iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 Pro Max - Wi-Fi and CarPlay issues

[armandsarkani]

Been having some weird Wi-Fi related issues on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. Seems like it is been happening to several others as well. I notice that whenever I unlock my iPhone while wearing my Apple Watch and while my iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi connection will disconnect and later reconnect. If I look at the Settings app, it is actually turning Wi-Fi completely off and turning it back on. Strangely this only happens when I am wearing my Apple Watch (and it is already unlocked) and I unlock my iPhone. It is reproducible nearly 100% of the time. This also manifests itself in wireless CarPlay. When I am wearing my watch and I unlock my iPhone, CarPlay will disconnect and reconnect. Every time. I am assuming this is part of the same issue as wireless CarPlay is Wi-Fi based.

This Reddit thread has been pretty active with others who have this issue (on the iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air):

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1nlenlp/iphone_17pm_wireless_issues

Curious if anyone else is facing the same issues.

 

[ektrey]

I'm having issues with my iPhone 17 Pro using wireless CarPlay with my Pioneer DMH-W2770NEX. I reset the network settings, which did not fix the issue of the continuous restarts.

 

[Salty Pirate]

iPhone Air here.

Same thing. It’s maddening.

Disconnects from car play. I have wireless car play that this happens on.

If I plug the cable directly in, after a few minutes, it completely crashed car play. Screen went dark.

I am wondering if this is all new iPhone devices or iOS 26???

 

[tzm41]

Same issue with wireless CarPlay with my Carlinkit unit. Never had any issues on my iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 26. Now on my iPhone 17 Pro it disconnects every few minutes.

 

[armandsarkani]

iPhone Air here.

Same thing. It’s maddening.

Disconnects from car play. I have wireless car play that this happens on.

If I plug the cable directly in, after a few minutes, it completely crashed car play. Screen went dark.

I am wondering if this is all new iPhone devices or iOS 26???

Same issue with wireless CarPlay with my Carlinkit unit. Never had any issues on my iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 26. Now on my iPhone 17 Pro it disconnects every few minutes.

Do you have an Apple Watch and are you wearing it while connecting to CarPlay and unlocking your phone? This seems to me the culprit. If I don't unlock my phone while wearing my Apple Watch, CarPlay and Wi-Fi seem fine.

 

[tzm41]

Do you have an Apple Watch and are you wearing it while connecting to CarPlay and unlocking your phone? This seems to me the culprit. If I don't unlock my phone while wearing my Apple Watch, CarPlay and Wi-Fi seem fine.

I do have an Apple Watch… I think this might be a bug on N1 firmware that Apple will be able to fix if it gets enough traction.

 

[armandsarkani]

I do have an Apple Watch… I think this might be a bug on N1 firmware that Apple will be able to fix if it gets enough traction.

That's what I'm thinking too. Filed a feedback. iOS 26.0.1 is coming soon so maybe that will somehow fix it.

 

[Salty Pirate]

Interesting. I will try it w/o my watch.

 

[SPG1]

Same problem.

2019 Jeep, 8.4 UConnect, wired works for a couple minutes then locks up. Wireless CarLinKit 3.0 adapter either works for 15 minutes or 15 seconds then disconnects.

Pioneer head unit, all seemed fine with wired and wireless.

Have yet to test in two other vehicles

This is simply maddening that this wasn’t caught in testing.

NO Apple Watch. Reset network settings didn’t work. WiFi and Bluetooth off same problem, wired crashes.

 

[flipjlo]

Same problem with car play with the Apple Watch . Even raise to wake disconnects. I took my Apple Watch it did not happen. On other hand I wear a mask due to working in a hospital. The toggle “unlock with nearby devices “ with setting toggle on and Face ID with mask toggle off. The Apple Watch disconnects.