iPhone 16e Has a Bluetooth Audio Problem

Thursday March 13, 2025 1:18 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

In the two weeks since the iPhone 16e launched, some early adopters of the device have experienced a Bluetooth audio issue.

iPhone 16e Feature 1
According to complaints from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X, audio being streamed from an iPhone 16e to a Bluetooth speaker periodically stutters or cuts out. It is unclear how widespread the problem is.

One affected user said the issue has persisted even after updating the iPhone 16e to iOS 18.3.2, released earlier this week. It is unclear if the issue is or will be resolved in iOS 18.4, which is currently in beta and will be released in April.

Some affected users said the issue appears to arise when the iPhone 16e is connected to multiple Bluetooth accessories simultaneously.

Given that some of the affected users have contacted Apple's support representatives about this issue, hopefully the company is aware of the problem and working on a fix, which should arrive in a future software update.

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Top Rated Comments

mansplains

21 months ago

FWIW I have a 14 Pro and haven’t seen this.

Of course you haven't, you need to hear it!

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sw1tcher

21 months ago

According to complaints from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X, audio being streamed from an iPhone 16e to a Bluetooth speaker periodically stutters or cuts out.

Is this really an iPhone 16e issue and not an iOS 18 issue? When I'm listening to audio via bluetooth on my iPhone 14 with iOS 18.3.1 the audio would sometimes cut out (bluetooth earbuds would disconnect) and I'd have to re-pair/reconnect them to the iPhone. I didn't have this isuse with iOS 17 and so far I haven't experienced this with iOS 18.3.2

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

CWallace

21 months ago

Uh oh! Is the C1 modem responsible for Bluetooth radio? That doesn’t bode well

Pretty sure C1 is just a cellular radio and modem. I believe the 16e uses a separate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip like other iPhone models. And that this issue happens with other iPhones with Qualcomm cellular radios...

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)