CarPlay issue - audio crackling/distortion on calls

[bobloblawGTI]

Hi all -- long shot, but I figured I'd check and see. I'm experiencing an issue with phone calls via CarPlay in my 2019 GTI SE. After about 5-10 minutes on a call, the audio becomes distorted, almost like crackling. Unplugging/replugging fixes it temporarily, but it happens again after several minutes. Occurs on multiple iPhones and kinds of cables, so it's either a bug in iOS 14 or an issue with the head unit (force restart of infotainment didn't resolve.) I took it down to my local VW dealer to check and see if there might be a firmware update available for the infotainment system but they insisted on charging a $150 diagnostic fee to do so, so I declined that route. Wanted to see if anyone else has experienced the same thing?

(Attached a screenshot of the head unit info; no idea if this firmware is the latest or not.) Thanks!

 

[bobloblawGTI]

Update: in case anyone else is experiencing something similar, VW Customer Care let me know there's a TSB for it:

91-19-03 - MIB2 MQB Composition & Discover Media Infotainment
Customer can report one or more of the following: Infotainment system freezes or reboots, Infotainment display is blank or black, Loss of audio output, Volume control malfunctions, Navigation system malfunctions, Poor call clarity during hands free call.

 

[Keehs360]

A lot of the CarPlay stuff can be solved with a new lightning cable. Mine was freezing, going dark and audio wouldn’t play. A new cable fixed all of that for me. I was using a cheap Amazon cable, using an official Apple cable solved everything for me.