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Some users of the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air are raising concerns on Reddit and various support forums about persistent Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity issues. This problem appears to affect even the CarPlay feature, causing stability problems for some users. Currently, the main symptoms reported include frequent, brief disconnections from Wi-Fi whenever the device is unlocked or the Lock Screen is accessed. These users also experience lagging and audio skips when using CarPlay, which depends on stable Wi-Fi connections.
Bluetooth connectivity isn’t immune either; some individuals report sporadic disruptions with AirPods and other devices. While a high volume of complaints exists online, it’s difficult to determine precisely how widespread the problem may be given the enormous user base of the iPhone.
A notable observation from affected users is that these issues tend to occur exclusively when their iPhones are in proximity to an Apple Watch. Some mention that unlocking their Watch while wearing it on the wrist triggers Wi-Fi drops, especially impacting wireless CarPlay and even interactions with other Apple devices like the Vision Pro.
The consensus suggests that this is fundamentally a software issue rather than a hardware defect. All four new iPhone 17 variants include Apple’s latest N1 wireless chip, but the glitches seem addressable through software updates. Early indications show that performance improves significantly with the beta release of iOS 26.1, which was made available to developers recently.
One user reported that after updating to iOS 26.1 beta 1, their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth disruptions ceased, implying that Apple may have already implemented a fix, either intentionally or inadvertently. They noted that with the latest beta, features such as “unlock with iPhone” and the use of AirPods remained stable, and no further connectivity issues occurred under the same conditions.
Apple is anticipated to release iOS 26.0.1 shortly, which is expected to include additional bug fixes targeting these Wi-Fi connectivity problems. Hopefully, this update will resolve the connectivity troubles experienced by iPhone 17 and iPhone Air users.