Bluetooth audio stuttering issues on my iPhone 16e

I had the problem 5 minutes after opening it. I went back to Apple the following Monday, and was told that no one had raised the problem. They reset the whole thing. It seemed to be ok after one song. But on the way back, it started again. The guy at Apple told me that if it started again, to wait for an OS update. I didn't feel like waiting for an update. I went back one more time, and finally got the cell phone exchanged yesterday. Everything seemed great, I tested the music and podcasts without headphones. I didn't know it was a Bluetooth problem because that's all I use for music. I'll just return the iPhone 16e one more time. I wouldn't be if I tried my luck with an iPhone 16...

Android phones don't have the same issue. I just barely switched and iPhone feels like an expensive downgrade compared to what I had previously with android. Wish I would've looked into the reviews of common issues before hand. Might just trade it in for an android and stay with them as Apple doesn't seem as decent as Android.

It is so annoying. Frankly Apple charges way to much for these phones. You'd think that with the price they'd actually have things down and be responsive for a supposed "tech giant". They've lost their "why" that Simon Sinek describes in his Ted Talk and book. Profits aren't a why...its a result.

I'll do my due diligence and reach out to their support. This is embarissing considering my Google Pixel didn't have the same issues that this phone has and it's way cheaper than Apple. Considering this can someone explain to me why apple is better as compared to it's competitors?

same thing happens to me with my first gen airpods, JBL Tune 230NC TWS, and Onemore Sonoflow over ear headphones. Not to mention it'll just disconnect from car bluetooth which is a ford sync 2 based system. This is annoying, I switched from iphone XR to upgrade not downgrade. the disconnecting and stuttering actually got worse when I updated to newest IOS today. Y'all wanna sell something for more money than economy models have gone for in the past then sell something worth it! I do not care about apple intelligence at all, I care about everyday usage and everyday I have to deal with this crap. Probably would've been better off buying an android device.

Would the people saying they are contacting lawyers and/or switching to Android maybe just chill a little?

There IS a fix for this issue. Unfortunately the admins of this forum don't allow discussion of certain letters of the Greek alphabet, in particular the second one. So any message that clearly states how to solve the problem is deleted.

For those who don't want to dabble in Greek letters, I'm sure the fix will make it into a main iOS release soon.

My wife and I returned ours for the same problem and got 16s. The only model having this problem is the 16e. Our new iPhone 16 works perfectly but, but cost us the difference I.e., $200 ea. I believe it’s a problem with their new C-1 cellular modem. This is the only model with their new in-house modem and the only model with the problem. I’ve heard that IOS 18.4 will fix the issue but, they haven’t released it. Got tired of waiting. I will never buy any just released model from Apple again.

I bought this phone 6 hours ago, and playing spotify in my car, connected to bluetooth, and it keeps cutting out, skipping, stuttering. I never had this issue with my previous phone.

Very annoyed at this. I will not waste my time trying to get this resolved. I'm returning it, and I hope I don't get a hard time over it.

Hi Jürgen. The issue was occurring also when playing spotify on my Bose bluetooth speaker. The idea of returning the phone seems like a hassle, and I decided to try an extreme experiment as a last resort before returning it. I transferred everything back to my old phone and erased the 16e completely. Then I repeated the process of transferring everything from my old phone to the 16e. It updated automatically to 18.4 during the transfer. This times, I am not experiencing the stuttering and skipping – so far. I have only tested about 20 minutes on each device (car and home speaker). I am hoping this is the end of my troubles. Thanks for your input!

Interesting. I just tried searching for "iPhone 16e bluetooth stuttering" on Search - Apple Community, and nothing appears, not even this thread. Has this thread been hidden?

The issue does not occur when streaming internet radio to my headphones! It occurs with the Music app. I have not tested YouTube over Safari yet.

What did NOT work:

1. Updating to iOS 18.3.2
2. Forced Restart
3. Network Reset
4. Disconnecting and forgetting all other BT devices, the reconnecting only one
5. Switched off new Brother printer (to eliminate BT interference)
6. Settings->Privacy and Security->turned off all other BT devices

These dropouts are like packet errors on DACs connected per USB to a computer, which, in that case, are timing errors. The phone is likely running into some bandwidth errors.

Fixed it!

Still on iOS 18.3.2

1. Connected iPhone to MacBook Aire and restored iPhone in Finder
2. Thereafter, I restored Backup from iCloud (also in finder: it prompted me and I clicked my way through)

No stuttering anymore!

In my opinion, the flaw is in porting the softwares and settings over from the old iPhone.

By the way, it never stuttered when streaming to my desktop DAC/amp combo using Airplay.

Please try it and report your results here.

[Edited by Moderator]

Do we know if the AirPod stuttering is consistent on both the Black and White 16e models? I have the Black model and it absolutely stutters. Everyone please chime in

I had the white one and the same problem

turns out I had things sorted by rank, instead of date, so had confusion where my detailed post went

Who will just pass you from one advisor to another. Pathetic support i have got till now rude and disappointing