the C1 interfers with the bluetooth connection when it has maximum load. The next update will fix this, but C1 will be "temporarily " downgraded in terms of performance to stabilise bluetooth or they opt to downgrade the bluetooth connections.

Thanks beta users.
 
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digimc said:
I haven't experienced this on my 16E. My biggest issue with the iPhone is how poor the audio quality is in terms of reaching a respectable loudness through my headphones. It's a night and day difference when I listen to the bluetooth audio from my Mac Studio versus my iPhone. The iPhone just will not play loud at all. It's kind of frustrating that the company that helped reinvent mobile audio had reduced their sound quality from the iPhone to barely adequate.
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Your phone probably has the hearing safety loudness limit set. There’s no such thing as “quieter” Bluetooth. It’s digital.
 
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Similar issues with 16 Pro Max. Most pronounced in my vehicle, but occasionally happens with AirPods and other Bluetooth audio devices. I did not have the issue with a 15 Pro Max during iOS 18 beta testing. It’s worse when I have a MagSafe accessory or case on my phone.
 
I have this problem with my AirPods when I am listening to a podcast or a book on my iPhone 16 Pro and I am wearing my Watch. I think the Watch and iPhone compete for the Bluetooth connection with my AirPods. Annoying as _____.
 
Apple's bluetooth stack continues to fall to new depths in both quality issues and ill thought out functionality.
It is clear that QE/QA is nonexistant as the majority of these issues would have been discovered through CI/CD testing.
It's literally a rubbish implementation.
 
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sw1tcher said:
Is this really an iPhone 16e issue and not an iOS 18 issue? When I'm listening to audio via bluetooth on my iPhone 14 with iOS 18.3.1 the audio would sometimes cut out (bluetooth earbuds would disconnect) and I'd have to re-pair/reconnect them to the iPhone. I didn't have this isuse with iOS 17 and so far I haven't experienced this with iOS 18.3.2
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Yep, I have a 13 Mini and it's constantly switching back to phone audio instead of my headphones (only on calls though, interestingly). It drives me wild. This has to be an iOS bug at its roots.
 
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Unfortunately this sort of product shoddiness is occurring more and more often. It means now that I will take a good hard look at any new Apple product and weigh it against the many thousands of $ that Apple want to charge for the majority of their hardware.

I need this year:

1. A new laptop.
2. A new monitor.
3. A new mouse.
4. A new wireless keyboard.

Will they be all Apple? Hmmmm.
 
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mudguts said:
Unfortunately this sort of product shoddiness is occurring more and more often. It means now that I will take a good hard look at any new Apple product and weigh it against the many thousands of $ that Apple want to charge for the majority of their hardware.

I need this year:

1. A new laptop.
2. A new monitor.
3. A new mouse.
4. A new wireless keyboard.

Will they be all Apple? Hmmmm.
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Nothing Phone 3a has competitive longevity value. Framework for desktop and laptop is also great value. Both great quality, however both also having growing pains being new companies.

We got three iPhones 16e. Two of which confirmed to have this Bluetooth issue. Prior iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE 2022 don't have this issue. You can see my full debugging in the support thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255996256?answerId=261255116022#261255116022

Looks like we will be returning at least one, but probably all three; and hopefully returning to the iPhone 16e later once users who cannot return report that Bluetooth finally works again.

Really considering for the first time since the iPhone 4 moving from Apple to Nothing 3a.

Pity that the iPhone 16e has this issue, as it was the perfect phone for us; tremendous longevity value (price / remaining support years) with all the features we want and none that we don't need nor don't want.

Our family has 2TB of data in Apple Photos. So that will probably keep us trapped in the Apple ecosystem. Also, Android doesn't have a good competitor to the Arc location history app; which I use to record my life and motorcycle trips.
 
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t0rqx said:
Engineers are aware that the C1 interfers with the bluetooth connection when it has maximum load. The next update will fix this, but C1 will be "temporarily " downgraded in terms of performance to stabilise bluetooth or they opt to downgrade the bluetooth connections.
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Can you cite your source for that?
 
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MacRumors said:


In the two weeks since the iPhone 16e launched, some early adopters of the device have experienced a Bluetooth audio issue.

iPhone-16e-Feature-1.jpg

According to complaints from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X, audio being streamed from an iPhone 16e to a Bluetooth speaker periodically stutters or cuts out. It is unclear how widespread the problem is.

One affected user said the issue has persisted even after updating the iPhone 16e to iOS 18.3.2, released earlier this week. It is unclear if the issue is or will be resolved in iOS 18.4, which is currently in beta and will be released in April.

Some affected users said the issue appears to arise when the iPhone 16e is connected to multiple Bluetooth accessories simultaneously.

Given that some of the affected users have contacted Apple's support representatives about this issue, hopefully the company is aware of the problem and working on a fix, which should arrive in a future software update.

Article Link: iPhone 16e Has a Bluetooth Audio Problem
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Well as collateral bondo, a software fix (if that's it) will also fix my Earpods Pro 2 and will let incoming phone calls ring in my ear. (yes using hearing aid features)
 
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