HDMI-CEC is not working with Apple TV 4K

Hi, I’m having the same issue. Cec is able to turn on my amplifier but it sends some malformed command as it select non-existent input. I have to manually select correct input. Powering off works normally.

Apple people - this is fundamental functionality! Get the issue solved please!

tv4k connected to a Sony amplifier. For the last 2 years it was working perfectly, so please don’t tell me I have to change cable or amplifier.

UPDATE

It seams that initial command sent to the amp is correct, it turns on and set input correctly. But right after that it switched to some wrong state and video stays on but audio is muted.

UPDATE 2:

Disabling AirPlay fixed the issue for me.

I had the exact same problem with TvOS 14.2 however I have had this problem in the past and for me I solved it the same way I did last time. It seems to be some form of issue if the ATV gets automatically updated while the TV is in standby mode. The solution is to put the apple TV into standby mode then put the TV into standby and unplug the cable to the TV wait for 10 seconds put the cable back in then turn on the Apple TV then my Apple TV is able to control the TV both on and off again. Not sure how CEC works exactly maybe it sends its command capabilities or something on start up so when the TV is powered on the Apple TV gets information about the TV or something. So my suggestion try unplugging and plugging stuff in again until it works it did for me at least.

tvOS 14.2 still doesn't fix this problem.

I tried to disable/enable "Turn on with remote control" in the apple tv settings

This is work only for power off my TV but not for power On...

I would like to point out that this worked perfectly before version 14 !!

Same problem. Apple executive very comfortably established that all my TVs HDMIs are not working. There is absolutely no problem in the Apple TV or remote. I dont know what to do. Have to keep carrying two remotes now.

Just got a new AT 4K. Was working fine on a Sony TV when connected. After update the remote doesnt work in any TV. HDMI CEC is on. Firestick works fine. When called to customer care no help at all plus very comfortably declared that all devices including HDMIs are faulty but Apple TV is working fine. Do you think for a consumer who is paying 4 times the price for a streaming device, this is acceptable...

I am brand new to Apple TV and with an LG TV i noticed my LG remote controlled the Apple TV as fine as you can expect by having CEC enabled on the TV side. After the tvOS14 update it stopped working. I could get it back inconsistently with no real correlation to anything.

However Disabling Airplay worked IMMEDIATELY for me in solving this issue. My LG remote controls the Apple TV perfectly fine now and it makes absolutely no sense.

To be clear, when i first came upon the seemingly totally random and without logical justification suggestion to disable Airplay on here I at first took it as the all too common occurence of someone not really reading the thread but offering misguided advice anyways. However with no other solutions i tried it - and it worked.

Now im not saying disabling Airplay is the answer here, i dont think it really is because i immediately turned Airplay right back on again and my LG TV remote *continued* to work flawlessly with Airplay enabled. So its more like *toggling* Airplay got it to work.

But to me what this does do is it put it in stark relief that the Apple TV absolutely has some kind of bug with regards to this CEC issue and disabling Airplay triggers something that brings it to life. I hope they fix it soon because im concerned my LG TV remote is going to stop working again and being forced to again use the nightmare that is the Apple TV remote.

My experiencie is as follows:

I have a Loewe TV and HDMI-CEC has been working nice until TVIOS 14.2 update.

Now I can't turn my tv on when I turn Apple Tv on. The rest is still working fine.

So I tried to plug the Apple Tv in another tv (SONY) and everything is working fine.

So I guess it is a problem of some tv brands needing a new software update.

Curious to see if that holds true for you. As a lot of us can get it to work fine for a time with the TVs that don't work by restarting HDMI-CEC or toggling Airplay and entirely switching TVs would be a lot like making one of these changes. My LG TV remote went back to not working again even after working completely fine for hours.

I know HDMI-CEC is a bit of a mess but I definitely did not have this problem at all before the 14 update. Even if the issue partially lies with some of the TV manufacturers, to lose the ability to consistently and reliably control this device that used to work totally fine before an OS update is a huge blow.

Same observation on my side.

On my TV Sony if I do some manipulations (unplug hdmi re-plug....) I even did a factory restoration of my TV. it works again but only for a short time.

Whereas before tvOS 14 I had no problem at all.

My TV is a Sony Android TV (2015).

I was able to regain the regain CEC by unplugging all HDMI cables from TV, factory resetting the TV and reconnecting all of my devices.

I can do all HDMI CEC functions on my Apple TV EXCEPT controlling the tv volume.

So I’m kinda back to step 1.

I can control TV volume with a old Roku I have so this must be an AppleTV issue since the 14 update.

Now that the Roku has AirPlay 2 support I might as well go back to it and just ditch the Apple TV.

It really is a **** shame, other than the CEC issue, the AppleTv was mu favorite streaming box. I will admit, going back to the Roku remote kinda made me appreciate how much I missed having a good remote for navigation.

Do you use HDMI-CEC with other devices?

Seems like most people here are experiencing this CEC issue just with the Apple TV. Yes changing TV settings, resetting TV etc etc can temporarily fix CEC with Apple TV but what is being glossed over is that HDMI-CEC works fine with all other CEC compatible devices, the only exception is the Apple TV so that narrows things down quite a bit.

Exactly. I’ve seen this type of response before when my iPhone stopped working with my car bluetooth. The response from one of the Apple experts on here was ‘your firmware needs updating, not Apple’s fault’.

That doesn’t fly for me. It was working fine, then Apple clearly changed something and then it stopped working. How is that anyone but Apple’s fault?

Oh it’s definite apples issue. Never had a day of problems with any of them. The interesting thing for me none of the 3 Apple 4ktv I have in my home (2 on Sony tv and 1 Samsung)... even though everything is updated at the same time essentially - I can turn items on using Siri remote but when 4ktv goes standby or shuts off it doesn’t turn the TV’s off.

What I found most interesting is that in my office I’ve had a Mac Pro that’s always on, hooked up to the tv... what it’s doing now is it’s literally changing HDMI ports to display what’s on the Mac Pro (and now Mac Mini M1 also) — always on waiting for remote desktop connections it never switched to the pro which it’s not supposed to TV’s no auto hunt for a signal - disabled.. not bad for two weeks of nothing but headaches with your OS’s. I’ve had a problem on every new update from Bug Sur to IPadOS / iOS (lost messages of two years on one device 10/22/18 - 11/23/20 for the contact just gone. But on the iPad Pro can scroll and get all the other messages from iCloud back to December 25th 2010 when my son got his first taste of the ecosystem. On my iPhone it will simply not allow me to bring in a message for the contact prior to 11/23 .. bummed.

I’m experiencing EXACTLY what you’re experiencing. A lot of people having issues with CEC using their TV Remote. I honestly prefer using the Siri Remote. When I wake the Apple TV, my Sony TV wakes as well. But when I put the Apple TV to sleep, the TV does NOT go to sleep. This has worked flawlessly for years and such an inconvenience having to break out the Sony Remote now. I’m glad I’m not the only one having the issue and I hope it gets addressed in the next update.

Tier 1 Support passed me up to Tier two.. They had me hard reset the Siri remote, the Apple 4K, everything. They had me make a video to show them what was happening that not only did it not shut down the tv’s it was switching HDMI on it where the Mac was (and was disconnected) - then they had me do a full diag and they marked the time where I showed putting into sleep mode, etc.. Downloaded the full logs (after hard reset) - they sent me a link to upload the videos as well as the diag file to.. told me they will send it up the chain (uh huh) but tier 2 said they’d call me back in 4 days.. Definitely a 14.x issue.. this has never happened in any Gen to me from Apple TV.. we shall see..