iPhone 16 Pro not connecting to Bluetooth devices

Factory resetting my Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones worked for me.

*Press and hold the POWER button and the CUSTOM button for 7 seconds or more.

*The device should then notify you about imminent Bluetooth connection.

Good luck

I had the same issue with my Oticon hearing aids.

The solution is quite simple:

go to Settings / accessibility / Hearing devices

and make the connection at my hearing devices.

only after that you connect the iPhone 16 in the hearing app as well.

I hope I helped out.

Make sure to forget your Bluetooth connections on your old iPhone, then reconnect them to the new one

I wanted to see if Apple had fixed this yet, but apparently not. Since the iPhone 13 Apple has had a persistent issue with Bluetooth connections and even worse with hearing aids. I have had the same experience with 3 different pairs of hearing aids. They connect without any issues to other devices, but have persistent issues with maintaining a connection to hearing aids.

As I said I have had this issue starting with the iPhone 13. I am currently on my third iPhone 16 Pro, being more persistent to find the cause and a fix. I have gone through all of Apple’s articles and guides with no avail. Three different pairs of hearing aids has only shown that the problem is with the iPhone regardless of model, connectivity method, and manufacturer of the hearing aids.

Some of the hearing aids use just normal headset connectivity and some the Made for Apple. Neither have proved better than the other.

A recent discovery regarding the Made for Apple connections is that the hearing aid connection requires part of the connection uses an ultrasonic pulse/sound from the speakers on the iPhone and the hearing aids. I think this is periodic and for verifying quality of the connection.

I am still researching this so I’m not sure of the details.

The Made for Apple can use one of two connection methods, the first being M3 (the number indicating the version may be wrong) which uses the ultrasonic method described above and is the most common. If your heading aids support and have active telecoil or T-Coil there is the T4 connection method relying more on functionality of T-Coil (i won’t go into it here), but the hearing aids must have T-Coil (most don’t) and T-Coil must be active on the hearing aids. This connection method tends to stick more with a Bluetooth connection. As I said above, this is something I recently discovered and am still researching.

My suspicion is that starting with the iPhone 13 Apple changed the wireless chip was changed to one that Apple makes. This chip is responsible for WiFi and Bluetooth connections. That new chip, the firmware for it, and radios (this includes the antennas for transmission and receiving signals) isn’t robust enough to maintain Bluetooth connections, and even WiFi connections in cases. A note, most if not all mobile devices have been using what is called Low Energy Bluetooth (I have the name wrong) which “extends” battery life by using less power for Bluetooth.

Personally the only constant Bluetooth connections on my iPhone are an Apple Watch and my hearing aids. I wish I had a spectrum analyzer monitor the Bluetooth signal and strength, but the type I would use are expensive. They are also very accurate and collect information regarding environmental conditions.

Bluetooth uses the 2.4GHz radio frequency as do the WiFi b/g/n connections. This can cause interference which can cause connectivity issues. This may sound like an urban myth, but it is a true fact that pine trees “talk” on the 2.4GHz frequency. This means that they emit signals on the 2.4GHz frequency and this can affect connectivity, but it requires being surrounded by a considerable number of pine trees.

So currently my prime suspect is poor hardware lacking and adequate firmware. Sadly the more good information (fact and scientifically based) the higher the chances are that my next phone will be an Android based smart phone with known and proven wireless chips.

To FrediW. 3/3/2025. Success in pairing hearing aids to iPhone 16.

Thank you very much for sharing your fix - Settings - Accessibility - Hearing Aids, information, my friend.

This fix worked for my Jabra Enhanced Pro hearing aids, connecting successfully to my new iPhone 16 Pro, yeah!

The other Fix: Settings, screen time, turn on Content and Privacy slider & turn it off, did not work on these Jabra.

Bob H in Silver Spring, Md

I was having no luck pairing my earphones until I put the earphones in the discovery mode. That worked.

studioslave996 wrote:

Yup, my boat won’t connect, 1 of 3 cars won’t connect & an expensive set of Bose headphones won’t connect. Apple… are you listening. Last count on this format 607 complaints.

Apple isn't here on this user to user only forum. Just other users. If you want Apple to listen, contact them directly, which you haven't done here.

607 complaints out of millions upon millions upon millions of users who aren't posting here because they aren't having Bluetooth connectivity issues, is not exactly a large statistic. That doesn't mean you don't have an issue. But the vast majority of users aren't having issues or this forum would be blown up with complaints, but it's not.

When it comes to BT issues, there are SO MANY variables outside of Apple's control. For cars, each car system from each manufacturer is different. There are suggestions offered in this thread about cars. I imagine your boat would fall under the same type of system? But you may need to reach out to the auto or boat manufacturer for help with their system. For your Bose headphones, what have you tried to do to pair them? They may be paired with another device nearby, which is preventing it from pairing. They may have a limit to the number of devices they can be paired with. Have you ensured you have put them in pairing mode per Bose's instructions?

Sony xb-100 was finally successful after I did a factory reset. Connected immediately. I had been trying off and off for weeks and this worked.

My iPhone 16 does not always connect to Bluetooth devices unless I turn off my iPhone and reboot. A really inconvenient way to make this device work correctly!

I was having a similar issue, and the factory reset worked

Been experiencing this since buying the iPhone 16e. Traded in a 13, and for the first time since I started using an iPhone device (the X), the phone will not maintain its Bluetooth connection with my legacy devices (Wonderboom 2, 2016 automobile, 2019 automobile). Paired the first time with all, no issues. Since then, can't connect or find. Solution is temporary and NOT workable: Forget device, restart iPhone, restart device, pair, have it work for 1-2 days, repeat. Can't add 10 minutes to every trip in the car to do this!!!!

Experimenting with the Rube Goldberg "fix" of messing with totally unrelated settings in Screen Time (what's with that??). Don't know if it works or not yet. Even if it does, making users mess with those settings is lower than lousy. My aging friends who used to trust Apple won't have a clue what to do.

Cars? Hearing aids? Seriously, folks - get this bug prioritized and fixed. Or work with all the legacy device suppliers which got their connection bricked by Apple to get us replacement devices. (I'll take Blue Book for the 2016, btw.) Or fix the Apple hardware and replace all of our 16's.

Apple, you are better than this.

Im not to sure but i believe the pixel watch is not compatible with an iPhone. I would call Apple support

I texted with Apple support ‘s first line and they could not pair my aids. Second, I texted the expert that Apple gave me and got no response. Thirdly, my audiologist spent close to an hour trying to pair my aids. He spoke with Starkey who gave him an Apple rep or expert and finally Apple told him that their software has a glitch.

i gave up on 16 Plus and sent back after three hours with Apple and nothing recognized! None of my BT connections copied over from the cloud! T Mobile could not resolve either! New IPhone 16 Pro was no walk in the park either! Net: Apple has a chip set issue that is funky in a manufacturing run and there is no way to make work! Sorry

Brody-13 wrote:

I’ve tried every suggestion offered

That is incorrect. My response from eight months ago contains an article with a path that would have led you to contact Apple Support.