Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16

It's frightening that so many people have these problems with a product in this price range. In my case, the Bluetooth Heartbeat automatically opens my front door, which had always worked well with Iphone 12, no longer works with the Iphone 16. The ticket at Apple has been open since the new purchase and nothing seems to be happening. The recommendations to reset the network settings and the whole phone were useless and a waste of time. The hope that the update to IOS 18.0.1 will fix the bug has not been confirmed. I am seriously considering returning the device.

Same issue, "Pairing Unsuccessful" with all of my Bluetooth devices (Soundcore P20i, Bose QuietComfort headphones, Bose SoundLInk Flex speaker). Upgraded from iPhone X which never had ANY bluetooth issues to the iPhone 16 Pro which now won't connect to my devices. Even the BT connection to my Apple Watch is spotty. It will ring on phone and watch (after a delay) and then when I answer the call on the phone the watch continues ringing! Come on Apple, get your act together. Not sure if this is an iOS 18 problem or specific to the iPhone 16. In any case, it's annoying and making me regret the "upgrade".

Just upgraded from the iPhone 11 to the 16 and always have to manually connect this phone to CarPlay

iPhone 11 would auto recognize and re-connect no problem, but the 16 forces me to open Settings -> Bluetooth and connect on each and every ignition event.

Mildly frustrating here

Somehow fixed the issue on my own, don’t ask me how. I guess I just got lucky. I kept tinkering with my 2950-20 Milwaukee pack out. On my truck I deleted every thing that was stored for Bluetooth and reconnected. My hearing aids, I got help from Starkey/Thrive.

We have over 540 feedbacks? Has Apple not provided any feedback? I have updated my iPhone 16 Pro to 18.1.1. Still a problem with my Subaru Outback suv. No problem with my hearing aids (mine are Bernafon.com) which a member indicated. I appreciate this community site. Thanks.

I’m so annoyed with Apple 16 I too have a problem connecting to Bluetooth! ATT is worthless and rude. Very helpful when bought the phone Thursday and now nothing but a lot of hold time! If I reset the phone will I have to reload all my info again? Ridiculous!

One example that won't stay connected is the Dual model XGPS160 SkyPro GPS. It connects for only 10 seconds from the Bluetooth settings, then disconnects. None of the previous iPhone models had any problem whatsoever.

Bluetooth connects to my SkyPro GPS device with no problem on an iPhone 15 running IOS 18.2, just not on iPhone 16 Pro.

The iPhone 16 does connect to airPods without a problem, so it's not the phone hardware.

I’m experiencing a similar issue. Wireless CarPlay works for about 1 minute, then my iPhone constantly switches between my AirPods and the car. Even with regular Bluetooth, the connection drops after about 2–3 minutes. I’m using an iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18.2.

Has anyone found a solution? It’s becoming really frustrating.

You are assuming ALL iPhone 16 Pro Max phones have Bluetooth issues. Mine doesn't have any. That doesn't mean you don't have issues, but to assume Apple needs to fix something, which doesn't affect many other users isn't the best course of action. What needs to be figured out is what is causing the issues for you. For one thing, do you by chance use a VPN or Anti-Virus software on your iPhone? If yes, they should be not only turned off, but removed from the phone completely. They can and do cause such issues as you're seeing and are completely unnecessary on iPhone.

Resetting NETWORK doesn’t help. Problem still exists. We have 2 16Pros here and both have problems connecting to various BT devices around the home and cars. Our 12s worked perfectly and still do.

starting to think these 16’s are a POS.

I noted the BT problem (and other minor stuff) 2 months ago, let it go “they’ll fix it soon”. Clearly not. Time to start harassing the “Genius’s”. Get a replacement.

Ok. I have made progress on my Bluetooth iPhone 16 issue. Don’t waste your time with Apple. What I had to do is reset all my Bluetooth items …… speakers, headphones and music systems. When I say reset I mean use the reset button on my speakers and hifi. I also had to upgrade their firmware. After I had done this the items showed up in my iPhone 16 Bluetooth list.

So ….. put your headphones into Bluetooth discovery mode and it should appear on the iPhone list.

For the record the connections are robust now that I have connected them to the iPhone.

I feel very aggrieved Apple didn’t know this as it’s so basic. Also why has this happened?

I have not tried to connect my phone to my car so I am expecting fun and games when I try.

I’ve just bought a 16Pro Max and have got this problem. Out of 3 Bluetooth devices I have (including a brand new NVR), only 1 device connects (a speaker). I have tried every single “solution” given here - and those on YouTube - but nothing works. My old iPhone didn’t have this problem. Had I known about this I would not have bought the new phone….. Major problem…

After many attempts, my iPhone 16 Plus Bluetooth disconnection problem was finally restored. The cause of the problem was that my iPhone had turned on the airdrop automatic connection switch. When it was in an environment with many MacBook Pros (such as in a company office), this bug would be triggered, that is, the iPhone's Bluetooth could not connect to any device. When I turned off the airdrop automatic connection switch and restarted the phone, my iPhone's Bluetooth connection function returned to normal. I hope my solution can help you.

Hi everyone, last time I turned off the airdrop auto-connection switch, and the connection problem finally recovered. Today I turned on NFC and used it to take the subway. I came to the office, then bomb, the Bluetooth disconnection problem appeared again. I had no choice but to turn off NFC and restart the phone. After running for a few hours, the problem did not occur again before I posted this.