I have the iPhone 15 Pro. It happens to me a lot on bluetooth, but very unpredictable. In my car (2022 Kia) with music playing, sometimes it works flawlessly for the whole drive, and other times it cuts out so much that I have to plug the cable in. Airpods seem to work fine, but my Bose headphones cut in and out of audio sometimes. My old iPhone 13 Pro still works great with all bluetooth devices.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Some iPhone 15 Users Complain of Ongoing Bluetooth Issues
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I wear hearing aids and get numerous disconnects and dropouts with the 15P. I also have a brand new Sony wireless CarPlay car stereo that disconnects. I never had any connection issues with my previous phone, the XS. At this point, I'm just hoping the 16 has solved these issues, and if so, the 15P gets traded in.
Also, my audiologist says that patients have had "numerous" connection complaints with the new iPhone 15P; patients' previous model phones had no issues.
I purchased the phone in February, and I've been hoping that firmware updates would solve the issues. However, I've given up any hope that that's going to happen, as I believe the problem is hardware and not software.
Also, my audiologist says that patients have had "numerous" connection complaints with the new iPhone 15P; patients' previous model phones had no issues.
I purchased the phone in February, and I've been hoping that firmware updates would solve the issues. However, I've given up any hope that that's going to happen, as I believe the problem is hardware and not software.
After my latest post some weeks ago, Airpods Pro won't connect when I try to wear them. When Airpods are positioned into my ears, I can hear the connection jingle, I can hear that Active Noise cancellation is on, but on the bluetooth settings of my Iphone 15 pro max, it just show a spinning wheel. Everytime, the only solution is disabling bluetooth and then enabling it. Then click to connect the Airpods, and this time they work again. Some technician friend told me that could be wave or electrical interferencing: for example, for me it happens everytime I'm at work. And my job is close to a rail station. But why every other bluetooth device is working (like Apple Watch)?
Last edited:
Bluetooth, and all wireless technologies, has always been a hard science problem. In the last 20 whatever years we have seen speed increase but the same hard science problems remain. It's amazing whatever the shortcomings.
It's not amazing if it works intermittently; it's annoying. It worked fine when using prior generations of iPhones; the Bluetooth with the iPhone 15 Pro does not work fine.
Same problem here. Iphone 15. Problem with Kia stonic ( carplay) and also with airpods pro. Only sollution to toggle off bluetooth on iphone and back on again. Then it works.
Also having problems connecting my iphohe as a hotspot to a windows laptop ( Only sollution was to connect through cable )
After many years on android i have to say that is not the best switching from one platform to another !!!
Also having problems connecting my iphohe as a hotspot to a windows laptop ( Only sollution was to connect through cable )
After many years on android i have to say that is not the best switching from one platform to another !!!
Yep still happening with my iPhone 15 PM, and my Airpods Pro 2... 1 out of every 3 or 4 times, while on a call (or even sometimes listening to a podcast), the Airpods Pro will drop connection. I'll hear the chime of the disconnecting. And then ~2secs later, I'll hear the chime of the connecting and it reconnects on its own. I use my cell / APP as my primary phone and headset for work, and it's pretty annoying. It's usually just short enough of a disconnection time that I don't miss much / the main point when they're speaking, but when I'm speaking, it's quite annoying... Can't believe it's still an issue for this long!
Yes. Still going on.
Had issues for years with my Airpods 3. I wrote them off and don’t use them for calls anymore, ‘cause they would disconnect/reconnect/disconnect and so on after a few minutes.
Then I started having issues with my Cardo intercom (motorbike) where I would randomly start hearing “phone disconnected” and “phone connected” repeatedly while riding as the iPhone’s connection to the intercom becomes unstable.
I recently purchased a Beeline Bemoto 2 (mini sat nav screen for motorbikes) that relies on the phone to actually do the GPS positioning and route calculation, and it’s being almost unusable as the phone will disconnect and reconnect repeatedly to it.
Restarting the phone solves the problem temporarily. Maybe an hour or so.
iPhone 13.
I was considering upgrading to solve the issue, but I keep reading horror stories about this from 15 and 16 users.
Apple does not acknowledge the issue.
Strangely enough, for me no issues with carplay on at least 5 vehicles I had recently.
Had issues for years with my Airpods 3. I wrote them off and don’t use them for calls anymore, ‘cause they would disconnect/reconnect/disconnect and so on after a few minutes.
Then I started having issues with my Cardo intercom (motorbike) where I would randomly start hearing “phone disconnected” and “phone connected” repeatedly while riding as the iPhone’s connection to the intercom becomes unstable.
I recently purchased a Beeline Bemoto 2 (mini sat nav screen for motorbikes) that relies on the phone to actually do the GPS positioning and route calculation, and it’s being almost unusable as the phone will disconnect and reconnect repeatedly to it.
Restarting the phone solves the problem temporarily. Maybe an hour or so.
iPhone 13.
I was considering upgrading to solve the issue, but I keep reading horror stories about this from 15 and 16 users.
Apple does not acknowledge the issue.
Strangely enough, for me no issues with carplay on at least 5 vehicles I had recently.
Hopefully you do another article on this. These issues are still ongoing. Horrible Bluetooth modem in the 15 Pro.
So, this has been an ongoing issue with my iPhone 15 Pro Max for a while now. Initially, I didn’t encounter many Bluetooth problems when I first bought the phone. However, after updating it to iOS 18, the Bluetooth issues became more frequent.
I use an Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, and also CarPlay. My Apple Watch would constantly give out notifications about “iPhone not found” every 10 minutes. Additionally, my AirPods Pro wouldn’t connect. I had to put one AirPod in, play music, and then put the other AirPod in for it to work. Sometimes, the Watch or AirPods would appear connected in the Bluetooth settings but wouldn’t function properly. (For example, the AirPods wouldn’t play music through them, and the phone would play music through the speaker even though the AirPods were connected. The Watch also wouldn’t send pings to the phone, and so on.) Even the iPhone Mirroring feature on my Mac wouldn’t work.
I’ve spoken to Apple Support multiple times (recently in 2025), and they’ve suggested the following solutions:
1. The first time I spoke to them, they advised me to remove VPNs, disconnect all Bluetooth devices, and reset the connection settings. Then, I should reconnect all devices one by one. For instance, I connected the Apple Watch and waited for 1-2 days to see if the connection dropped. Then, I connected CarPlay and then the AirPods Pro. Everything worked fine until the AirPods Pro were connected on the last day. Before that, everything worked fine (except for minor issues with CarPlay), but then after connecting the AirPods Pro, the problems started again.
2. The second time I spoke to them, they suggested resetting the entire phone and then reconnecting the devices one by one again. However, this didn’t resolve the issue.
3. The third time I spoke to them, they advised me to try resetting the phone without loading the iCloud backup, which would give me a fresh start. Unfortunately, the same issue persisted after connecting the AirPods Pro.
4. The fourth time I spoke to them, they suggested that I go to the Apple Store for service.
So, either the 15 Pro Max has a connectivity issue where multiple devices randomly disrupt the connection, rendering it useless, or the AirPods Pro are interfering with the other connections. That’s my experience with this issue.
TL;DR: iPhone 15 Pro Max experiences frequent Bluetooth connectivity issues after iOS 18 update, affecting Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, and CarPlay. Apple Support suggests various troubleshooting steps, including device resets and reconnections, but the problem persists.
I use an Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, and also CarPlay. My Apple Watch would constantly give out notifications about “iPhone not found” every 10 minutes. Additionally, my AirPods Pro wouldn’t connect. I had to put one AirPod in, play music, and then put the other AirPod in for it to work. Sometimes, the Watch or AirPods would appear connected in the Bluetooth settings but wouldn’t function properly. (For example, the AirPods wouldn’t play music through them, and the phone would play music through the speaker even though the AirPods were connected. The Watch also wouldn’t send pings to the phone, and so on.) Even the iPhone Mirroring feature on my Mac wouldn’t work.
I’ve spoken to Apple Support multiple times (recently in 2025), and they’ve suggested the following solutions:
1. The first time I spoke to them, they advised me to remove VPNs, disconnect all Bluetooth devices, and reset the connection settings. Then, I should reconnect all devices one by one. For instance, I connected the Apple Watch and waited for 1-2 days to see if the connection dropped. Then, I connected CarPlay and then the AirPods Pro. Everything worked fine until the AirPods Pro were connected on the last day. Before that, everything worked fine (except for minor issues with CarPlay), but then after connecting the AirPods Pro, the problems started again.
2. The second time I spoke to them, they suggested resetting the entire phone and then reconnecting the devices one by one again. However, this didn’t resolve the issue.
3. The third time I spoke to them, they advised me to try resetting the phone without loading the iCloud backup, which would give me a fresh start. Unfortunately, the same issue persisted after connecting the AirPods Pro.
4. The fourth time I spoke to them, they suggested that I go to the Apple Store for service.
So, either the 15 Pro Max has a connectivity issue where multiple devices randomly disrupt the connection, rendering it useless, or the AirPods Pro are interfering with the other connections. That’s my experience with this issue.
TL;DR: iPhone 15 Pro Max experiences frequent Bluetooth connectivity issues after iOS 18 update, affecting Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, and CarPlay. Apple Support suggests various troubleshooting steps, including device resets and reconnections, but the problem persists.
Last edited:
I’m letting you know in the comments, the Bluetooth issues are horrendous. We need a lawsuit for this one.
Yeah, it still persists and has actually worsened. My AirPods never connect, and I can’t set up smart home gadgets.
My apple watch is no issue, however, I get random disconnects on airpods pro. Other bluetooth devices aren't affected.
As I mentioned earlier, when only my Apple Watch is connected (the AirPods connection is severed, and the AirPods light flashes white), there appear to be no issues. However, when I connect them together, they seem to interfere with their signal, causing consistent problems.