Some iPhone 15 owners are taking to forums online to complain of ongoing Bluetooth connection issues that they have experienced since the September launch of the handsets.
Affected users cannot keep their iPhones connected to older Bluetooth devices such as in-car systems or headphones that use the technology.
MacRumors reports there have been complaints about the iPhone 15 Bluetooth connection issues on both the Apple Support Community and the MacRumors forums.
From the MacRumors forums:
Since ios 17 I have been having frequent disconnects in my car (no carplay. BMW 2014) bluetooth for calls. I make a hands free call in my car and after a few seconds bluetooth disconnects and I have manually switch to the speaker in my Iphone. I have had this car since new and I switch iphones almost every year and usually the release x.0 has some bluetooth problems, but now 2 major releases for ios 17 and the issue is not solved. Another iphone 12 does not have the problem in my car.
Some users are also experiencing issues with more modern products like the AirPods.
I moved from 15 plus to 15 pro max (silly but switched carriers so I got it for free) and am having terrible bluetooth connections. Car bluetooth is fine. But on both my AirPods Max and and Beats Studio Buds, my music will cut out and reconnect and calls will drop after 5 to 10 minutes. Done all the resets. Hoping we are sent a software update soon.
There have been reports of Bluetooth issues going back to October 2023, which is just one month after the release of the new iPhone 15 models. The issue has persisted across several iOS 17 updates, with the most recent reports about the issue coming from those running iOS 17.3.1. While some customers say they were told that the problems would be resolved with an iOS 17 update, it doesn’t appear that Apple has fully resolved the issue as of yet.
The problem has been reported by users of both iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models. Some users report getting their devices replaced, which so far is the only way to resolve the issue.