How can I fix Wi-Fi and CarPlay issues on iPhone 17 Pro Max?

A Reddit post has been made about this in r/iphone.

What exactly causes it: Apple Watch on wrist + unlocked= iPhone not happy.

If Apple Watch on wrist and locked= iPhone happy.

If Apple Watch off wrist and unlocked= iPhone happy.

Problem: “unlock with iPhone” will unlock Apple Watch, then iPhone isn’t happy anymore.

It seems like most people having this issue have an Apple Watch. There are some having the issue without an Apple watch

dajev wrote:

No I don’t use a VPN

OK. Did you cycle your router off and then back on? I got two iPhone 17s yesterday (17 Pro and 17 Pro Max) and I'm most definitely not having any Wifi issues. It's very stable. I have a whole house Linksys Mesh Router.

If it doesn't get better for you, I'd have the phone tested at your Apple Store Genius Bar.

Do you have a VPN on your phone? If yes, get rid of it. VPN's cause lots of connectivity issues on iPhone and are completely NOT needed.

dareczek_sc wrote:

Wifi at home works fine and CarPlay obviously not.

After change iPhone 16 pro max to 17 pro max my wireless CarPlay with Mercedes S-class W222 2020 year is broken. 

It connecting but after 1-3 min disconnects and wan’t connect again unless I restart a car or switch iPhone to plane mode including Bluetooth. 

I have update the firmware in wireless kit to latest and made reset of network settings in iPhone. 

No luck.

As far as I know you changed supplier of WiFi and Bluetooth to in-house production so believe it something not working here. 

any suggestions / fix ?

We didn't change anything, because this is a user to user only forum. You aren't speaking with Apple here and they don't read for user feedback.

I can tell you CarPlay on my iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are working just fine with two cars for CarPlay. It's not an issue with the Chip for Bluetooth or Wifi. If it was EVERY iPhone 17 in the world would have issues and we're not seeing many come here with issues at all.

See this and see if it helps --> If you need help with CarPlay - Apple Support

If you have a VPN on your iPhone, don't just turn it off, GET RID OF IT. VPN on iPhone causes all sorts of connectivity issues and simply aren't needed.

If nothing helps, you should contact Mercedes as Apple has no control over any of their infotainment systems.

iPhone 17 Pro/Wireless CarPlay works for about 5-10 min for me then the car head unit locks up, no CarPlay. I have to shut the car off, wait a few minutes to get my screen back. Wired CarPlay via USB works fine. Old iPhone 14 Pro Max has been working flawlessly for 3 years and was working all week on iOS26. So it's the iPhone 17 Pro hardware not the iOS26.

The issue seems to be with Apple Watch and the phone, if you use one, take it off and test it again and it shouldn’t disconnect anymore.

I’ve been having this same issue with wireless CarPlay never had a problem with my IPhone 13 then yesterday used my iPhone 17 pro in the car for the first time and it kept disconnecting sometimes very frequently on one of my drives each time I had to turn off WiFi and blue tooth to get it to reconnect if I tried just turning blue tooth off not WiFi it would just endlessly show the connecting screen and never connect

So far I haven’t had car play issues, but from day one my WiFi hasn’t worked properly on my 17 pro max, I have 3 networks running on a mesh system in my house, 2.4 for the appliances etc, 5ghz and 6 ghz, with a 15 pro max and another 17 pro max all working flawlessly, my 17 pro max grinds to a stop on the 6ghz network, so I have to use the 5ghz, this worked fine for a while but this morning woke up and while my phone said it was connected in settings it had no WiFi symbol, so I had to re connect again, the other problem I’m having is as I move about my place it locks to the furthest away router, my settings are identical to the other 17 pro max in the house that’s having 0 issues, so ive reset the phone, set up as new, deleted and repaired my watch, restarted and check all settings in my home network, but it’s just my 17 pro max that having issues, the other random thing is my iPhone screen won’t turn off, I had the setting to be 2 minutes. So I changed it to 30 seconds, still won’t turn off I have to press the button, but this WiFi thing is driving me crazy, missing iMessages and FaceTimes, and WiFi calling will not connect it refuses to.. I’m hoping this is software, I’ve posted over on Reddit and there’s a few experiencing the same things I am.. the other 17 pro max that works in my house is achieving over 1.1 gig on WiFi, I’m lucky to get 120 then it stops all together.

CarPlay not reliable with ios26 and iPhone Air. Wireless connection constantly dropping. Unusable. Using USB connection for now. Hopefully a software update coming soon. No Apple Watch involved.

Having the same issue with my 17 Pro. Setup continuously failed as it tried to run an update before transferring anything. Update continuously failed due to connection issues. Tried skipping it and same thing for the transfer. Ended up just plugging into my Mac and updating and restoring from there.

Now the phone is “usable” but doesn’t work on wifi. Refuses to connect most of the time and if it does shows less than 1mbps download. My 13 Pro right beside it has around 500mbps on the same network.

No idea if this is a software bug or something wrong with the phone itself. Debating just returning to avoid the hassle and sticking with the 13 Pro.

Many people are posting on Reddit and other sites that they have this issue as well, and you can easily replicate it.

Just lock your phone, then unlock it after 10-15 seconds. The device will turn off the WiFi and then turn it back on.

KuriousKat wrote:

I had no issues with iPhone 15 pro and CarPlay connectivity. Just got my 17 pro Friday and can connect but intermittently drops out then reconnects over and over…what’s the story here Apple?

Apple isn't here on this user to user only forum. So asking a question of Apple here won't get you anywhere. It appears you're not alone and people are reporting it may be resolved in a future update, but if you want to share your thoughts with Apple, this isn't the place to do so. You can use this link --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

having same wifi issues on my 17 pro max, wifi dropping randomly and repeatedly witn no service at all while my 16 pro max working flawlessly. This is on a high end mesh router with gigabyte fiber service. Something is off

Wifi at home works fine and CarPlay obviously not.

After change iPhone 16 pro max to 17 pro max my wireless CarPlay with Mercedes S-class W222 2020 year is broken. 

It connecting but after 1-3 min disconnects and wan’t connect again unless I restart a car or switch iPhone to plane mode including Bluetooth. 

I have update the firmware in wireless kit to latest and made reset of network settings in iPhone. 

No luck.

As far as I know you changed supplier of WiFi and Bluetooth to in-house production so believe it something not working here. 

any suggestions / fix ?

Same issue here, thinking about returning it (iPhone Air) tried to troubleshoot for hours with apple over the chat then phone. Could not solve. Both WiFi and Bluetooth turn off for a few seconds after unlocking. Impossible for CarPlay or AirPlay usage.