Wired CarPlay won't connect iPhone 17 Pro Max after iOS 26 update

I got an iPhone 17 Pro Max at release yesterday, and I absolutely love this phone. It’s easily the best iPhone I’ve ever had. But as soon as I got in my car to leave the Apple Store, and I plugged my phone into my 2017 Ford Explorer like I always have with every other iPhone I’ve had, and CarPlay didn’t connect. I go into my CarPlay settings, and it doesn’t even show my car anymore. My phone registers that I’m plugging it in to something, because it starts charging, but I guess it just doesn’t recognize that it’s a car. Bluetooth works just fine for taking calls over the speakers, but CarPlay in a 2017 Explorer requires a tethered connection, and that’s what’s not working. What’s strange, is my iPhone 16 Pro Max that I was using on the way to the Apple Store, also running iOS 26.0, was working just fine.

This morning, I tried connecting my mother’s iPhone 16 Pro Max to CarPlay, and it, too, no longer works. I’ve tried using a different cable, restarting both the phone and the car, and even resetting all mobile phone settings on the car infotainment system. Nothing is working. I’m assuming this is an issue with iOS 26, and not so much the car, as there was never any issue before, but I wouldn’t know anything about figuring that out. I do know, it’s extremely inconvenient not having CarPlay.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Wired CarPlay not working on iOS 26.0