macOS 11.3 Music and AirPort Express AirPlay Problem (Cannot play more than 7 seconds)

Hi Friends,

I have the same problem at my iMac 24" M1 (11.5.2) to connect with Beosound 2. I found a method to avoid reboot iMac and stable airplay to Beosound 2.

You guys may could try it.

1. Open [Activity monitor]
2. Double click [music] process
3. Close the [music] process
4. Re-open [music] and try airplay

I'm not sure this method could be applied to all situations, or how long can this method work.

Hope Apple will improve this problem as soon as possible. This is terrible experience.

Big Sur 11.5.2 updated fixed it.

At least for me :)

Hi there tyskey,

We understand that you are unable to stream music from your Mac. We’d like to help however we can.

To confirm, are you able to stream music with AirPlay to another device without issue or does something similar happen? Let’s also follow the steps outlined here to see if they help with what’s happening:

If AirPlay or screen mirroring isn’t working on your device

Cheers!

tyskey,

We appreciate that additional information. 

We would still recommend following the article we previously provided to see if it resolves the issue with using AirPlay on your Mac. 

Let’s also try to stream music with AirPlay in a new test user on your Mac to see if this continues:

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

Best regards. 

I have similar problems. After restarting my M1 MacBook air, airplay streams Spotify fine through Airport Express wired to my hi-fi system. When I try the next time, usually another day, the mac connects to Airport Express yet no streaming takes place. If I then restart the MacBook it works again.

Whats going on????

Yep, it's insane alright. And super lame on Apple's part. I've updated my MacBook Air M1 to MacOS 11.5..1, I've tried all the workarounds suggested in this thread. The one that works for me is trial version of Rogue Amoeba Airfoil software, though it only plays for 10 minutes at a time in free trial option. Not as convenient as just having AirPlay work like it's supposed to from Music, duh, but it does seem reliable. Meanwhile, my 2014 MacBook can play to AirPlay just fine, as it always has. But obviously I don't want to carry two laptops.

So I wonder if Apple will refund me the $29 I'm about to spend on Airfoil?

I just upgraded to Monterey 12.1 and I still have the same problem, though it happens a little bit less frequently than under Big Sur. For me, restarting the Music application is usually enough to make Airplay 2 streaming work again, but a few times I've had to use the fix-airplay.command reset.

Same issues on my Macbook Air M1. I need to restart my Mac to get Airplay to work with Airport Express. Works fine from my iPhone. 11.4 didn't fix it..

Hey guys, please check if 11.5.1 solves this problem for you.

Hello, I have the same problem. MacBook Air M1 with MacOS 11.3.1 and Airport Express II with firmware version 7.8.1.

Airplay works well from e.g. Tidal to the Airport Express router after a restart of my MacBook until the Macbook falls asleep. Then a restart of the Macbook is needed to get it to work again.

Airplay works well with other Airplay enabled devices even after it has fallen asleep and been woken up.

Seems to be a compatibility issue between the Macbook and the Airport Express.

I have the same issue. I am however able to stream the same Itunes audio to my Express using Rougue Amoebas Airfoil (Trial).

The funny thing was that Itunes also worked without Airfoil for a while after installing Airfoil, but stopped working later after waking the machine from sleep. Since I rebooted during Airfoil installation there may be some issue with Itunes and waking the machine from sleep.

11.5 still did not fix my problem... Airplay stopped working on M1 Macbook Pro at about OS 11.0

my airport express version 7.8.1 workied fine in OS 10.x on the M1 Macbook Pro. Then, suddenly, it stopped. Other people report that it works for a few seconds and then stops. mine doesn't ever work.

Using the OS's speaker controls, I am allowed to choose the Airport express... but nothing happens. When i choose Apple TV, it works.

On the other hand, When i use an app called Airplay from Rogue Amoeba on the M1, it does work fine. The airport works with other broadcasters... just not M1 MacBook Pro running 11.x

dc

I see this issue intermittently on MBP M1 11.6. It seems to have appeared in one of the 11.x updates. In addition to Apple Music, Quicktime player will allow you to use Airplay for a full video, but then arbitrarily the Airplay icon vanishes. Restarting the app does work for QT.

I have just posted a reply to the same issue with an iPad Pro 2021 thas has an M1 chip:

iPad Pro M1 not streaming music to Airpor… - Apple Community

I already thought it was due to the combination of the M1 chip and the Airport.

Reading your post convinces me that this is indeed the cause. I recently upgraded to the 2021 iPad and this issue appeared. I still have the 2018 iPad Pro and that doesn’t have the issue. Both iPads are running IOS 15.1, the main difference between the two is the chip.

Same issue here. M1 MacBook Pro with macOS 11.3.1 installed. App streams to AirPod, but not to Airport Express (version 7.8.1). Restoring the Airport Express solved the problem but only for a while. Can't stream neither via Music App nor directly via OS.