CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro

I have the same issue with my iPhone 16 Pro. My 15 pro worked fine.

I solved the issue!

screen time>content & privacy information >car play (was disabled)

as soon as I enabled it my car prompted to finish setting up car play and everything showed up again.

I had the same problem with my Honda Accord. All I needed was an Apple USB-C to Lightning adapter for my old cord. This was after I bought a new (non Apple) USB C to USB A cord that didn’t work. The Apple Store salesperson explained that some cords will only charge but not carry data. My Honda’s Car Play prompted me if I wanted to use the new phone with Car Play. Works fine now.

I agree. I bought the Pro 16 and tried everything to connect to CarPlay on my CRV. It was very frustrating as the other home phones were still connecting as before. I researched for a couple of days making sure the settings were correct, etc. But even though I was reluctant at first, "forgetting" ALL the phones in CarPlay did the trick. I had a cable that was brand new and didn't work. It just charged. So I bought a second cable from the local Apple Store (they also checked my new phone) to make sure their cable would charge and transmit data. But when I "forgot" all the phones in my CRV and then set up the 16 again in CarPlay, both cables worked! I forgot all phones that had been connected both via CarPlay and those that were only (or also) connected by Bluetooth.

I agree with the comments here. The joy of getting the new iPhone 16 Pro Max was quickly diminished when I plugged in carplay and all I get is static, garbled voices and every other word is dropped. I have tried three different and purchased a new Apple cord and the Apple USB-C to Lightning adapter...which also didn't improve anything. I have spent hours on the phone with AT&T, my provider, I spent two hours in the "Genius" Bar last night and still haven't been helped. Everyone passes the buck and I'm left with a non-operable carplay. I had not one bit of trouble with my 13 Pro...everything is connected to this phone upgrade. I just want a solution.

Mine the same. But I found this and tried, worked!

‘Try settings, general, CarPlay, and delete all vehicles. You may also need to go settings, general, scroll down to reset phone, and click on reset network settings.’

Worth to have a go.

Dear Colleagues,

i’ve been experience the same problem to connect my Iphone 16 Pro with my car and have the car play working properly. As a result a called Apple Support. Here is the troubleshooting conducted in order to make it work:

1. Go to Settings >> Focus >> turn off all (i.e sleep)
2. go to settings >> car play >> forget this device
3. go to “reset all networking settings”. Your iphone will restart after typing the password.
4. go to your car settings and delete your device
5. set up the car play again with your car.

This should work with bluetooth. Good luck.

Someone share on another thread Apple CarPlay Not Working in iOS 18.0 - Apple Community that privacy restrictions need to be enabled for the CarPlay to work and that resolve the issue for me so do check it initially I thought it might be some major issue with my car infotainment but thanks gods it just a setting that was turned off for the reference my car is Toyota Camry and my iPhone is 16 pro.

After more than two hours online with Apple Support and a senior manager of their tech support, we were unable to get my 2019 Mercedes to get CarPlay to start up with my new iPhone 16 Pro. Today I finally solved the issue by purchasing a USB-C to Lightening adapter as many here have done, as well as completely rebooting the Mercedes Benz infotainmant system inside the vehicle by going to "System", then going to "Reset". I hope this is helpful to other Apple users. For many vehicles your Apple CarPlay may not work properly unless you reboot your internal car entertainment system software. Unfortunately this also means having to re-setup all the internal settings of the car to your liking.

Yes my Mercedes too only has USB-A inputs thus I had to buy the USB-A to USB-C Adapter from the Apple Store.

USB-C to USB Adapter - Apple. Separately -- I went to my internal Mercedes Infotainment center, and to "Systems" and completely reset the infotainment center to its default settings. Using the same cable (data plus charging) that I knew worked earlier for Apple CarPlay, but now with the new USB-A to USB-C adapter attached, and after having rebooted the infotainment system to default setting then attached my new iPhone 16 Pro to the system and it then did recognize the new phone and I was able to proceed to set up the new phone. The only real downside is that one will need to completely set up all the other in-vehicle settings that one wants inside the vehicle but that only took me just a few minutes to re-establish. I hope this works for you.

Today I purchased a few adaptors and cables to try resolve the problem. Fingers crossed one of the above and/or a combination of them will work after I reset the infotainment settings to default. Otherwise, I give up!

Hi Dan

Quick question - when you reset the infotainment system to the default settings and you connected your iPhone 16 Pro (with the adapter and cable) and it worked, had you previously paired your iPhone via Bluetooth (for telephone & media in the car) or, did you pair via Bluetooth afterwards? I guess I’m asking the process I should follow: first CarPlay (via cable) and then Bluetooth or vice versa? Maybe it doesn’t make any difference? Thanks again for your advice.

I had the same problem as everyone else connecting my new iPhone 16pro to Apple CarPlay in my Lexus. This suggestion, plus checking the Content & Privacy restrictions worked! It all now works just like it did with my old iPhone 12pro. Thanks for all the tips everyone !

Somewhat ashamed to say I spent hours trying to connect my iPhone 16 Pro for CarPlay to my '21 Toyota Tacoma. I went over all the settings, tried it with Bluetooth and also with hardwire. It didn't work even though it had worked just fine with my iPhone 13. It was so frustrating! Then it dawned on me to use the USB A to USB C that Toyota supplied with the truck. It worked easy peasy. Save yourself time and make sure you have a good cord.

I just had the same issue. One thing to check is your usb to usbc cable. I grabbed a few and turns out they weren’t rated for CarPlay. I dug through my cable box, found the Anker set rated for CarPlay and it worked fine.