Apple TV+ Buffering Constantly and only Apple TV+

Let’s assume the average participant in this community knows and understands the basic troubleshooting processes and don’t want the read the normal redirects, ‘your system/setup’. If all my services work EXCEPT one, then the issue is THAT one. Can our beloved Apple Engineers find a solution, or not?

Hello, our app is up to date and our speeds are certainly fast enough. Is there another possible cause?

we are cutting down our streaming services and want to keep appleTV as we think the content is brilliant, but is there any point if we can’t watch it cause the shows buffer every couple of seconds?

Same issues- but only when using the Apple TV 4K. I do not have an issue when I use the app on my smart tv. Something very strange is happening, as I am seeing several individuals facing the same problem. Apple really does not seem to care, they say they do… but they are doing 0.0 to correct the issue. All blame and no accountability.

Same issue here. My internet speed is good. Every other app on my Roku TV works seemlessly. No issues with buffering at all. But when I try to watch anything on Apple TV it buffers every few seconds. This only started happening recently within the last month or so. Before that no issues. Don't know what happened but they need to figure it out and fix it or I will be canceling my subscription. Why pay for something you can't use?

Every. Single. Time. It’s the only streaming service that buffers and has issues. All the threads I’ve read for a work around or solution is a tech saying it’s your internet. If everything else is working then it’s probably your trash app.

i'm having the same experience. we got a 3 months free subscription with my mclaptop and another 3 free months with our samsung tv. everything is up to date, but apple tv is also the only thing that buffers, which is why we don't use it much. netflix and disney+ is streaming fine at 4k, but when applytv is playing, the quality sometimes drops so low that you can't see facial expressions, then slowly comes right for a birt and then goes bad again. currently we can't even make it through a single show without it failing and showing an error. i definitely won't subscribe past the trial so that i can pay money to be able to watch nothing.

It is obvious Apple streaming can’t handle the demand of its customers. They are failing in their customer service and I’m very disappointed with Apple TV.

Sadly, their products will soon start degrading in quality as their concern for profit will outweigh their concern for customer satisfaction.

Here’s how much Apple cares about its customers:

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I’ve done all of what you say. Works great until prime time “7 to 7:30pm” and then Apple TV is simply rubbish. Check my internet speed and it’s 200 Mb/s. 

Apple is failing to provide the service customers are paying for. It is time for a class action suit and the FTC needs to be notified. 

Apple support is absolutely useless with a buffering issue which happens only during evening hours with internet bandwidth around 200 Mbs.

They are unable to admit that their livestream delivery service is unable to adequately deliver to their customers during peak viewing times which Netflix and Prime do quite well.

Apple TV customers are not getting the full value for the service for which they are paying.

In short they are getting scammed by Apple’s promise to deliver the service they are selling.

I am having the same issue. I have an Apple TV hard wired into a router with a 1GB fiber connection. All other services (Netflix, Prime, Max, etc.) stream with no buffering issues. Anything I try to watch on Apple TV + will freeze and buffer about every 45 seconds. It is VERY frustrating. I’ve tried rebooting the AppleTV and the router but that did not solve the issue.

I have the same issue all the time, I literally just sign out and sign back in and that seems to take of it. As with everyone else, this is the only streaming service that I experience this issue with. The content on the platform is outstanding but the software development team needs to step it up. Please sort your team out apple and address this issue that so many of your users are experiencing.

Same here everything else works seamlessly. I’m probably going to have to cut Apple family plan. It doesn’t make sense to pay all that and I can’t enjoy service.

Hi Ken Esq,

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We understand you're having buffering issue when using the Apple TV app. Reinstalling the app was a good step. This article has a few more steps that may help: If you can't watch or stream movies and TV shows in the Apple TV app - Apple Support.

"Learn what to do if you have trouble streaming a movie or TV show over a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Update to the latest version of the Apple TV app

Update to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS, macOS, or tvOS.

If you're using a compatible smart TV, streaming device, or gaming console that's connected to the internet, the Apple TV app should update automatically. If you need help, you can contact the manufacturer or learn how to get the Apple TV app on your device.

If the movie or TV show won't start playing

After each step, try to stream or download the movie or TV show again.

1. Check the System Status page for service interruptions or check a third-party provider's website for any interruptions. If there are service interruptions, try to stream or watch the video later.
2. If you're having trouble signing in with your Apple ID, you can reset your Apple ID password or learn how to get a verification code and sign in with two-factor authentication.
3. If your cellular connection is poor, connect to Wi-Fi instead.*
4. Try watching on a different device using the same Wi-Fi or cellular connection. If it doesn't work, contact your internet service provider to see if there's an issue with your network.
5. If other people are using Apple TV+ or Apple TV channels, make sure it doesn't exceed the limits for streaming on multiple devices.

* Make sure that your Wi-Fi router is 802.11a/g/n/ac compatible. Streaming HD content requires 8 Mbit/s or faster. Slower tiers of Wi-Fi connections might not be fast enough to stream HD video content.

If the video quality is bad or it stops playing

1. If multiple people on your network are using the internet, your connection speed might slow down. Ask them to temporarily pause their internet activities.
2. If you're using a smart TV or streaming device, turn it off and back on again. If you're using an Apple device, restart it.
3. Tap or click the download button to try downloading the movie or TV show instead.*

* You can't download movies or TV shows to Apple TV, smart TVs, or streaming devices. You can download HDR content only to certain iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models. You can't download 4K video content to any device."

Take care.

I just logged a Support Request through Apple:

https://getsupport.apple.com/topics

The tech tried to blame my internet connection (1Gbps over cable), then the firmware on the AppleTV 4K I use for streaming. He also provided a link to Apple's service status page that listed AppleTV+ as "green", or good. At that point he ran out of excuses, and said he was promoting the request to the next level. I suspect that if more people logged Support Requests, something might actually be done to increase capacity at Apple. But I'm not holding my breath...

Welp -- I did find a workaround:

I use the Apple TV application on my Macbook Air to do the actual streaming part (i.e., to get the video and audio off the internet). Then I use AirPlay to connect to my Roku. Turns out that when you watch Apple TV on a Macbook, it pops up a window for watching stuff, and that window has an AirPlay icon in the lower-right, so that only the Apple TV content streams to the Roku (i.e., it doesn't just mirror my laptop's whole display, it correctly sends the Apple TV content and uses the full screen on my TV). Also, in that state, I can use my Roku's remote to pause the show (i.e., I don't have to use the laptop to pause and resume).

From this we learn two facts, which are related:

1. There's no bandwidth issue and there's not actually a problem at the Apple server end, since with the right combination of hardware and software I can watch Apple TV at my home.
2. Therefore the problem must be with my Roku and the other streaming devices I've tested. Is it the Roku app? Is it that my Roku is kind of old (hence the current app may have problems with my old Roku)? Don't know.