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Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

To be honest when Apple starting working on their own in-house WiFi/Modem chip it seemed obvious to me, based on all of Apple's history, that this was likely to be buggy... and that if it's not patchable then first generation products would simply be left as is years later. The precendent is there - right down to faulty hardware such as the 17" MBP video, it the recall obviously just replaced the same hardware again so the problem eventually comes back, right down to their keyboards most recent. Just how Apple is - deny, evade, replace with same, move on and forget. Unless patchable - that's Apple's standout impressive trademark, is they can often fix things with patches given they make the whole hardware and software top to bottom. But I wouldn't be going near that N1, N2 soonest. Hopefully fixable though.
 
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DVD Plaza said:
To be honest when Apple starting working on their own in-house WiFi/Modem chip it seemed obvious to me, based on all of Apple's history, that this was likely to be buggy... and that if it's not patchable then first generation products would simply be left as is years later. The precendent is there - right down to faulty hardware such as the 17" MBP video, it the recall obviously just replaced the same hardware again so the problem eventually comes back, right down to their keyboards most recent. Just how Apple is - deny, evade, replace with same, move on and forget. Unless patchable - that's Apple's standout impressive trademark, is they can often fix things with patches given they make the whole hardware and software top to bottom. But I wouldn't be going near that N1, N2 soonest. Hopefully fixable though.
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I hope this not the case this time as I am bit by the iPhone 17 wifi bug, on Carplay. Carplay restarts every 1-2 minutes. It was rock solid on my 16 Pro with Ios 26.

If apple doesn't fix this in the next couple of days, I will buy another 16 Pro (not from Apple), and move on. Apple needs to test their stuff before releasing it to the public. Ios 26 went through significant test, but the new N1 chip and it's software apparently didn't.

I vote with my dollars and I hope others will too. I have put all Apple spending on hold.
iPhone 17 Pro: May get returned.
Airpods Pro 3: Another new product, no way. I've had enough of new crap.
Case for new iPhone 17 Pro: If I keep the phone, I will buy a non-Apple case. You've wated my time and pissed me off. Test you stuff Apple.
Watch Bands for this year: No way. Same as the phone case. You've wasted a lot of my time with this bug and lack of testing. No more money for you this year.

I'm only one person, but this is $400-$1500 less revenue for Apple depending on whether they quickly fix this issue and I keep the phone. I'll spend $400 less this year no matter what. Vote with your dollars folks, it's the only language Apple understands.

Important Note: Apple hasn't publicly acknowledged this issue yet, so we don't know if the 26.1 beta fixes this, or if 26.0.1 will fix this. Is a fix coming? When?

Your new N1 chip is great Apple... Not!
Your testing of the new chip is great too... Not!
OH, and your communication regarding this issue great... NOT!!!
 
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I’m seeing CarPlay problems on my iPhone 17 Pro that never happened on my 15 Pro running iOS 26.0. In my MK8 Golf R, the CarPlay screen will go black but audio keeps playing. In my F-150 with Sync 4, CarPlay sometimes freezes where the CarPlay icon button becomes unresponsive, though audio continues. In both vehicles, this only happens when switching back into CarPlay after using the native system for some reason, almost like the video feed won’t re-establish even though the connection is still live. The only way to fix it is resetting the connection on either the phone or the head unit. Pretty frustrating. Anyone else seeing this?
 
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I miss Broadcom! My Wifi is dropping every time i wake my iPhone 17 Pro Max but seems to only be when wearing my ultra 3 watch and its unlocked.
 
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poematik13 said:
I regret upgrading tbh. The migration was messy with a couple of my authenticator apps locking me out, apple watch had to be rebooted 4-5 times before pairing, cellular activation took a while, and I lost all my saved bluetooth devices aside from airpods lol. Took me a good 4-5 hours to get up and running, most likely because the servers were slammed.

The 17 pro is also noticeably heavier and bulkier than my 15 pro, and you can see a thin aluminum border around the screen next to the silicone case border so the screen doesnt disappear into a slab of black glass anymore

Don't even get me started on the hot mess that is ios 26. Visual glitches, lag, and UI bugs everywhere

I should have just paid $79 for a new battery in my 15 pro, stuck to 18.7, and waited another year for the foldable.

The "it just works" advantage is slowly fading away at apple
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Can you still do that? Return policy?
 
17PM, rock solid on home network.
my car is having issues with wireless CarPlay disconnects with the 17PM. 16PM with IOS26 is ok.
Had to go back to a cable/wire for CarPlay. unusable.
Oddly my wife's car has been ok with CarPlay and 17PM

And another poster noted screen blurriness on 17PM, lag with CarPlay, I have the same. with a cable its fine.

I hope its just software and fixed soon...
 
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pickle9 said:
Living in Finland, there would be no need for Wi-Fi since cheap mobile connections have delivered the speed for over 10 years. But Apple hangs in the past (like tech in America) and requires devices to connect Wi-Fi every now and then, like when setting up new devices. Hopefully Apple would finally give us the possibility to connect and setup without Wi-Fi so these modem issues
greg8799 said:
This is driving me crazy. It happens so often when I’m streaming Spotify. Tried on Apple Music, same issue. I’m air playing to 3 HomePods and a Sonos and if my iPhone doesn’t decide to disconnect me from WiFi, I also experience individual speakers stop and start playing again. I restarted the router, reset network settings, disabled WiFi assist or whatever it was called - still getting lots of disconnections :(
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Same issues here with iPhone Air.
 
At first I didn't think I had this issue but I definitely do after traveling this weekend. What's weird is I don't seem to have problems with the internet, but my wireless CarPlay crashes after 15 seconds to two minutes very consistently. I've had it crash 5 times while testing within a 7 minute period. The other issue is that I've been using workout buddy on my old iPhone since iOS 26 came out and now my Apple Watch is giving me messages about how it can't use it because my Apple Watch Ultra 2 is not connected to my 17 Pro. And yet I look at my Watch and it isn't giving a disconnected from iPhone warning icon at the top. It's really weird.

How has Apple not tested this crap? Should've put the N1 in the SE and let a lower volume cheap product take the beta testing, not their high end flagship phone starting at $1099. I mean, as bad as it is with wireless CarPlay, I can't imagine they even tested that once. How do you drop the ball that hard? And yet by contrast you have the AirPods Pro 3 team which just dropped a near perfect product which I absolutely adore. This company needs to get consistent.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues.

iPhone-17-Pro-and-Air-N1-Feature.jpg

Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the past four days. It is unclear how widespread the problem is.

Specifically, affected users said Wi-Fi briefly disconnects and then reconnects after they unlock the iPhone. And since Apple's CarPlay system in vehicles relies on a Wi-Fi connection, the issue can result in CarPlay disconnecting too.

Many users said the issue occurs while they are wearing an Apple Watch that is paired and unlocked, but it is unclear if that is always a contributing factor.

MacRumors has been unable to reproduce the problem, but it has reached out to Apple for comment on the matter. This story will be updated if Apple responds.

It is unclear if this is a hardware or software problem, but Apple is often able to fix these sorts of issues with a software update. iOS 26.0.1 is coming soon, but it is unclear if Apple will have identified and implemented a fix in time for that version.

All four of the new iPhone models are equipped with Apple's first-ever custom-designed N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity, whereas previous iPhone models rely on a Broadcom chip for wireless networking.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Apple touted the N1 chip's power efficiency.

"One of the things people may not realize is that your Wi-Fi access points actually contribute to your device's awareness of location, so you don't need to use GPS, which actually costs more from a power perspective," said Arun Mathias, Apple's vice president of wireless software technologies. "By being able to do this more seamlessly in the background, not needing to wake up the application processor as much, we can do that significantly more efficiently."

In its press releases for the new iPhones, Apple said the N1 chip also improves the performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop.

Unfortunately, though, it appears the N1 chip is not so reliable for Wi-Fi for some users right now.

Article Link: Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue
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This is relevant also to other iPhone models - e.g. my 13 Pro or 15. The issues has been the same with iOS18, then got fixed within one of the minor updates. Now the history is repeating in iOS26. It seems Apple neeeds to step up their game in testing the radio within new / major software updates.
 
Wireless CarPlay is intermittent for me on my 17 Pro, coming from a 13 Pro where it was faultless. Didn't try the 13 Pro on iOS 26 so I can't say which is to blame.
 
So this is what Apple meant it being more efficient. It turns itself off all the time. Another sleazy trick to gain battery life.

Exactly how Apple went down last time when they ousted Steve Jobs. Profit margins over quality.
 
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No issues with my iPhone 17 on WiFi at all with or without my Series 10 Apple Watch. Also no issues with any of my devices running the 26 OSes.

I don’t have wireless CarPlay so I don’t know.
 
Since Friday I was very frustrated with my AirPods dropping connection. I also had an issue with my watch not pairing to my new 17 Air. I assumed it was a bluetooth issue, but last night I finally figured out that every time I connect my phone to my MagSafe charger, which I use at night, BOTH wifi and bluetooth drop out. I finally connected a USB C cable to charge and had no issues at all. I was also able to replicate the issue this morning using a different MagSafe charger.
 
I put the iOS26.1 Beta on and that fixed the issue of it resetting wifi and bluetooth with my apple watch connected, unlocked, and on my wrist that seems to trigger this issue.
 
Having the same issue with wireless Carplay and 17 Pro Max. No problem when plugged in and my 16 Pro Max was perfect. Ill see if taking my watch off helps on the ride home. 🤷‍♂️
 
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