Bluetooth audio drops iPhone 17 iOS 26

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Bluetooth audio drops iPhone 17 iOS 26

iPhone 17 running iOS 26

After pairing Bluetooth with my JBL go 3 I get a lot of audio static and audio drops.

deleting and forgetting then Repairing and changing resetting network settings has made no difference. I also factory reset the speaker.

Also, when initially attempting to pair with my Ruark MR 1 speakers it took a very long time to see the speakers and then to pair I’ve had occasional dropouts.

I’m assuming there is a bug with iOS 26 rather than with the iPhone 17.

Both speakers worked perfectly with my iPhone XR and the previous version of iOS.

iPhone 17, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 25, 2025 3:21 AM

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Answer 1

Stuartea71 Author

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Sep 28, 2025 10:35 AM in response to Stuartea71

Update : connected phone to a Mac and checked the console.

RSSI is strong, so it’s not a signal issue.

A2DP packet flushed: Audio Queue full

Write in progress (status=65535)

These indicate the iPhone is filling the Bluetooth audio buffer and dropping packets, which explains the static/dropouts.

This looks like an iOS 26 A2DP bug specific to certain speakers (e.g. JBL Go 3) on iPhone 17 hardware, not a general Bluetooth or Wi-Fi interference issue.

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Answer 2

Stuartea71 Author

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Oct 27, 2025 2:39 AM in response to DizzyHarris

You’re not alone. There’s a thread on Macrumors with others with the problem including JBL Xtreme 4

And JBL Charge 5.

You can report the issue to JBL (Harmen) and Apple. None of the public iOS updates have fixed it so far.

i did find playing lower bitrate like from the BBC Sounds app lasted longer before it started braking up. Probably because it’s not overwhelming the speakers buffer

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Answer 3

Oct 26, 2025 4:24 PM in response to DizzyHarris

Edit:

It took way more effort than it should have, but I was able to pair my earbuds to my Apple watch (specs below). Once I was able to get my watch to play music through the earbuds instead of my iPhone, there were no issues. However switching my earbuds back to the iPhone saw the issue comeback.

Apple Watch 11: MF8C4LW/A

WatchOS: 26.0.2(23R362)

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Answer 4

Oct 26, 2025 4:07 PM in response to Stuartea71

Can confirm as of 10/26/25 this is an issue still. I have an iPhone 17 (MG474LL/A), and using JBL Endurance Peak 2 earbuds. The earbuds stay connected until I start playing music, regardless of application (tried with Spotify and Apple Music). At that point every 4 to 5 seconds they drop BT connection with the iPhone then immediately reconnect. I have not tested phone calls to see if they get the same results. The JBL endurance Peak 2's work perfectly fine with other devices currently. Additionally, to make it more confusing, I can connect my car's bluetooth to my phone and play music/calls with out any issue.

Because it shouldn't matter, but might be related:

iPhone 17: BT 6.0

JBL Peak 2: BT 5.0

My old car: BT 2.1 + EDR

Hopefully someone much smarter then myself can solve this.

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Answer 5

DominZ

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Oct 21, 2025 1:11 PM in response to Stuartea71

I am experiencing the same exact issue on a brand new iPad (A16) running iPadOS 26.0.1 and the same speaker - JBL Go 3. The issue is not present on my previous iPad 8-gen with 26.0.1. Looks like it's caused by specific bluetooth chipset…

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Answer 6

Stuartea71 Author

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Sep 25, 2025 4:23 AM in response to Stuartea71

Update: using an iPad Air 5th generation - iPad OS26 with jbl go 3, audio works perfectly.

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Answer 7

Stuartea71 Author

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Sep 25, 2025 9:04 AM in response to Rudegar

Thank you. I’ve just tested using iPhone 13 mini running iOS 26 playing back on the JBL Go 3 and that works fine.

Also, no problem playing back audio from my iPhone 17 to very old Skullcandy S21KW Ink’d Wireless (neckband / in-ear) headphones.

Could be an issue with the new N1 chip in the iPhone 17 and specific speaker models?

I guess I could get the iOS 26 beta

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Answer 8

Rudegar

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Sep 25, 2025 12:48 PM in response to Stuartea71

could be or if you know someone with a 17 and test if it act right with that

getting a 17 pro myself next month and I only use bluetooth headset so fingers crossed it does not act up for me

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Answer 9

Stuartea71 Author

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Sep 30, 2025 1:14 AM in response to Stuartea71

iOS 26.0.1 did not fix the issue

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Answer 10

Stuartea71 Author

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Sep 26, 2025 12:35 AM in response to Rudegar

Sadly nope, I’m the lucky beta tester 😄 I’m assuming it’s a software bug 🤞 hopefully you’ll be fine. Other than this odd Bluetooth behaviour it’s been fine.

i’ll see how it handles the cats Bluetooth

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Answer 11

Rudegar

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Sep 25, 2025 4:41 AM in response to Stuartea71

iphone 11 ios26 don't have any problems

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Answer 12

Stuartea71 Author

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Oct 27, 2025 2:33 AM in response to DominZ

That’s curious because as far as i know the iPad doesn’t use the N1 chip? I tested using my iPad Air M1 5th Gen and it works ok. Still, does point to an iOS bug. Can you test it with an iPhone?

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