Bluetooth issues on iPhone 17 Pro Max running iOS 26

Haven't tested long term, but these settings have worked well for me so far:

🚧 Maximum Stability Mode (CarPlay + AirPods Pro)

✅ Disable all wake‑trigger behaviors

These are the biggest offenders.

• Raise to Wake
• Settings → Display & Brightness → Raise to Wake → Off
• Tap to Wake
• Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Tap to Wake → Off
• Attention Aware Features
• Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Attention Aware Features → Off
• Haptic on Wake
• Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Haptics → Turn off “System Haptics”

These prevent micro‑wake events that cause Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth renegotiation.

✅ Lock down Wi‑Fi behavior

We want the phone to stay on one network and avoid band switching.

• Auto‑Join Hotspot Off
• Wi‑Fi Assist Off
• Private Wi‑Fi Address Off (for your car)
• Limit IP Address Tracking Off (for your car)

This prevents the phone from trying to “optimize” connections mid‑drive.

✅ Lock down Bluetooth behavior

These reduce Bluetooth LE chatter and renegotiation.

• Turn off “Nearby Interactions”
• (Used for U1/U2 chip proximity features)
• Turn off “Find My network”
• (Stops background BLE pings)
• Disable “SharePlay in CarPlay”
• (Prevents Bluetooth handoffs)

✅ Reduce background radio churn

These settings stop the phone from waking radios for background tasks.

• Background App Refresh → Off for all but essentials
• Siri Suggestions → Off
• Significant Locations → Off
• Location Services → System Services → disable non‑critical items

This reduces the number of times the phone wakes itself while connected to CarPlay.

✅ Optional but highly effective

These are the “nuclear options” — not required, but they help.

• Disable Always‑On Display
• Disable Live Activities
• Disable Lock Screen widgets
• Turn off Apple Watch temporarily

The Apple Watch in particular is a known trigger — it constantly negotiates BLE channels.

Give the following a try:

1 -Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

2 - How to reset your AirPods and AirPods Pro - Apple Support 

Updating to 26.1 fixed my blue tooth issues.

I have the same problem. Bluetooth isn't working on my new iPhone 17 pro. BT is enabled and I tried the forced restart and the reinitialize BT and wifi methods.

I upgraded from an iphone 14 pro. Before I transferred everything from the 14 I upgraded the OS on both phones to 26.0.1. I got my new 17 working with wifi and esim but it will not pair with any bluetooth devices. I then setup my old 14 for my wife and got it working. I took the 14 and tried to BT pair it and it now it won't pair. The 14 paired fine before I updated the OS. Next I was able to successfully airdrop between the 2 phones. Evidently airdrop uses BT to discover nearby phones so that indicates that the BT electronics on both phones is working. That means the problem is most likely IOS 26.0.1.

This is what fixed the bluetooth disconnect issue on my iphone 17 pro max running 26.1:

1. deleted a VPN app from my phone (I actually forgot I had one) and turned off vpn
2. started a chat w/support, went through the usual troubleshooting, they escalated to the next group and gave me a case # and tel #
3. The next group ran diagnostics on my phone remotely.
4. I was mysteriously able to connect to my 3rd party devices after this.

I spoke with Apple on the phone and they asked me to Reset My Network settings, since then the bluetooth issues seem to have been resolved.

Yeah, I’ve realized that whenever Apple rolls out a new iOS version, the first few months are usually super glitchy. It’s honestly not worth installing it right away. I usually wait for 2–3 months after the release — Apple has a bit of a reputation for pushing out buggy early builds before things finally stabilize.

For those following this thread, 26.1 update fixed the car Bluetooth issue for me!

Did the restart work for anyone? It’s a nuisance to do this if it doesn’t result in a fix

I have been having same Bluetooth connect problem with iPhone 17 Pro. Keeps dropping connection to my Naviplus aftermarket head unit to provide CarPlay to my Mercedes. CarPlay app like Maps will suddenly disappear from the car screen and show up on my phone, and then some random time later, like 1/2 hour, it will suddenly switch back. It was working great with my iPhone 16 Pro.

Also getting random drops with multiple different sets of AirPod Pros which were also working fine with my iPhone 16. I have tried all the upgrade, restart, reset, remove, reinstall, etc. etc. suggestions which are all over the support boards, all to no avail.

It's all very frustrating, especially for a major Apple Home Boy since the Mac Plus. (Bought Apple stock when I read about the Lisa in 1983, which is why I can afford a Mercedes.) This feels like what Microsoft used to (still does?) do: Treat their entire customer base as their alpha testers, and just keep updating until it (sort of) worked. Apple Evangelist Guy Kawasaki used to call this "Churn Baby Churn."

I’m having the same issues with 26.1. Frequent and random disconnects from CarPlay. Sometimes my AirPods won’t connect until I flip Bluetooth on and off. Sometimes CarPlay won’t connect at all. In both my vehicles with different stereos I have issues. Wired vs AirPlay makes no difference. Restarting doesn’t make a difference. Issues are sporadic.

Same problem here, currently opening a case with Apple because of it. Bluetooth disconnects from all devices every day, have to restart the phone in order to get it to reconnect but for it to connect to my car I'm having to try pair it every single day. Apple ran diagnostics and said there was nothing wrong with my iPhone 17 Pro Max.

I don’t know what else to try. If I do a factory reset, the phone works well for a couple of days, but if I restore it from a backup, the issue occurs immediately. I’ve tried many Bluetooth devices from different brands: some work better, others are impossible to use. I’ve noticed that the place where I am at the moment can make this issue better or worse. Sometimes it seems like interference, and sometimes it feels like some corrupted configuration that keeps getting worse until it becomes impossible to use. But it makes no sense! It started with my iPhone 12 Pro, which I replaced with the 17 Pro expecting it to be solved, and the issue is exactly the same. It has to be something with iOS! Now I’ve bought a new phone and two new headphones, and the issue still persists!

I have been told that the new wireless chip in the iPhone 17 has compatibility issues with older Bluetooth devices

Commenting to say that I am experiencing the same dang thing! It is so frustrating. I thought the stereo in my car needed an update but turns out that was wrong. I'm experiencing the same with my airpods too. Hoping a future update will fix this because it is ANNOYING.