CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro

I upgraded my iPhone 12 Pro to a 16 Pro, and the new phone will not connect to my 2018 Mazda CX-5 with CarPlay. When I plug it in, it charges but makes no sign of connecting.

iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 24, 2024 9:34 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 7:04 AM

I am so disappointed! My new iPhone 16 Pro does not work connect to my Carplay in my Toyota CHR. Had I known this, I would have upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro instead. :(

259 replies
Sort By: 

Dec 23, 2024 1:49 PM in response to Edwardthomas0

I hade same problem with 16 Pro and Alpine system. Reset everything, wiped carplay settings in phone, erased phone several times from Alpine. Reset Alpine system, none worked. Finally found out that when I add the phone, I have to tell it to do Car play and Hands Free. Clicked on that and it connected right away. Working now.

Reply

Dec 28, 2024 3:59 PM in response to Tusconkid

It’s the cable. Need a data cable. The cable that comes with the new 16 is not a data cable, believe it or not. Have to use your old lightening cable with an adaptor (which is what I did) or buy a new, special cable for this. There are examples of what to buy in this thread.

Reply

Jan 6, 2025 6:16 PM in response to brianc407

Volvo XC 60, upgraded from iPhone 13 to 16. Was able to get Bluetooth to work but not the wired connection. Deleted all other phones on my car’s Bluetooth except my new phone. Tried 2 cords I had handy, no go. Saw I might need a cord that specifically works for the 16. I tried this one and it worked.


[Edited by Moderator]

Reply

Jan 31, 2025 3:58 PM in response to brianc407

I have the answer. I had the same problem, so took my car into Lexus for advice. Apparently, the charging cable is different to a data cable, which also charges the phone. Once I bought a data specific cable, it worked fine. Hope this helps. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D5Y8ZV4V?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Reply

Mar 6, 2025 3:03 PM in response to brianc407

READ THIS IF YOU HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. I have found only one solution that worked for me and that was buying a wireless carplay device on amazon that connects through USB and allows me to connect wirelessly. I thought it wouldn’t work because my car previously ONLY worked using wired car play but it did. Here are the things that I tried but DID NOT WORK: Turn on content and privacy restrictions, reset network/factory settings, Disconnect car play and all blue tooth devices, delete and reset my car’s connected devices, going to the dealership and “updating software” (mine had no update btw), buying USBA to USBC attachment and cable, buying the belkin boost data transfer cable, buying apple USBC to lighting adapter. None of these worked for my iphone 16 pro max. I spent so many hours talking with apple support and supervisors and looking online… Almost returned my iphone 16 pro max until I tried one last time. I did see on here that that wireless car play adapter did not work for someone so if you tried all of those options then you might be out of luck tbh. I have nissan 2022 kicks, Iphone 16 pro max. Bought my wireless car play adapter on amazon. If you have have any questions just reply to me. It’s very frustrating I get it.

Reply

Oct 20, 2024 8:44 AM in response to anthvar

Yes my Mercedes too only has USB-A inputs thus I had to buy the USB-A to USB-C Adapter from the Apple Store.

USB-C to USB Adapter - Apple. Separately -- I went to my internal Mercedes Infotainment center, and to "Systems" and completely reset the infotainment center to its default settings. Using the same cable (data plus charging) that I knew worked earlier for Apple CarPlay, but now with the new USB-A to USB-C adapter attached, and after having rebooted the infotainment system to default setting then attached my new iPhone 16 Pro to the system and it then did recognize the new phone and I was able to proceed to set up the new phone. The only real downside is that one will need to completely set up all the other in-vehicle settings that one wants inside the vehicle but that only took me just a few minutes to re-establish. I hope this works for you.

Reply

Nov 4, 2024 8:47 AM in response to Doodlebyphen

If you already have a solid data/charge cable that you are certain was working before in your car with a previous iteration of iPhone, it is likely NOT a USB-C type cable, hence the need to attach an adapter to it so that it will be usable with your new iPhone 16 -- which as you properly note ONLY works with USB-C. Many users are buying the Apple USB-C to Lightening Adapter (USB-C to Lightning Adapter - Apple) because their prior phone used a lightening plug that inserted into their phone, with the other end being a USB-B plug that went into the car via (again) a data/charge cable. Using your old cable, you just need to attach this adapter to the old cable and it should work well with your new iPhone. Many users in this thread report doing that and it works totally okay. I'm one of those users. The only other thing I had to do in my vehicle was I did have to reset my car's internal "infotainment" (i.e. entertainment/audio/visual/etc) system again to default settings and set up the phone again as a new device, and then add back all the other car settings that you want. Hope this helps.


Reply

Oct 27, 2024 9:29 AM in response to ZecaHouston

thanks for sharing ZecaHouston, that solved my problem.


  1. Go to Settings >> Focus >> turn off all (i.e sleep)
  2. go to settings >> car play >> forget this device
  3. go to “reset all networking settings”. Your iphone will restart after typing the password.
  4. go to your car settings and delete your device
  5. set up the car play again with your car.



I had tried all above steps except '1)'.


Possibly, there must be something to do with "focus" or how you transferred previous iphone content to your new iphone. I did back previous iphone and restore the back up to new iphone - which broke some apps, which I had to delete and re-install.

Reply

Nov 5, 2024 3:21 PM in response to brianc407

It sounds frustrating! Since your iPhone charges but doesn't connect to CarPlay, try these steps:

  1. Check for Updates: Ensure both your iPhone and your Mazda's infotainment system have the latest software updates.
  2. Try a Different Cable: Sometimes, a different USB cable solves connectivity issues, especially if the original cable shows wear.
  3. Enable CarPlay: Go to Settings > General > CarPlay on your iPhone to see if your Mazda appears on the list. If not, reset CarPlay settings.
  4. Restart Both Devices: Reboot your iPhone and turn your car's system off and on.

If none of these work, Mazda support might have specific troubleshooting steps.

Reply

Dec 6, 2024 9:38 AM in response to brianc407

Hello there, thanks for this life-saving thread. At least, mental health, because I was getting pretty frustrated :)


Wanted to share my experience for those that can relate or benefit.


I bought a Lexus UX 2023 recently. At first in the dealer setup it already didn't work very well, which frustrated me a huge amount, but then when I got home it didn't work again. I was about to call the dealer but after trying many things I changed the key and it worked fine. I assumed I was taking the wrong key or something.


A few days went by and all was working fine but today, again after a few days of not using the car, it didn't login by default and my phone didn't sync via bluetooth.


It was even worse though, I couldn't get my phone bluetooth to sync at all with my car one. It was pretty frustrating. I tried all setups you can imagine.


After coming here I ended up trying three things at once, so I can't really tell you which one worked, but it did. I went to the car now, and it synced perfectly and also stopped the car and it worked after turning it on again. Fingers crossed this doesn't break again.


I did:


  • Deactivate the Focus mode things recommended in the thread
  • Reset the network settings in my iPhone
  • Activated the Content & Privacy settings in Usage time menu (with everything allowed or enabled)


It has been pretty frustrating to me so far so hoping this helps others. I have an iPhone 15 Plus for context.


Kind regards,

Esteve

Reply

Oct 22, 2024 4:03 PM in response to brianc407

So here was my fix for my Ford. I did not have to reset anything or jump thru hoops. What I found is, when I got my iPhone 16 I tried to connect with a USB type 2 cable with a USB c to my phone. Couldn’t communicate. My simple fix was going back to the original usb type 2(my 2020 truck connection ) and bought a $5 e75( old iPhone plug) to USBc off Amazon. Plugged the usbc into my 16 pro max and the e75 into that. Worked and CarPlay started in my truck. Seems the communication channel works thru the e75 pin out but not thru direct UsBc. Plug this into you usbc on your phone and your old e75 from your cable you were using into the slotted end

Reply

CarPlay not working with iPhone 16 Pro

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.