iPhone 17 Users Report Random Wi-Fi Drops
Toggle Dark Mode
A small number of iPhone 17 owners are reporting that their new devices are experiencing intermittent disconnections from Wi-Fi networks. The iPhone 17 arrived in stores on Friday.
Connection issues with the iPhone are not new, as we’ve seen numerous reports over the years, and troubleshooting methods have evolved accordingly.
The Problem
This time around, a small number of iPhone 17 users have reported on Apple Discussion Forums, Reddit, and elsewhere that their Wi-Fi connection, and occasionally their Bluetooth signal, drops when their iPhone 17 is either locked or unlocked.
Some users report that the issue is temporary, as the connection resets after a few seconds.
“It’s like the chips that control Wi-Fi and Bluetooth get reset every time you wake the phone,” writes one user on Reddit.
That Reddit user also mentions that this makes AirPlay unusable. Meanwhile, other iPhone 17 users say that it also prevents them from using wireless CarPlay in their vehicles.
Is the Apple Watch Contributing to the Problem?
Some users who also own an Apple Watch report seeing the issue only when they are wearing their linked Apple Watch.
The affected users report that when they wear the watch and it’s in an unlocked state, they experience the problem. If they lock the Apple Watch or take it off their wrist, they don’t have a connection issue.
So far, the issue hasn’t been narrowed down to one particular Apple Watch model. As first reported by MacRumors, most reports concern the iPhone 17, although some have also pointed to the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro Max having similar issues.
So far, Apple has not commented on the issue. Several affected users report that they have contacted Apple support, and they have been informed that the issue is being escalated to Apple’s engineers.
It appears that the issue doesn’t affect every iPhone 17 user, every CarPlay user, or every user with an Apple Watch; the issue could be related to software instead of hardware. Hopefully, this means it can be addressed with a software update.
Nothing New
Connection issues with the iPhone are nothing new, dating back to the iPhone 4’s debut in 2010, when users reported reduced signal strength or dropped calls when holding the device by its bottom.
Apple released the highly anticipated iPhone 4 on June 24th, 2010. Shortly after its release, tech blogs and review sites began reporting that iPhone 4 users were experiencing reduced signal strength or dropped calls when touching the lower edge of the device. The issue was apparently caused by the device’s new design, which used a stainless steel frame that also functioned as an antenna band.
“Avoid Holding It That Way”
An email to Apple CEO Steve Jobs about the issue resulted in a response that soon led to ridicule around the internet.
On the day of the iPhone 4 release, an iPhone user named Aram from Arizona State University sent a brief email about the issue to Steve Jobs’ company e-mail address:
Hi Mr. Jobs,
I love my new iPhone 4 (nice work) but when I put my hand on the steel bands I lose all reception.
It appears to be a common issue. Any plans to fix this?
Unexpectedly, Jobs personally responded to Aram’s e-mail with a terse message that contained the following solution:
“Just avoid holding it that way.“
As you might imagine, this led to a flood of images and jokes spoofing Jobs’ reply. iPhone users began uploading video clips to YouTube, demonstrating the problem. Soon, the news media dubbed the iPhone 4’s reception bug “the iPhone death grip.”
On July 2, 2010, Apple announced a software patch to resolve the issue, along with an explanation that the sudden loss of signal was caused by a software bug.
“Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong,” explained Apple. “Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.”
