Airpods unusable — connecting/disconnecting

[er-minio]

Is the next step to change the phone??

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.

 

[DaveOstrich64]

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!

 

[er-minio]

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.

 

[DaveOstrich64]

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

 

[er-minio]

Thank you.
Apart from the free spare storage, same situation here.

I was out of the country over xmas and noticed it tends to drop less (but still does) when I'm out of London.

 

[er-minio]

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.

 

[Night Spring]

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.

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.

 

[er-minio]

I've had that looked before to no avail.