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.