Apple TV 4K (3rd gen) randomly entered recovery mode
I have an Apple TV 4K 3rd generation, purchased in April 2025. It had been working normally and then suddenly went into the recovery screen showing the Apple TV + iPhone icons.
There was no update that I knowingly initiated. We followed the instructions on an iPhone and restored/recovered tvOS. It eventually booted normally again and showed all of our existing user profiles.
After the first recovery:
- The Apple TV worked normally using the iPhone Remote.
- When I brought the physical Siri Remote close to the Apple TV, the Apple TV started rebooting/turning on and off and eventually went back into recovery mode.
- At that point the Siri Remote showed around 20% battery.
- I recovered the Apple TV again using the iPhone.
- I fully charged the Siri Remote.
- The Apple TV is now working normally again.
- The physical Siri Remote is also working normally now — navigation and the Back button both work without causing a reboot.
Has anyone experienced something similar with an Apple TV 4K 3rd gen?
I’m particularly wondering whether this sounds like a tvOS/recovery glitch, a Bluetooth/Siri Remote issue, or potentially an early hardware/storage problem with the Apple TV.
I’m also confused about the apparent connection with the Siri Remote. Could a low-battery/unstable Bluetooth connection somehow trigger a crash in tvOS, or was the timing most likely just a coincidence while the Apple TV was already unstable?
Apple TV 4K, tvOS 26