I still have the issue. I tried everything.
Airpods are still unusable for calls. They work for music.
I'm on the fence of spending another grand for a new iPhone (my 13 still works fine) and find myself in the same predicament.
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Airpods unusable — connecting/disconnecting
- Thread starter Rorosbutt
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Airpods are still unusable for calls. They work for music.
I'm on the fence of spending another grand for a new iPhone (my 13 still works fine) and find myself in the same predicament.
I bought a new iPhone 16 because I was having this exact issue with my old device.
Airpods work fine when listening / talking to Siri as soon as its a call (both carrier network calls and data calls on whatapp etc) it drops connection and immediately tries to reconnect over and over again VERY annoying.
I now still get it with the new one! It could be something with the transfer of data from one device to the next, its like its copied across the bug thats causing this as it cant be hardware.
iPhone 16 Pro max
Airpod 4 (3 months old)
I'd pay good money for a fix!
Airpods work fine when listening / talking to Siri as soon as its a call (both carrier network calls and data calls on whatapp etc) it drops connection and immediately tries to reconnect over and over again VERY annoying.
I now still get it with the new one! It could be something with the transfer of data from one device to the next, its like its copied across the bug thats causing this as it cant be hardware.
iPhone 16 Pro max
Airpod 4 (3 months old)
I'd pay good money for a fix!
Same here.
The only thing I discovered is that if you restart the iPhone or deactivate/reactivate Bluetooth, then the connection is stable for a little while.
It's like some sort of "overloading" after a while. I wonder if some cache, no idea.
How much free space do you have on the device?
My iPhone's storage is always pretty full. Not sure if that plays a part.
Thanks @er-minio still got the issue list of what i've tried here
• 320gb spare storage
• Have removed all other paired bluetooth devices
• Reset all network settings
• Issue was happening on old device with Old headphone (pro versions)
• Un paired and re-paired 10+ times
• Tried turning off automatic ear detection
• Putting Airpods back in case for 15 seconds
• Changed: "Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Call Audio Routing" from "automatic" to "bluetooth speaker"
• The issue happens everywhere inside the home, in the car, out in the countryside etc
• 320gb spare storage
• Have removed all other paired bluetooth devices
• Reset all network settings
• Issue was happening on old device with Old headphone (pro versions)
• Un paired and re-paired 10+ times
• Tried turning off automatic ear detection
• Putting Airpods back in case for 15 seconds
• Changed: "Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Call Audio Routing" from "automatic" to "bluetooth speaker"
• The issue happens everywhere inside the home, in the car, out in the countryside etc
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By the way, it's not only AirPods.
I am experiencing issues with a few other devices where the iPhone start disconnecting/reconnecting on repeat:
First is bluetooth motorbike intercom. The iPhone will start disconnecting and reconnecting even when idle (no music or conversations happening). On voice calls behaviour is very similar to what happens with Airpods.
I also have a small bluetooth device that can be used for gps navigation that relies on the iPhone to give GPS positioning and driving directions, and again, it would disconnect and reconnect continously.
Airdrops to the iPhone from a Mac won't work most of the time or be extremely slow.
See my thread here too: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-13-data-transfer-issues-of-bluetooth-and-wifi.2441252/
The only way to – temporarily – stop this behaviour is to restart the iPhone.
This is becoming the be a bigger problem than just not being able to have voice calls.
I'd consider buying a new iPhone, but I don't want to spend 1 grand and end up having the exact same issues.
I am experiencing issues with a few other devices where the iPhone start disconnecting/reconnecting on repeat:
First is bluetooth motorbike intercom. The iPhone will start disconnecting and reconnecting even when idle (no music or conversations happening). On voice calls behaviour is very similar to what happens with Airpods.
I also have a small bluetooth device that can be used for gps navigation that relies on the iPhone to give GPS positioning and driving directions, and again, it would disconnect and reconnect continously.
Airdrops to the iPhone from a Mac won't work most of the time or be extremely slow.
See my thread here too: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-13-data-transfer-issues-of-bluetooth-and-wifi.2441252/
The only way to – temporarily – stop this behaviour is to restart the iPhone.
This is becoming the be a bigger problem than just not being able to have voice calls.
I'd consider buying a new iPhone, but I don't want to spend 1 grand and end up having the exact same issues.
Are you near an Apple Store? I'd have that iPhone looked at by a Genius. They may be able to fix that issue for less than a grand. At the least, you'd get a better idea of if it's a defect on your phone, or if it's a more general problem likely to persist in newer models.
Thanks you @Night Spring @er-minio
Ive had this issue jump from iPhone 12 Max to my new iPhone 16 Pro Max, Airpods still under warranty so reletavly new. It cant be a hardware problem, this is an issue that has jumped handsets (and airpods) so must be something wrong with in the data transfer.
Im thinking it could be something to do with a 'share' setting on iCloud, I see a "connect to Airpods" notification pop up on Apple TV when watching randomly, even if Airpods are closed and in my pocket.
Again the disconnect and reconnect issue ONLY happens on calls, absolutely fine on Spotify / Audible for long periods of time.
Ive forgotten all connected bluetooth devices apart from the Airpods, don't think I had connectivity issues when connecting to car but I would normally use Airpods in the car anyway.
@er-minio I also live in London may something to do with a UK only regulation setting like a driving mode setting or something?
Ive had this issue jump from iPhone 12 Max to my new iPhone 16 Pro Max, Airpods still under warranty so reletavly new. It cant be a hardware problem, this is an issue that has jumped handsets (and airpods) so must be something wrong with in the data transfer.
Im thinking it could be something to do with a 'share' setting on iCloud, I see a "connect to Airpods" notification pop up on Apple TV when watching randomly, even if Airpods are closed and in my pocket.
Again the disconnect and reconnect issue ONLY happens on calls, absolutely fine on Spotify / Audible for long periods of time.
Ive forgotten all connected bluetooth devices apart from the Airpods, don't think I had connectivity issues when connecting to car but I would normally use Airpods in the car anyway.
@er-minio I also live in London may something to do with a UK only regulation setting like a driving mode setting or something?
I doubt it.
Since my last response I contacted Apple Support because I started experiencing a lot of disconnections with a the new GPS-like device I mentioned above and it was fairly annoying.
They did a "scan" both while I was on the phone with them and also when I subsequently went to the Genius bar the day after and they confirmed that both AirPods and iPhone's hardware are perfectly ok.
The Genius Bar guy agrees with me that this must be a software issue. He suggested for me to do a factory reset of the phone without restoring from a backup, that is what I was trying to avoid as I have quite a lot of stuff on the iPhone.
Anyway, I did.
Freshly resetted iPhone 13, with just my iCloud account (messages, calendar, contacts, wallet, notes, shortcuts, synced only) and whatsapp seemed to work ok.
I had two calls while walking around my neighbourhood, one on FaceTime, one on Whatsapp. Total almost one hour and no disconnections.
Then, the evening after I re-added most of the apps I had, manually.
Did not reinstate VPN settings and/or app testing profiles I had on that phone.
Morning after I had a Google Meets call, the AirPods dropped connection almost immediately and started the disconnect/connect dance.
I wanted to smash the phone against the wall but resisted
Again, same day I had disconnection from the gps device.
In the evening another call, 20 mins in my place no issues, as soon as I left from the front door, AirPods disconnected.
In my case there is definitely something that triggers disconnections of bluetooth devices while I walk/ride (driving/CarPlay not affected) around my place.
I removed the Philips Hue app. Today bluetooth seems to work ok.
Also, when I resetted the iPhone I did no add back my "Home" in homekit, as I always doubted that would cause connection issues.
I'll keep testing app by app...
Allow me to say, this is annoying as ****. And a massive waste of time, and Apple isn't helping.
But I'm not gonna spend one grand on a new iPhone to still have the same issue... have to solve this or switch to Android, that I'd rather avoid to be fair...
PS: to add, I never had issues with CarPlay (a lot of other users with similar BT issues did). CarPlay works perfectly for me and used it on quite a few different cars over the last 3 years sans issue.
I doubt it.
Since my last response I contacted Apple Support because I started experiencing a lot of disconnections with a the new GPS-like device I mentioned above and it was fairly annoying.
They did a "scan" both while I was on the phone with them and also when I subsequently went to the Genius bar the day after and they confirmed that both AirPods and iPhone's hardware are perfectly ok.
The Genius Bar guy agrees with me that this must be a software issue. He suggested for me to do a factory reset of the phone without restoring from a backup, that is what I was trying to avoid as I have quite a lot of stuff on the iPhone.
Anyway, I did.
Freshly resetted iPhone 13, with just my iCloud account (messages, calendar, contacts, wallet, notes, shortcuts, synced only) and whatsapp seemed to work ok.
I had two calls while walking around my neighbourhood, one on FaceTime, one on Whatsapp. Total almost one hour and no disconnections.
Then, the evening after I re-added most of the apps I had, manually.
Did not reinstate VPN settings and/or app testing profiles I had on that phone.
Morning after I had a Google Meets call, the AirPods dropped connection almost immediately and started the disconnect/connect dance.
I wanted to smash the phone against the wall but resisted
Again, same day I had disconnection from the gps device.
In the evening another call, 20 mins in my place no issues, as soon as I left from the front door, AirPods disconnected.
In my case there is definitely something that triggers disconnections of bluetooth devices while I walk/ride (driving/CarPlay not affected) around my place.
I removed the Philips Hue app. Today bluetooth seems to work ok.
Also, when I resetted the iPhone I did no add back my "Home" in homekit, as I always doubted that would cause connection issues.
I'll keep testing app by app...
Allow me to say, this is annoying as ****. And a massive waste of time, and Apple isn't helping.
But I'm not gonna spend one grand on a new iPhone to still have the same issue... have to solve this or switch to Android, that I'd rather avoid to be fair...
PS: to add, I never had issues with CarPlay (a lot of other users with similar BT issues did). CarPlay works perfectly for me and used it on quite a few different cars over the last 3 years sans issue.
Agreed, it's MASSIVLEY annoying, phone almost smashed on numerous occasions. I do see that pattern of when i'm moving around it happens more but its not exclusively in those scenarios.
I'll try shutting down the 'home' app connectivity settings too, need to do a general clear out of old un-used apps
Maybe this could be interference from an app that we both have that uses calls / microphones? Like Zoom, Google Meet, DMSS, Insta, X, Ezviz etc?
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Might make sense to list the apps maybe?
Cannot do right now, but could potentially add later.
At the moment, and when I experienced the issue post-reset, the apps with BT access are just a few to be fair.
But maybe it's a wifi issue? The chip is the same.
Cannot do right now, but could potentially add later.
At the moment, and when I experienced the issue post-reset, the apps with BT access are just a few to be fair.
But maybe it's a wifi issue? The chip is the same.
Here's the current situation post reset and clean & manual app reinstall:
Bluetooth Access
I am manually enabling only what I need on a given day.
Local Network
Privacy & Security access (numbers)
I have a very limited number of Bluetooth devices associated with the iPhone still. I think just about 4 associated for now (>20 before). Haven't associated any of my Garmin devices (you see the apps above) yet. Those are a couple of GPS devices and a cycle computer + VivoSmart.
I haven't associated the Phone with CarPlay yet (haven't touched the car since reset).
I would exclude Unifi apps from any wireless foul play as I just recently got Unifi hardware and app and the bluetooth problem existed long before that.
I'll make a list of the other apps that don't appear in the panels above later today!
Bluetooth Access
I am manually enabling only what I need on a given day.
Local Network
Privacy & Security access (numbers)
I have a very limited number of Bluetooth devices associated with the iPhone still. I think just about 4 associated for now (>20 before). Haven't associated any of my Garmin devices (you see the apps above) yet. Those are a couple of GPS devices and a cycle computer + VivoSmart.
I haven't associated the Phone with CarPlay yet (haven't touched the car since reset).
I would exclude Unifi apps from any wireless foul play as I just recently got Unifi hardware and app and the bluetooth problem existed long before that.
I'll make a list of the other apps that don't appear in the panels above later today!
Advancing 7/800 pounds on another phone – that I do not need – and most probably will show exactly the same problem doesn't sound exactly as a good solution to be fair.
I'd rather have this one working as intended.
It would be nice if Apple would help troubleshooting the software issue, but after checking the hardware and saying everything is ok they do not do anything more.
There is simply no pattern for mine, apart from ALWAYS dropping connection when engaging in phone calls whether digital or through my network 02 / Virgin.
Brand new phone and problem persisted through the upgrade in handset... Might have to add all apps back on one by one...
I can definitely trigger the disconnection issue when I leave my place, as long as I walk out of the building's front door. As soon as the first disconnection is triggered, then it's mayhem.
At this point the disconnection seems to be consistent with losing the wifi connection.
This also makes sense as to why I experience Bluetooth disconnection on my motorbike as I ride on the road in front of where I live (wifi reachable from the street I think).
Doesn't explain the random disconnections in other places though.
At this point the disconnection seems to be consistent with losing the wifi connection.
This also makes sense as to why I experience Bluetooth disconnection on my motorbike as I ride on the road in front of where I live (wifi reachable from the street I think).
Doesn't explain the random disconnections in other places though.
Wifi interference could be a good avenue to pursue i've removed all but my home remembered wifi networks and turned off hotspotting. 🤞
One more scenario
Both on my Macbook and on my Apple TV I get seemingly random pop up notifications slide in top right that my Airpods are connected. Although they are not out of their case... 👻 although they are always in the same room
The notifications also snap away faster as if they've been cancelled / dismissed reminding me suspiciously of the bluetooth disconnection loop behaviour on calls
Both on my Macbook and on my Apple TV I get seemingly random pop up notifications slide in top right that my Airpods are connected. Although they are not out of their case... 👻 although they are always in the same room
The notifications also snap away faster as if they've been cancelled / dismissed reminding me suspiciously of the bluetooth disconnection loop behaviour on calls
Ok, I bit the bullet and bought the new Airpods 4 with ANC.
This was something I did more because I traveled over the tube a bit more often recently than for the disconnection issues... rail noise can get all the way up to 90 or almost 100db and I wanted something to block the noise apart from using foam plugs... but I digress
I am fully expecting to new Airpods to still have disconnection issues.
I used them for just a few hours now, but I can say that:
- had a couple of phone calls with no drops, even walking near one of the "hotspots" outside my place
- they do connect/disconnect to the phone in a quarter of the time compared to the Airpods 3.
let's see what happens...
This was something I did more because I traveled over the tube a bit more often recently than for the disconnection issues... rail noise can get all the way up to 90 or almost 100db and I wanted something to block the noise apart from using foam plugs... but I digress
I am fully expecting to new Airpods to still have disconnection issues.
I used them for just a few hours now, but I can say that:
- had a couple of phone calls with no drops, even walking near one of the "hotspots" outside my place
- they do connect/disconnect to the phone in a quarter of the time compared to the Airpods 3.
let's see what happens...
Yep same.
I was on a call to Apple support today, hardware checks came back no problems.
Walked me through resetting the Airpods, resetting networks settings, resetting all settings pairing the pods with wifes phone and test everything again. Problem still there.
They say that the next step will be to backup / wipe / reload phone. Which I remain unconvinced that will have any effect.
Yes latest version iOS here too. I had this same problem on a set of Airpod pros too. Found they didn't fit my ears as much as the Airpod 2's so bought a set of those new, same issue now obvs.
Gotta be a glitch in code, conflicting app, iCloud setting? Ive got a few macbook pros, ipads of varying ages, Airtags and Apple tv maybe a 'helpful' setting thats tryna connect to them for calls?
I was on a call to Apple support today, hardware checks came back no problems.
Walked me through resetting the Airpods, resetting networks settings, resetting all settings pairing the pods with wifes phone and test everything again. Problem still there.
They say that the next step will be to backup / wipe / reload phone. Which I remain unconvinced that will have any effect.
Yes latest version iOS here too. I had this same problem on a set of Airpod pros too. Found they didn't fit my ears as much as the Airpod 2's so bought a set of those new, same issue now obvs.
Gotta be a glitch in code, conflicting app, iCloud setting? Ive got a few macbook pros, ipads of varying ages, Airtags and Apple tv maybe a 'helpful' setting thats tryna connect to them for calls?