HDCP issue MacBook Pro 2016 13” TouchBar model

**HDCP Errors iTunes\Safari fix**

Symptoms:

*You had to reset the PRAM on your Mac for whatever reason

*iTunes movies won't play. You either get a black playback window or an error related to HDCP.

*Hulu and Netflix movies won't play within the Safari browser.

*YouTube is unaffected by this.

*Hulu and Netflix still play within Chrome web browser.

*Windows 10 (VM nor Bootcamp) are unaffected by this bug

Fix (workaround):

*Boot into Recovery Mode on your Mac (command+R)

*Open terminal and type in the command EXACTLY as written:

nvram 8be4df61-93ca-11d2-aa0d-00e098032b8c:epid_provisioned=%01%00%00%00

and then press RETURN

It will go back to the prompt. Type reboot and RETURN.

Use this information at your own risk. If this sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you should contact Apple support directly and have them walk you through this.

If you have to reset your PRAM again for any reason, this will have to be done again in order to restore functionality. Apple is aware of this and will likely provide some sort of update to perminantly fix this.

This is truly a workaround, not a fix. But it should provide you a fully functional Mac in the mean time

If this does not work for you. Please try this again and triple check what you have typed. This command is case sensitive and it will NOT throw up an error or success message to let you know the result.

Good luck and good day.

I have just gotten a MacBook Pro 13 touchbar 2016 model, and have the exact same problem. It's like the Mac won't recognize HDCP on its own monitor. I also have tried everything, resetting, different iTunes versions, OS Sierra and High Sierra. Reinstalled 3 times, nothing helps. Could this be a hardware error ?

Have you gotten any info on this? - Any news would be highly appreciated.

I have the same machine and same problem. I got the issue escalated with tech support and went through all the normal diagnostic steps with a second or third tier tech. Nothing fixed the issue. We used a few info gathering techniques and recreated the problem and sent that data to apple engineers. I expect to have further feedback this week and will let you know what they say. Hopefully there is a software solution we can utilize, but given that we have all reinstalled the OS, I think this will require hardware repair/replacement.

In my case, tv shows and movies purchased through iTunes worked fine for the first 18 months or so that I had the computer. The built in camera never worked. I finally had the camera repaired and when the machine was returned to me, the camera worked, but the HDCP error popped up and I can no longer watch the content I purchased from Apple.

I got some feedback from the engineers via the level two tech working my case. We looked for extensions in safari. I don't use safari and did not have any extensions. If I did, we would have deleted them. I use chrome and asked if we should look at those extensions, but that was not indicated by the engineers. We deleted a few items from the system library and the user library - all the launch agents and launch daemons. The items in those lists were from third party apps. I assume from talks with the tech and from what we did, that the engineers think this is some kind of third party software interference. I remain skeptical that it is software related. I have not made any software changes between being able to play iTunes content and not being able to play iTunes content on this computer. My tech did say that when he has faced HDCP issues previously, the fix has always been software related and either an OS reinstall or full wipe and rebuild. I've already done the OS reinstall. We collected more data to send to the engineers today after deleting the launch items. I may do a full wipe and rebuild while waiting for more news. I still think it is hardware related in my case, but am willing to try anything before sending it back to the people who broke it and not have a computer for another 11 days...

In my case, rebuilding my computer has not solved this problem. On my 2017 iMac 4K, I have not been able to play purchased iTunes videos since mid June. Each time I play a video, I just get a black window with the playback controls, but the video doesn't play.

I have been working with very helpful Apple support staff since June 27, but we still haven't been able to solve the problem. In my case, even a clean install doesn't solve the problem.

1) If I erase my SSD and install macOS (10.12.6, 10.13.3 or 10.13.6) via a USB installer drive, the videos will still not play.

2) If I erase my SSD and install macOS (10.13.6) via Internet Recovery or the Recovery Partition, my videos will play immediately after authorizing iTunes but only until the iMac is restarted. If I just switch user accounts after authorizing iTunes, the videos will continue to play when I switch back to the original account. If I restart the computer, however, the videos will no longer play.

3) Each time I perform this test after a clean install, I don't install any other software, so there can't be any third party conflicts. Sometimes I don't even sign into my iCloud account. I just sign into the iTunes Store and authorize iTunes.

4) If I upgrade to iTunes 12.8 after testing a clean install with iTunes 12.7, this videos will play only if I haven't restarted the iMac.

5) ****

6) Sometimes, installing Boot Camp on the iMac will cause the videos to play correctly the next time I boot into macOS, but, once again, if I restart macOS, the videos will no longer play.

7) ****

8) Strangely, my purchased videos will start playing again if I purchase a new video. Once again, however, as soon as I restart the computer after that purchase, no purchased videos (even the new one) will play. I have been able to reproduce this three times in the past month.

9) I have observed the same behaviour whether I play local copies of the videos or stream from iCloud.

10) The videos play on my iPhone 6 Plus, Apple TV 4 and Apple TV 4K when streamed from iCloud. They also play through Home Sharing with my iMac even if the iMac won't play the videos on its internal display.

11) Reseting the PRAM and SMC have had no effect. Booting into safe mode also has not helped.

12) Family Sharing members are able to play my purchased videos both locally and through iCloud streaming on various iPads, iPhones, Apple TVs and iMacs. Unlike mine, their iMacs are 2011 and 2013 models.

13) At first I thought that this was an HDCP issue, but standard definition versions of my purchased videos also have the same problem.

I'll continue to test and report back here if I learn anything new.

[Edited by Host]

I had an 1 hour session with support and they told me probably is a hardware issue. They collected some info and they sent to iTunes team. They told me that next week I will have more info. Good I have Apple care.

Nothing much to report. I got a message from the tech working my case that the engineers are still running tests on the data we sent them, and the engineers recommend that I stay up to date with the latest software. I found that to be disappointing and truthfully, a little insulting. Like I would not have tried software updates before spending all this time trying to resolve an error? How well can they be reviewing the data we spent lots of time collecting to send to them if they didn't even read the notes that indicate all the software is up to date?

The tech said that my suggestion of sending the machine back in to apple for hardware analysis might be the best next step. I have thought this was the answer in my case from the beginning as the problem only occurred after I got the machine back from apple hardware techs on an unrelated issue.

Just to cover the bases, I may do a full wipe and reinstall before mailing the machine in for repair. Though I don't expect that to work. I've already done an OS reinstall. ActionFanatic has done the wipe and reinstall. Nether worked. I will post again if/when anything changes.

Thanks for your reply. So I should not be so optimistic about getting a final response next week... it is quite weird... do you have also the problem on Netflix/Amazon Prime with Safari?

May ask if you have Apple Care?

Thanks.

For me the problem only occurs in iTunes, and only with purchased content. I can watch movie/tv show trailers inside of iTunes. I can't watch things I have purchased. I have old SD shows/movies that don't play and brand new HD shows/movies that don't play. All purchased content will play on my iPhone and on my Apple TVs. None of it will play on my computer in iTunes.

Netflix and Amazon Prime both work fine in Chrome. I haven't used Safari for years.

I do have Apple Care.

It seems that the HDCP issue affects to Safari also. If you could make a quick test trying to open a movie in Netflix you can get more about your issue. If is not working - HDCP doesn’t work at all in your graphic card. If is working your problem is only on iTunes and maybe easier to solve. The technician that took my case was curious about Netflix in safari.

Hmmm. Interesting that this bit of info did not come up in the two weeks I've been with my tech on this. I did the test and Netflix does not work in Safari. Oddly, it mirrors the iTunes experience. Those infernal can't turn them off auto trailers in Netflix work fine - like watching trailers in iTunes, but shows/movies will not play. I'll let my tech know. Thanks for the advice.

You are welcome. The Netflix/Amazon prime test takes the problem out of iTunes pointing to hardware.

Before my session with the technician I read all posts related and I made a fresh installation and I reproduce all problems, just to win some time.

I don’t know why they are taking so long for you to send to you to replace the hardware. I m afraid that they will hold me more days than they initially told me. This is not acceptable considering the price of the equipment plus Apple care. They should take the laptop, give us a replacement, and then play with it in their labs.

Hello,

I got feedback from one user that going to an Apple store they changed him the screen... and solved the issue.

Source on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/95184o/hdcp_error_while_playing_itu nes_movie_on_2016/?st=JL0ZHT6M&sh=08ddc939

So, after replacing the screen you continue with the same issue? Then you should ask for a replacement in the motherboard. I can not believe that is a problem that appears time to time, otherwise Apple has a big big issue.