Bluetooth connection issues on iPhone 16

Jeff Donald wrote:

I have an Xr and it doesn’t have NFC switch under iOS 17 or currently iOS 18. XS is an earlier model than Xr. I had one, but don’t remember it having a NFC switch.

I don't have a ton of time to look into this, but that jibes with this WikiHow article from a couple months ago that says, "iPhones older than the XS don't support background NFC reading." I should know better than to trust my memory. At least some versions of the iPhone 6 and later had this option for a while, tho'; it looked like this.

Regardless, it would absolutely be interesting to hear more from users who say they do see "NFC" under Settings → General, and that futzing with it has an impact on their Bluetooth pairing issues — especially given that Apple links those technologies, for example to provide features like displaying a "Xxxx's AirPods Pro" modal when you open their case near your iPhone.

Yes, I found it in my iPhone 7 Control Center. So, iPhone 8 and below and SE would have it in Control Center, but there is no switch to disable/enable in Settings > General.

The Control Center NFC switch doesn’t appear to be on/off either. Tapping it seems to just enable the NFC tag reader. It’s not on off for Apple Pay.

This is driving me crazy, I have reset network settings and still doesn't connect to my car. It pairs fine but won't reconnect the next time I get in. My 13 pro max was solid, this 16 pro max is rubbish.

Please remove this reply. It’s flagged as the top answer and this does NOT work.

At least provide that basic level of service to your users/customets, please.

Thank you…from every Apple 16PM owner who is experiencing this issue, and just wants their device to work as advertised.

mgrad92 wrote:

I did some thinking about this, because the Bluetooth kit in my car doesn't have an unpair/forget function — but I realized I could accomplish the same thing by pairing it with a different device. (My car kit maintains only one paired device at a time.)

So I took a new iPad mini (A17 Pro) out there and paired it with the car kit to make it "forget" my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I then verified that the car kit was forgotten in the iPhone settings, too, and then reset network settings on the iPhone. When everything was up and running again, I tried forgetting the car kit in the iPad settings and paired the car kit with my iPhone again — and the iPhone still would not reconnect automatically when starting the car.

The new thing I learned during this process, tho', was that while the iPad was paired with the car kit, it did reconnect automatically. This now feels even more to me like an iPhone-specific problem, and possibly hardware-related?

I think I've mentioned this before, but it still seems important to me that if I have Bluetooth settings open on the iPhone when I start the car, I get a pop-up modal saying the car kit wants to pair (or connect, I forget the wording) and asking me to approve/deny. I don't think I've seen that modal on any other device, ever.

I'd say it's more an issue with your "car kit." My iPhone pairs automatically every time I enter my car. If it was an iPhone specific issue, it would be happening to everyone, but it's not. You should reach out to the car manufacturer and see if an update may be required for your cars infotainment system.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

I'd say it's more an issue with your "car kit." My iPhone pairs automatically every time I enter my car. If it was an iPhone specific issue, it would be happening to everyone, but it's not. You should reach out to the car manufacturer and see if an update may be required for your cars infotainment system.

I can’t recall whether I mentioned in this thread that my 16 Pro Max is the only iPhone of the three in my household that has this issue — but I know the post you quoted mentioned that the car kit pairs and reconnects as expected with a current-model iPad mini.

If that, plus the many other 16 Pro Plus owners posting in this thread, doesn’t eliminate the car kit as the source of the problem, it certainly seems to make it a less likely source of the issue than the iPhone hardware.

(And obviously, the fact that you personally aren’t experiencing this issue — or even that many/most iPhone 16 Pro Max owners aren’t, assuming that’s the case — has little utility to the fraction of us who are experiencing this issue and are trying to troubleshoot it.)

lobsterghost1 wrote:

… If it was an iPhone specific issue, it would be happening to everyone, …

(And I'm sorry I can't just let it go, but that's just false. Anyone who's spent time working in IT can tell you they've encountered countless issues that weren't that simple to isolate — whether they're working with Apple's hardware/software or any other manufacturer's.)

Certainly. I was just pointing out that if it was an iPhone issue, it should affect just about everyone. The trouble with issues like this is Apple has no control over the infotainment systems in peoples cars. So for you, this is a doubly difficult issue to isolate. Is the iPhone? Possibly, but I'd hazard a guess if we were to connect your iPhone to my car, it would connect reliably. So that would kind of rule out iPhone as the culprit.

Since we are all users on this user to user only forum, I'm not sure anyone here can diagnose or fix this issue for you. I'd contact Apple Support and your car manufacturer for help with this.

jeckcs55 wrote:

I spending hours and hours trying to connect my iphone 16 but still unable to connect to bluetooth. I upgraded from 11 to 16. Any idea other idea how to work this bluetooth? Thanks!

What have you tried? The single biggest reason Bluetooth Devices don't connect with a new iPhone is they didn't put the device in Pairing Mode per the manufacturers direction on how to pair their device. We'd be happy to help you, but you need to explain what you've done and what isn't working for you.

This worked for me on a BMW X5. Start connecting iphone 16 to car's BT, when asking for pin, type either 0000 or 1234 and click OK (don't wait to any more messages on car's dash) as soons as you see the option to input those number on your phone, go ahead and do it. Should work. Good luck!

I have tried all my manufacturer's instructions to the tee on my iPhone 16 for my iPad, car connection, and my wife's for her ear buds, but no connection. It is not just the precise instructions detail, but Apple's software failure in connectivity. I also did complete network connectivity reboots and tried other possbile fix methods, no success. I had no issue whats so ever with my iPhone XR.

Apple, PLEASE assist in resolving this or I will simply return our phones or put in a warranty claim on the carrier's warranty and let them deal with Apple after those claims start to multiply rapidly.

Cpurinton,

Thank you for the video. I did that previously with a non-connectivity to a CD Boombox and it helped to connect to that but this does not help with my iPhone 16 connecting to my iPad. Any suggestions in that area?

Paul

Ordered my phone in November, immediately can’t connect to my home Bose setup, assume gremlins be gremlins, next update will clear it up. Come to see this has been an issue since September.

It’s now February 2025, and 2 updates have been released, still not fixed.

Apple, there’s a considerable number of people facing this problem, any official plans to fix this glaring issue before you release *another* phone?

This worked for me on a BMW X5. Start connecting iphone 16 to car's BT, when asking for pin, type either 0000 or 1234 and click OK (don't wait to any more messages on car's dash) as soons as you see the option to input those number on your phone, go ahead and do it. Should work. Good luck!

I don’t know why this is pinned. Many users are reporting this doesn’t address the issue. If there is no fix, that should be stated.

This falsely gives the impression that this issue can be resolved using this forum and in this specific case, that is not true.

Please revise this, thank you.