The iPhone 16e has an annoying Bluetooth issue–and a fix is on the way

Apple’s iPhone 16e has only been out for a week and there’s already a major issue that has early adopters looking for a fix. According to posts on the Apple Discussion Forum and Reddit with more than 60 comments and 100 “Me too” reactions, Apple’s new phone has a nagging audio issue: If you’re playing audio through any Bluetooth headphones, the sound stutters several times per song for a second or two before continuing to play.

Apple is now aware of the problem, reports a user on the Apple Discussion Forums, who installed a profile on his affected iPhone and documented the issue for Apple’s engineering team. While there are reports that Apple is working on an in-house Bluetooth/Wi-Fi chip, the iPhone 16e still uses the part supplied by Broadcom.

iOS 18.3.2 doesn’t help

Apple this week released an update to iOS 18.3.2, but affected users who installed the update were confronted with the same problems. Some users also report that their local Apple support replaced the devices with a new phone, but the issue persisted, which indicates that it’s a software issue. Some users have reported the issue on other iPhone models, but it doesn’t appear to be as widespread as the iPhone 16e.

Those affected seem to have identified a common factor: Apparently, the sound playback in the Bluetooth headphones starts to “stutter” when the iPhone 16e is also connected to another device via Bluetooth. In several cases, it was a fitness tracker, for another user, it was an Oura ring.

Apparently, the bug will be fixed in the upcoming iOS 18.4, several contributors in the forums report no connection problems with the beta version of iOS 18.4.