Apple today released tvOS 15.6, the sixth major update to the tvOS operating system that first launched in September 2021. tvOS 15.6 comes more than two months after the release of tvOS 15.5. tvOS 15.6 can be downloaded over the air on the Apple TV through the Settings app by going to System > Software Update. ‌‌‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌‌‌ owners who have automatic software updates enabled will be upgraded to tvOS 15.6 automatically.

Apple's tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing on bug fixes, performance updates, and small tweaks rather than major outward-facing changes. There were no new features discovered in tvOS 15.6 during the beta testing process.

Apple's release notes say tvOS 15.6 includes "general performance and stability improvements."

Article Link: Apple Releases tvOS 15.6 for Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K With Performance Improvements

Looks like all my devices will be updated today.

moabal said:

Does this fix the Dolby Atmos issue?

That's what I would like to know too

I would wager this contains the live sports improvements from the adjacent iOS release.

Has a higher build number than the RC so for people running that, you'll have an update.

moabal said:

Does this fix the Dolby Atmos issue?

What issue is Atmos having on the AppleTv?

Anyone know how to fix the Micro-Stutter issue when watching Disney Plus content?

ELman said:

Anyone know how to fix the Micro-Stutter issue when watching Disney Plus content?

I used to have occasional stuttering issues, until I went into Settings -> Video and enabled "Match Rate".

This tells the Apple TV to send the signal to your TV at the rate it is encoded at. So for 24FPS movie content, it gets sent at 24FPS.

After doing this, 24FPS content got much smoother with zero stuttering.

zorinlynx said:

I used to have occasional stuttering issues, until I went into Settings -> Video and enabled "Match Rate".

This tells the Apple TV to send the signal to your TV at the rate it is encoded at. So for 24FPS movie content, it gets sent at 24FPS.

After doing this, 24FPS content got much smoother with zero stuttering.

This is what fixed it for me too.

I really wish MacRumors would just put out one article about software updates. Just come out and say apple released updates to MacOS, iOs, iPadOS, WatchOS, TVOS, and list the updates for each in that one article and be done with it. Instead we get 5 articles with almost IDENTICAL wording from the last update article; just change the release number and list of fixes.

Anyone know how to fix a 4th Gen ATV update problem? I can download the FW update, it tells me it's preparing the update. It reboots to update the firmware but the screen just goes blank with a signal. The power LED flashes and stays that way until I pull the AC plug. Then the ATV comes back to the previous uninstalled state with everything intact. The only way to do a FW update is to plug into my Mac and do a FW Restore within Finder.

I have no idea when this started with tvOS 15 or what is causing it to fail doing updates.

zorinlynx said:

I used to have occasional stuttering issues, until I went into Settings -> Video and enabled "Match Rate".

This tells the Apple TV to send the signal to your TV at the rate it is encoded at. So for 24FPS movie content, it gets sent at 24FPS.

After doing this, 24FPS content got much smoother with zero stuttering.

Thanks!! I was hoping it was something Apple would automatically have happen. If I watch Disney Plus on the built in TV app I don't have the issue. It's not all apps that have the trouble. I notice it mostly on Disney Plus and Netflix. Amazon and HBO Max seem to be fine.

Having a new tvOS update is about as exciting as watching Grass Grow. People always ask how they can update the TVOS interface, and I think I found one thing that they could do. The switching between TV, Homepod, and bluetooth earphones is a pain in the ass on TVOS. It would be awesome if they made that more seamless.

moabal said:

Here you go. It is quite annoying. I wonder if iOS 16 Beta fixes it.

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/05/06/apple-tv-dolby-atmos-audio-issues/

We now have all the WWDC OS updates available as pubic beta to try.

iamgalt said:

I really wish MacRumors would just put out one article about software updates. Just come out and say apple released updates to MacOS, iOs, iPadOS, WatchOS, TVOS, and list the updates for each in that one article and be done with it. Instead we get 5 articles with almost IDENTICAL wording from the last update article; just change the release number and list of fixes.

I think one of the things I don't like about this forum is MacRumors spams itself for the most part. On Update day, just one news story would suffice. It seems like this site has at least 7 articles a day and I think only about 3 or 4 really are that important.

Time to update and notice nothing new as usual 🤣

_Spinn_ said:

Time to update and notice nothing new as usual 🤣

It is tvOS, at least I can now set things to 4K HDR10 60 hz, and it automatically switches Dolby Vision on as needed so tvOS is working better. Still the ridiculous streaming app authentication every 30 days instead of automatically authenticating to TV provider. You really need a new Apple TV design to offer split A/V. So much out there is still needing that.

Realityck said:

You really need a new Apple TV design to offer split A/V. So much out there is still needing that.

The problem is that most everything these days uses codecs that don't work over old fashioned TOSlink. If Apple still offered TOSlink on the ATV that would sometimes be convenient, but uncompressed LPCM would be limited to stereo; for surround sound you'd need to re-encode everything to Dolby Digital AC3 which reduces quality.

There are cheap HDMI passthroughs that give you TOSlink if you want to do this. Otherwise you really should be using HDMI through a receiver to your TV or at worst using eARC back to it.

zorinlynx said:

The problem is that most everything these days uses codecs that don't work over old fashioned TOSlink. If Apple still offered TOSlink on the ATV that would sometimes be convenient, but uncompressed LPCM would be limited to stereo; for surround sound you'd need to re-encode everything to Dolby Digital AC3 which reduces quality.

There are cheap HDMI passthroughs that give you TOSlink if you want to do this. Otherwise you really should be using HDMI through a receiver to your TV or at worst using eARC back to it.

I am not discussing optical, it doesn't take much to offer an additional audio only HDMI port that passes that to a AVR that can't pass 4K with Dolby Vision. Yes the 3rd ATV version had the optical but no-one wants that. AVR's are built for years of usage, a lot out there are not that new.

Really hope this fixes the intermittent screen black outs I’ve been getting lately. It’s like every 20 mins I lose picture and sound for a second or two. Tried unplugging, didn’t fix. Anyone else?

darcyf said:

Really hope this fixes the intermittent screen black outs I’ve been getting lately. It’s like every 20 mins I lose picture and sound for a second or two. Tried unplugging, didn’t fix. Anyone else?

You probably have a dodgy HDMI cable or port somewhere in the signal path.

_Spinn_ said:

Time to update and notice nothing new as usual 🤣

Except the new bugs that often come with tvOS updates…

iamgalt said:

I really wish MacRumors would just put out one article about software updates. Just come out and say apple released updates to MacOS, iOs, iPadOS, WatchOS, TVOS, and list the updates for each in that one article and be done with it. Instead we get 5 articles with almost IDENTICAL wording from the last update article; just change the release number and list of fixes.

The separation is nice for comments. I like not having to wade through 30 pages of iOS comments when all I care about is macOS.