iPhone 15 Pro Max - AirPods disconnect during WhatsApp and Telegram calls

[FlyingCaribou]

Hi everyone, hope you can help me with an issue that is driving me insane.

This Christmas I upgraded from my old iPhone 8 to a brand new iPhone 15 Pro Max. I have since been experiencing constant AirPods disconnection only during calls via WhatsApp and Telegram. "Normal" calls over my provider network, video playback, Spotify and all the rest is fine.

This is happening with both AirPods 3 and AirPod Pro 2.

This is my setup:

- iPhone 15 Pro Max iOS 17.2.1
- AirPods 3 latest firmware
- AirPods Pro 2 latest firmware

I literally run all the tests I can think of (reset AirPods to factory settings, restore iPhone 15 Pro Max multiple times, with and without backup, etc), and I can confirm that:

- I don't experience this issue on my work phone (iPhone 13 Max Pro, iOS 16.7.2) and on my old iPhone 8 (iOS 16.7.2)
- Restoring the iPhone 15 Pro Max to factory settings without reinstating previous backups doesn't help. I'm still experiencing the issue even if I wipe the phone, login with my Apple ID without restoring any backup and downloading WhatsApp as the only app on the phone.
- Apple allowed me to return my iPhone 15 Pro Max and gave me a brand new one. I restored my latest backup, and I am still experiencing the issue. This leads me to believe that something got corrupted somewhere on a system software/backup level.

Is there anything else I can try?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[FlyingCaribou]

Right I managed to find the cause of the issue. I didn't want to believe it at first but it looks like the issue was caused by some sort of environmental interferences with my carrier. I'm based in the UK. I tested different carriers, swapped loads of SIMs etc and the issue happens ONLY with my original carrier O2 and carriers that use O2 network (GiffGaff, Tesco, etc). It must be something in the coverage of the area as I noticed that if I have 5G the issue doesn't happen.

I tested all the other operators in the UK - Vodafone, EE, Three all the ones that use their network - and the issue never happened again, either in 4G or 5G.

I'd advise to try with another SIM card if you have the same issue!