Apple TV not turning on after update

Hi - I had the same issue. I used to turn on my Apple TV (4th gen) by pressing the touch pad at the top of the remote (i.e., the remote that came with the unit). After the recent software update, I would need to unplug/replug and wait for the unit to reboot. After restarting, the remote worked normally.

I spoke with an Apple Support representative and she said that since the update, we now need to hold the Menu button down for up to 20 seconds to get it to turn on. (Apparently, this information was conveyed through the end user release notes/articles on the update, but not more broadly, so she gets quite a few calls about it.) It now turns on for me using the Menu button. Hope this is helpful.

From your description, it seems you have a 4th generation or later. Apple TV (2nd generation) saw its last software update in Sept 2014. Identify your Apple TV model - Apple Support

For the current models with the Siri Remote, use the Menu button to wake the device. The touch surface is no longer used for waking, with tvOS 13.

So since the update if found the only way to turn the Apple TV on (wake it up) is use the remote app on my phone and hit the TV button. This is mildly frustrating as my one issue with the Apple TV is the small remotes so I immediately programmed my TV remote so all I had to do was push the button I had programmed as “select” and I was good to go. Now it appears you have to use the “TV” button to turn the thing on. There are 2 issues with this; first, you can’t program a “tv” button as far as I can tell (this only used to bother me because I couldn’t make the thing sleep before turning off the tv but no big deal). Second, the cheaper Apple TV remote doesn’t even have a TV button on it. I assume if you have the original remote using the tv button would work just like it does in the app remote. (don’t get me started on the fact that the original black one that is 5-6 inches x 1.5” costs like $50 to replace, seems like that thing was made to get lost or broken if you have kids)

I hope Apple realizes this issue and fixes it but if not just get the app on your phone and use it to turn the thing on then you can use your programmed TV remote or silver Apple TV remote. That’s what has worked for me anyway.