How to Troubleshoot iPhone Bluetooth Not Working After iOS Update

One minor change in iOS 11 favored by many people is that Airplane mode doesn’t turn off Bluetooth. However, there are still some other Bluetooth issues you may encounter after iOS 11 update. The most common iOS 11 Bluetooth issues includes:

These Bluetooth connectivity issues come over and over again after iOS update. The main reason, presumably, is that most early versions of iOS are short of optimizations. Some of these iOS 11 Bluetooth problems may get fixed in the later iOS 11 versions, while other may not. Anyway, if you are looking for solutions to fix common iPhone Bluetooth issues in iOS 11 or earlier iOS 10.3.3, here are 6 potential fixes you might like to try.

6 Solutions to Fix iOS 10.3.3/iOS 11 Bluetooth Issues

1. Check your Bluetooth car stereo system or Bluetooth accessories

If your iPhone keeps disconnecting from car or accessories, first of all, ensure that there is nothing wrong with the Bluetooth car stereo systems or accessories. If the problem is on iPhone’s side, keep reading to following steps to fix iPhone Bluetooth not working in iOS 11/iOS 10.3.3.

2. Turn off Bluetooth and restart your iPhone

If you are experiencing bad Bluetooth connection in iOS 11, you can turn off Bluetooth from Control Center, or go to Settings > Bluetooth to toggle Bluetooth off.

Next, restart your iPhone: long press the power button until the slider appears > drag the slider to turn off your iPhone completely > press and hold the power button until you see the Apple logo.

Finally, turn iPhone Bluetooth back on.

3. Forget Bluetooth device and re-pair with your iPhone

If your iPhone keeps disconnecting from Bluetooth devices, forget the device and then reconnect it with your iPhone with following steps:

  • Go to Settings > Bluetooth.
  • Tap the “i” icon next to the device name and tap “Forget This Device”.
  • Pair your iPhone with the device again.

4. Reset networking settings on your iPhone

Before resetting your iPhone network settings, please bear in mind that it will erase your Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular setting, and VPN and APN settings you’ve used before.

To reset iPhone networking settings, go to Settings app, choose General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Reset network settings
How to Fix iOS 11 Bluetooth Issues on iPhone – Reset Network Settings

5. Reset all settings on your iPhone

In addition, you can also reset all settings to troubleshot iOS 10.3.3/iOS 11 Bluetooth not working on iPhone. This method can erase the problematic settings on your iPhone without erase your personal data. To make it, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

How to Fix iOS Bluetooth Issue – Reset All Settings
How to Fix iOS Bluetooth Issue – Reset All Settings

6. Contact Apple Support for help

If none of above solutions works, the last resort is to contact Apple Support Team for help. If necessary, you might need to send your iPhone to Apple Repair Center.

Do you have any iOS 11 Bluetooth issue with your iPhone or iPad? Share with us in the comment section.

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23 thoughts on “How to Troubleshoot iPhone Bluetooth Not Working After iOS Update”

    1. YES! I haven’t been able to connect most laptops to my iPhones hotspot since upgrading and these are computers that have never connected before. Restarting my phone did solve my Bluetooth audio problems though. Resetting network settings never solves shit.

  1. 10.3.1 broken bluetooth incoming calls on my Mini Cooper, my GF iPhone, same model but not updated, works as a charm. Tried every damn reset, but nothing. Quality control is long gone in Apple.

  2. I have hearing aids and can not hear using the built in speaker. I have Bluetooth hearing aids so I can hear thru them. IOS 10.3.1 has caused me problems. If I walk away from the phone and go out of range Bluetooth disconnects. Then I can not reconnect. I have to remove Bluetooth device, turn Bluetooth off, turn it back on and find the device again. The reconnect does not always work. I can spend hours trying to get it to reconnect only to walk away and have to do it all over again. It worked great before the update!

  3. Same problems here. iPhone 6. Problems began right after 10.3.1 update. Have gone through various resets and tried 3 different bluetooth headset models and brands.

    This is EXACTLY why I detest the Apple decision to eliminate the 1/8″ headphone jack. Thank heavens this is a 6 and I still have an alternative option for hands free use. Otherwise I would lose hundreds of dollars each day when I can conduct business while driving to appointments.

  4. On my iPhone 7+, few disconnections with my Bose QC35 but permanent disconnection with my car bluetooth (Renault Talisman on RLINK 2 system). My iPhone is running on IOS 11 Beta.

  5. Updated to iOS 10.3.3 my territory still contects but my phone can’t find my Fitbit… very frustrating!

  6. same terrible bluetooth connection issue after forced update to IOS 10.3.3… lost all bluetooth device connection!!

  7. This issue is on both my iPhone and iPad Mini 2 since upgrade. No its not my devices that’s the problem. Its Apple poorly vetted upgrades that is the issue here. Bluetooth is barely usable anymore, how can you have a device right next to your Apple device and have poor sporadic Bluetooth connectivity? Or better question, how can Apple muck up such a basic wireless function as Bluetooth? Yea, I suffered through all these worthless fixes only to realize, hey its not me its Apple.

  8. I was having connection problems between my ipad air 2 and my iphone following 10.3.3 so I reset both of them. Big mistake. Now the ipad can’t see any bluetooth devices so the keyboard is useless. Actually the stupid ipad is pretty useless for me without a keyboard. Really cross

  9. I just upgraded to the IPhone 6splus and my phone contacts are synced; however, when incoming calls are coming through, it only displays the number. When dialing out, it displays name and number, Why is this? I am on ios 10.3.3

        1. So have you tried some fixes like restarting your iPhone, or force restarting? In addition, this kind of issue is easy to happen when you are out of your country. If you are in another country, make sure all contacts have area code added before the phone number.

  10. IoS 11 – Iphone 5SE, my phone cannot connect to my Veloster’s bluetooth stereo. It says its connected but each time I have to reconnect and it actually freezes the stereo. Will try this but seriously doubt it will work.

    Buttons on the steering wheel don’t work, phone button causes a “connecting phone via bluetooth” message.

    I love apple but am hating this IOS.

    1. I have the same issue with my 2016 VW Jetta (minus the error when pressing the steering wheel buttons), only mine makes this crazy buzzing noise and i have to turn off my car and restart it. Most of the time it will just disconnect and reconnect or power cycle the radio. VW cannot find an issue. Just got the Iphone 8, and its wreaking havoc on my BT devices it seems. Even my BT headset i use while working spiratically disconnects and goes “dark”. Apple support ran diagnostics on it, and of course everything is fine on their end. I wonder if Android is having these issues? May be time to change back

  11. Many issues with ios 11 and bluethooth. Worst for me is voice control and bluethooth in car. Cannot call and play music safely anymore. Cannot downgrade to ios 10.3.3 anymore.

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8075588?start=0&tstart=0

    So there is two real solutions by now.

    Solution 1 : Buy a used iphone same as mine with ios 10.3.3 who worked (supernaturally) fine.
    Solution 2 : Buy the latest brand new iphone and if it doesn’t work, add a brand new 2018 car.

    Oh! I almost forgot, There is a third one !!! Those bastards could release a functional 11.0.4 instead of blaming “bluethooth firmware device update” like a bunch of lazy moth………

  12. New iPhone 11 Pro has very poor Bluetooth connection to cars. I had an iPhone 9 and it worked fine and crystal clear. With the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro the connection is static crackly and noisy and not clear at all. This repros on both iPhone 11’s and in two different cars. We never had this issue with the iPhone 9s on the same cars. Anyone know of any fixes for this?

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