iPhone 6 Bluetooth Handsfree

[ecarfan]

My advisor at our local Tesla store told me that the iPhone 6 (and 5S and 5) doesn't work through the USB ports like in other cars, and that Bluetooth is the only way to play music from an iPhone, Android, or iPod. Is this really the case??

Yes that is my understanding. Last year before I place my Model S order and was busy researching all the details of the car I was quite surprised to learn that there was no "Aux In" jack and that I could only play music/podcasts on my iPhone through the car stereo using Bluetooth. But after owning the car for awhile I was pleased to discover that the Bluetooth connection and sound quality is as good as what I was used to in my Porsche using an Aux In cable.

 

[Schmo]

Definitely some flaky stuff going on with iPhone 6 Plus BT. I initially got it paired, started to make a phone call, and then hung up. Somehow the car still showed it as dialing on the display. Even if I un-paired, re-paired, reset MS screens, it would continually say "Dialing..." and no other BT functions (music) would work. Finally got it to reset by un-pairing ("forget this device" on both phone and car), reboot of both screens, and resetting the "network settings" on the iPhone (which may or may not have anything to do with it, but I figured maybe BT is tied in there somehow).

Everything works great now.

I had the same problem and talked to Tesla today about it. (They are getting lots of calls on this.)

The fix is to just reboot the phone when you get the "Dialing..." problem. Tesla said the iPhone 6 Plus is sending bogus data over the Bluetooth connection. The only way to fix is a phone reboot. Other steps like unpairing are not needed.

I saw the problem in both 8.0 and 8.0.2. Calendar and Media streaming have worked fine for me.

Tesla is not the only automaker seeing Bluetooth problems:

iPhone 6 has car Bluetooth problems - Sep. 24, 2014

 

[iadbound]

I had phone calls working in 8.0 by not syncing contacts at first, but it's broken in 8.0.2. Apple is getting an earful, and it seems like practically every brand of car is affected at least to some degree. Apparently, the developer preview of 8.1 fixes the issues. I sure hope Apple gets this out soon.

Media has not been a problem. And I don't have 6.0 yet, so I can't comment on the calendar.

 

[nirvanaman]

Having the same issues with it not working with the iPhone 6.

 

[ecarfan]

Have 6.0 and wife and I just got iPhone 6 Plus phones that we right away updated to iOS 8.0.2. No problem pairing them with the S and using them. And the Tesla Calendar app correctly picks up our Apple calendar events and displays them.

 

[iadbound]

Question for everybody: did you upgrade from your previous configuration (e.g., use an iCloud backup when configuring, for example, a new iPhone 6) or did you set up the phone as a new device and what was the result?

I ask because there has been a suggestion on various tech websites that starting from scratch may make a difference.

 

[bollar]

Question for everybody: did you upgrade from your previous configuration (e.g., use an iCloud backup when configuring, for example, a new iPhone 6) or did you set up the phone as a new device and what was the result?

I ask because there has been a suggestion on various tech websites that starting from scratch may make a difference.

I did an iCloud backup/restore from a 5s and haven't had any BT connectivity issues.

 

[jerry33]

I did an iCloud backup/restore from a 5s and haven't had any BT connectivity issues.

Restored from the computer, so far no issues.

 

[iadbound]

Restored from the computer, so far no issues.

I did an iCloud backup/restore from a 5s and haven't had any BT connectivity issues.

Thanks. I restored from iCloud too. So much for that theory.

 

[Denarius]

Question for everybody: did you upgrade from your previous configuration (e.g., use an iCloud backup when configuring, for example, a new iPhone 6) or did you set up the phone as a new device and what was the result?

I ask because there has been a suggestion on various tech websites that starting from scratch may make a difference.

I completely wiped my phone and didn't restore from a backup to test, and still had the issue. A few days later after restoring my backup and removing/readding the bluetooth connection several times is randomly started working.

 

[iadbound]

I guess I just need to wait for Apple to get it sorted out in 8.1. I see that Beta 2 of 8.1 was made available to developers today (maybe yesterday), so I'm hoping it won't be too much longer.

 

[Schmo]

I recently exchanged my iPhone 6 Plus for the smaller iPhone 6 and all my Bluetooth problems went away...

 

[iadbound]

Seems like the bluetooth issues are inconsistent. At this point, 8.1 will be out on Monday. I'm hopeful, based on reports of the developer releases, that the bluetooth issues will be solved.

 

[rlawson4]

I am having trouble with the 6+ but only after the last firmware upgrade on the Tesla. It was working fine before then. I am able to listen to music but it will not stay on bluetooth while on a call. It stays there for a minute and then switches from the car to the regular speak on the phone. Very annoying. It's not the phone because it works fine with other bluetooth devices.

 

[iadbound]

I am having trouble with the 6+ but only after the last firmware upgrade on the Tesla. It was working fine before then. I am able to listen to music but it will not stay on bluetooth while on a call. It stays there for a minute and then switches from the car to the regular speak on the phone. Very annoying. It's not the phone because it works fine with other bluetooth devices.

This might still be an Apple issue. Seems like it is very touchy to any changes. Hopefully 8.1 will put this to rest.

 

[Denarius]

I am having trouble with the 6+ but only after the last firmware upgrade on the Tesla. It was working fine before then. I am able to listen to music but it will not stay on bluetooth while on a call. It stays there for a minute and then switches from the car to the regular speak on the phone. Very annoying. It's not the phone because it works fine with other bluetooth devices.

Several other automobiles are having issues with iOS 8, not just Tesla. Apple has definitely dome something screwy in their implementation. 8.1 today hopefully will clear it all up.

 

[Lloyd]

I powered off my phone and then reconnected. It seemed to clear up the initial issue of dropping the audio source, but I am still having problems pairing correctly every time.

If the pairing fails, I have to delete from both devices and repair the devices. This seems to work for about a week to 10 days. I need to call service and report this. I keep thinking that it will be fixed with a software upgrade.

 

[cgiGuy]

iOS 8.1 just released. Hope it helps.

 

[andrewket]

Updated to 8.1 and thus far no problems.

 

[Dylan]

I experience hiccups all the time while playing music over bluetooth. Annoys the hell out of me.