- Wi-Fi issues are being reported on new iPhones
- Unlocking the phones sometimes disconnects the Wi-Fi
- A future software update may fix the problem
With the new iPhone 17 models making their way out to the first customers in line this week, we're starting to see reports of a small number of bugs and issues with the flagship handsets – including patchy Wi-Fi connectivity.
As spotted by the team at MacRumors, there are numerous complaints across Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and the Apple support forums about an issue where Wi-Fi briefly disconnects and reconnects after the iPhone is unlocked.
That can lead to numerous other issues, including with staying connected to a CarPlay dashboard. In some cases there seems to be a link with an Apple Watch that's connected and unlocked, but it's not clear if that's always a contributing factor.
It's also difficult to assess just how widespread the problem is, though there are certainly plenty of complaints around the issue. All four new models – the iPhone 17, the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max – seem to be affected to some extent.
Potential fixes
Apple hasn't made any official comment about the problem so far – we've reached out, and will update this article if we hear back – but some users are reporting that they've been able to find workarounds and fixes themselves.
One affected iPhone owner was able to stop the bug from happening by disconnecting the handset from their HomePod, while others have found that keeping their Apple Watch locked also prevents the iPhone Wi-Fi from being disconnected.
It's worth noting that the recently unveiled iPhones come with a new Wi-Fi and communications chip, the N1, so it's possible that this chip is having some early teething troubles that could be fixed with a future software update.
Indeed, in one of the threads reporting the bug, a user reports that the issue has stopped happening since they installed the recently released iOS 26.1 beta – so if you're seeing this bug, it may just be a case of waiting patiently for an iOS update.
