Some iPhone 17 and iPhone Air users are taking to Reddit and other support forums to complain of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity problems. This is also leading to CarPlay stability problems for some people. Here’s what we know right now.
On Reddit, affected users say their iPhone 17 briefly drops then immediately reconnects to Wi-Fi every time they unlock their device or view their Lock Screen. Those people also report connectivity issues with CarPlay, which relies on a Wi-Fi connection, including laggy performance and audio skips.
The problems also extend to Bluetooth for some iPhone users, who say they are experiencing intermittent connectivity problems with their AirPods and other accessories.
While there are a lot of complaints about this problem on Reddit and elsewhere, it’s hard to know exactly how widespread the problem really is when considering the size of the iPhone user base.
This is the entire WiFi crashing.. doesn’t matter what network, or even if you’re connected to a network, it still drops. It’s just that if you’re not connected to a network you won’t notice the drop. But if you go into settings and reproduce the issue, you’ll see the WiFi goes to “off” for a second, then turns back on.
Interestingly, many iPhone 17 and iPhone Air users say the problems only happen when they are wearing an Apple Watch.
I am experiencing the exact same issue when the watch is on my wrist and unlocked. It also affects wireless CarPlay. When the watch is on, and I unlock my iPhone, CarPlay will disconnect and reconnect. Makes sense because wireless CarPlay is also Wi-Fi based. I also have a Vision Pro and interestingly when I unlock that with my iPhone nearby it will also disconnect the Wi-Fi.
The problem appears to be software-related rather than any sort of hardware flaw with the new iPhone 17 models. All four new iPhone models feature Apple’s new N1 wireless connectivity chip, but again this is something that can be addressed with software and isn’t any sort of hardware flaw. Early reports are that performance is significantly better with iOS 26.1, which entered beta testing with developers earlier this week.
I updated only my iPhone to the 26.1 B1. It’s only been 20 minutes, but under the same circumstances that my WiFi and Bluetooth would turn off and on, it has not. This means that Apple, either intentionally or unintentionally, fixed the issue. This also means this is very likely a software issue that can be patched. I now also updated my watch to 26.1 B1. Still cannot reproduce the issue. Additionally, I use the “unlock with iPhone” feature. Everything held fine! Additionally, my AirPods are not dropping and Bluetooth has been fine.
Apple is also expected to imminently release iOS 26.0.1 with bug fixes for iPhone users. Ideally, this update will address these Wi-Fi connectivity problems for iPhone 17 and iPhone Air users.
Have you had any problems with your iPhone 17 or iPhone Air? In all my testing of the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air lineup, I haven’t been able to reproduce any of these problems. Let us know down in the comments.
Best iPhone 17 accessories
Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon.