The iPhone 15 could have a Bluetooth problem, according to user reports

Are you affected?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

You’ll see in ouriPhone 15 reviewthat we were very impressed withApple’s flagship phone, but its launch hasn’t gone without a hitch or two – and it looks as though a significant number of people are experiencing Bluetooth issues with the device.

As reported byMacRumors, based on comments on the site’s forums, these Bluetooth problems have been ongoing since the iPhone 15 first went on sale in September 2023. The bulk of the complaints seem to be related to connecting to older Bluetooth devices, including car stereos and headphones.

Users at MacRumors are talking about audio that will “cut out and reconnect” and “frequent disconnects” over Bluetooth. While some of those affected were told thatiOS 17updates would fix the issues, reports have continued to come in even as Apple rolls out new versions of the iPhone software.

What’s more, judging from the user reports it looks like all of the four iPhone 15 models – the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, theiPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max – are having the same kind of trouble here.

Finding a fix

It’s difficult to gauge the scale of the iPhone 15 Bluetooth issue: it’s clearly not affecting every iPhone 15, or every Bluetooth device, but a thread on the officialApple support forumhas now logged 1,718 people saying “me too”.

According to feedback given to MacRumors, the only way to fix these Bluetooth issues is to request a replacement device from Apple – iPhones come with a one-year warranty as standard. Restarting or resetting the phone, or applying “other typical fixes”  doesn’t seem to help in getting Bluetooth working properly.

That certain people are seeing the problem disappear when they get a replacement iPhone 15 suggests that only certain units are faulty. We haven’t heard anything from Apple on the matter at the moment, but it doesn’t take much detective work to figure out that the Bluetooth module or a related setting could be to blame.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

It’s also worth saying that Bluetooth issues often come up with multiple devices, so not all of these complaints – of which there are a substantial number, if you run a quick web search – might be the fault of the iPhone 15.

You might also like

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

A newly reported iPhone phenomenon could be bad news for both cops and robbers

The iPhone 18 series could include a variable aperture, ‘significantly enhancing’ the camera

This super-cheap HP Victus 15 gaming laptop just dropped to its lowest price yet