New iPhone 15 Pro car won't always unlock

[Randy-12]

I have found in the past that some Bluetooth devices don't port over very well when changing devices.
My habit when changing phones is to first remove the bluetooth device port over to the new device then reinstall the bluetooth devices.

 

[jpm777]

I have the opposite issue. I upgraded from an iPhone Pro Max to a 15 Pro and whereas my car could be opened if I was within 2 or 3 metres, it now opens easily from inside the house or in line of sight in the garage from a distance of about 8 metres! Going to have to turn Bluetooth off regularly now whereas before it wasn’t an issue. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Scoobs]

Mine is working more times than not now. After testing: the bluetooth "key" (not car audio) in iPhone bluetooth settings seems to have three states: (1) it's visible and connected, when I'm within range, and the car unlocks perfectly (2) it's still listed on the phone but in a "disconnected" state, when I'm further away, at the edge of reception, and (3) it's not listed at all on my phone when I'm away from the car, e.g. when it's parked and I'm at work. I suspect the car is always broadcasting "I'm here!" via Bluetooth at short distance, and that part is not working, or, more likely, my new phone's bluetooth has a bug and it's not waking up and scanning for the car's broadcast when close (hence why toggling bluetooth off/off made it find it right away). Given it's intermittent, usually first thing in the morning (car is in deep sleep, no sentry, and my phone is in a scheduled focus do not disturb mode, it could be either).

 

[ucmndd]

iOS 17.0.2 released, maybe one of these early bug fix releases will help.

 

[drtimhill]

I'm having issues with the passive bluetooth door unlock since I upgraded to a new iPhone 15 Pro. It seems to drop out after about 30 minutes and fails to work consistently. The manual unlock with the app works fine as does the card. Only started happening since I got my new phone. I've set it up twice now. Any other tips? (thinking of deleting and re-installing the app). This is on 2023.26.9, 2022 Model 3.

Same here, though as I got the recent "big" FSD beta software update more or less at the same time as the iPhone upgrade it's tricky to figure out which is the cause. Ive deleted and re-added the phone a few times, and it seems to work for a while and then fail. Checked iPhone settings and all seems correct (including BT setting of course).

What is curious is walk-sway lock seem fine, but not unlock. I'm wondering if there is some change to iPhone or car software that has messed up the triangulation.

I have. however, started to see a correlation between Do Not Disturb on my phone and this being an issue. I'm going to test a bit more and will report back here.

 

[drtimhill]

I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max and have never had an issue. A suggested list of things to check:

Look at your Bluetooth settings, does it show your car’s name and does it say “connected?”

Is background app refresh “on” and is this enabled for the “Tesla” app? (Settings > general > background app refresh)

Next go to Settings > Tesla and check the “allow tesla to access” settings. Ensure location is set to “always,” Bluetooth is “on,” and background app refresh is “on.”

If you still have problems I would try deleting the key and setting it up again.

Good luck!

All good checks (and known about, at least by me, but good to repeat). However, all these are correct on my phone and things still dont work. It seems as if something on the phone is going to sleep after some time and this blocks the app/car from seeing each other. Walk away lock DOES work consistently, which fits in with some issue related to a timeout after the car goes out of range (presumably in the phone).

 

[KenC]

Sorry, I didn't have time to read the thread, but I have an 14Pro, so not new, but I do have the new iOS, and the bluetooth is flaky, not just with the car, but other devices that use bluetooth. Obviously, it's temporary until Apple can squash the bug.

 

[toolman335]

I'm 4+ years into M3 ownership and unfortunately I've gone through 4 phones as well LOL
It's the phone. I can't believe how different the quality of the Bluetooth connections have been with the car from phone to phone.
NOW I finally have a great connection with my new phone (S23 plus) so I'm doing everything I can to not destroy this phone!

 

[stopcolinme]

Hi All! I was also struggling with the auto lock on my MYP after getting an iPhone 15 Pro. I fixed the issue by going into the “locks” section and then the “keys” section. After I deleted any old devices so that all that was left was my new iPhone 15 Pro and my GFs iPhone 13 mini. The auto lock feature works flawlessly again. Hope this helps!

 

[stopcolinme]

I'm having issues with the passive bluetooth door unlock since I upgraded to a new iPhone 15 Pro. It seems to drop out after about 30 minutes and fails to work consistently. The manual unlock with the app works fine as does the card. Only started happening since I got my new phone. I've set it up twice now. Any other tips? (thinking of deleting and re-installing the app). This is on 2023.26.9, 2022 Model 3.

Hi All! I was also struggling with the auto lock on my MYP after getting an iPhone 15 Pro. I fixed the issue by going into the “locks” section and then the “keys” section. After I deleted any old devices so that all that was left was my new iPhone 15 Pro and my GFs iPhone 13 mini. The auto lock feature works flawlessly again. Hope this helps!

 

[CubeT]

I was having issues after upgrading to the new iPhone as well, and I didn't have success with removing and setting up the app, or bluetooth devices again. What DID work for me though was hard rebooting the car why holding in both steering wheel buttons. Now things have been great.

 

[TXDZD]

Not sure if this applies but I have a theory. I have an iPhone 12 Pro and initially (when I got the car last June) it worked consistently, all the time. Over time, I've experienced it not Auto Unlocking all the time. I believe it's an update on the iOS to conserve battery because all I have to do is "wake" the phone where it lights up and it's still on the Lock Screen and car will unlock. Some have suggested it could be due to the phone being in the back pocket and turning around so the phone is closer may help. I have the "Raise to Wake" feature turned off on my phone - I suspect those who have this feature enabled will cause the phone to be "awake" while you're walking towards it and the car unlocks. Not a deal breaker for me personally but thought I'd weigh in.

Another thought, with the upgrades to iOS shortcuts you may be able to use your voice to have Siri unlock the car as you approach it - haven' tried that yet.

 

[paulsp3]

I'm having issues with the passive bluetooth door unlock since I upgraded to a new iPhone 15 Pro. It seems to drop out after about 30 minutes and fails to work consistently. The manual unlock with the app works fine as does the card. Only started happening since I got my new phone. I've set it up twice now. Any other tips? (thinking of deleting and re-installing the app). This is on 2023.26.9, 2022 Model 3.

I have the same problem iPhone 14 Max, only happens once a month or so. After fiddling with the iPhone for a few seconds it will unlock before I've actually opened the Tesla app. However once I did have to open the app and unlock the doors. Previously had an iPhone XR, it worked 100% of the time so I suspect the phone without evidence. Circumstances would imply maybe the the 14s bluetooth signal isn't as strong?

 

[fasteddie7]

I have the same problem iPhone 14 Max, only happens once a month or so. After fiddling with the iPhone for a few seconds it will unlock before I've actually opened the Tesla app. However once I did have to open the app and unlock the doors. Previously had an iPhone XR, it worked 100% of the time so I suspect the phone without evidence. Circumstances would imply maybe the the 14s bluetooth signal isn't as strong?

It has more to do with battery saving techniques and making the device more efficient. Each year the processing gets more powerful and battery sizes and relatively the same, making it more important to build software and hardware that can be more efficient. a side effect of this is some apps and radios get suspended. Tesla needs to implement the ultra wideband Chips that they use for their AirTags and AirPods for maximum reliability but that would require other phone manufacturers to have a similar solution and it would have to be present in eVen the most entry level phone, which bluetooth is now.

 

[drtimhill]

It has more to do with battery saving techniques and making the device more efficient. Each year the processing gets more powerful and battery sizes and relatively the same, making it more important to build software and hardware that can be more efficient. a side effect of this is some apps and radios get suspended. Tesla needs to implement the ultra wideband Chips that they use for their AirTags and AirPods for maximum reliability but that would require other phone manufacturers to have a similar solution and it would have to be present in eVen the most entry level phone, which bluetooth is now.

It still happens to me occasionally, butI can always fix itty toggling Bluetooth off and then on again on my iPhone (using the REAL off toggle in Settings, not the "soft" one in Control Center). However, I've not managed to figure out what triggers the problem, though I did notice it SEEMS to correlate with my using No Not Disturb on my phone.

 

[terranx]

The phone key has always been hit or miss for me. Tendency tends to be that when I do need it to react quick (raining etc), it doesn't pick up without me taking my phone out and unlocking it.

Just get the fob - you'll be happier.

 

[dasn]

Based on my own experience this issue can happen on all phones. I predominantly used a Pixel phone for 3 years and now I’m on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both phones sometimes have issues with unlocking. However, with the Pixel the success rate was closer to 98%, on the iPhone it feels like the success rate is 80%.

My assumption is that iOS is simply more restricted and aggressively pauses apps, preventing the phone key from functioning properly. Every time this happens on my iPhone, I have to wake the phone with the power button for it to work.

 

[metrickid]

Its crazy that there hasn't been a fix for this.

I have had zero issues before I got my iPhone 15 Pro. It refuses to open the car if it is in my pocket (that worked on iPhone 12, 13 and 14 Pro). As soon as I take the phone out of the pocket and hold it closer to the car it works as intended. I have updated the car several times, the phone several times and they are removed and paired etc.

My friend has the exact same issue with his iPhone 15 Pro Max and Model Y. It is like the car won't wake up if the phone isn't in open air.

If it is parked with Sentry mode on it usually works better. So it feels like it more the car than the phone that is the issue.

 

[jaba0x]

same issue for me TM3 with Iphone 15 Pro, owned 14 pro max before and worked without any issues.

 

[terranx]

My 15 pro seems to work about the same as my 12 pro (neither worked very well). The fob works pretty well though