Apple Initiates Replacement Program for 3rd Generation Apple TVs With Wi-Fi Connectivity Issues

Apple has notified its retail stores, authorized resellers, and AppleCare employees about WiFi issues being experienced by a small portion of its third generation Apple TVs, reports 9to5Mac. The units are having issues locating and joining WiFi networks and maintaining a connection.

Apple has determined that a very small number of Apple TV (3rd generation) products might experience one of these Wi-Fi related connectivity issues:

Cannot locate network

Unable to join network

Dropped or intermittent connection.

Apple technicians are authorized to replace affected products for two years from the original date of purchase at no charge to the customer after verifying that the devices are running software version 5.2.1 and that there are no third party interference issues.

The Apple TVs experiencing connectivity problems feature the following serial numbers:

atvserialnumbers
The third generation Apple TV, which features support for 1080p video, was first released in March of last year. It was later tweaked in late January to include a smaller A5 chip.

Update: According to several readers, Apple has acknowledged that it initially erred in referring to the character pairs appearing the third and fourth positions of the serial number. The listed pairs would actually occur in the fourth and fifth positions.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...

Top Rated Comments

Steve.P.JobsFan Avatar
164 months ago
Just called them -- they're overnighting a new one to me for free and they gave me AppleCare for $19 instead of $29.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krazy Bill Avatar
164 months ago
Well, crap. I'm on the list. Apple just can't do Wi-Fi. Be it a signal loss on my MBP or the inability to sync with iTunes. :(

Yeah, I know... I'm probably holding it wrong.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GenesisST Avatar
164 months ago
ahh..So close. I was off by one character.

There goes getting a free Apple TV.

Ha !
:D

Same here, but it is not a free Apple TV, you did pay for it before...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sessamoid Avatar
164 months ago
Had mine replaced last month. The genius said he hadn't heard of any other cases. Guess he was wrong.

Or maybe he was telling the truth and he hadn't heard of any other cases at the time. Maybe he doesn't comb these boards like we do?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pbodifee Avatar
162 months ago
Have connectivity issues on Wired since 5.2.1

The thing with mine is that I have connectivity issue with the wired LAN since I updated to 5.2.1. Pre-5.2.1 it worked perfectly fine. Now every time when I wake it up out of sleep it has no network connectivity. A reboot is needed to get it back on-line. :confused:
Any one seen this problem?

PS I have JD in 4,5th position (bought Dec 2012), so it looks like I am not eligible for a replacement?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
charlituna Avatar
164 months ago
My serial is DY5H9DT2DRHN. Am I eligible? It says the 3rd and 4th but the H9 is the 4th and 5th alpanumeric letters.

If it says X and yours is Y then no. That said, if its under warranty there is no harm taking it in. Just because its not part of this program doesn't mean there couldn't be something wrong with it

----------

Had mine replaced last month. The genius said he hadn't heard of any other cases. Guess he was wrong.

Not wrong, so much as they aren't told every single issue that any cx claims to have at any store in the world. And given the variety of issues and causes for the multitude of products they see it is possible for someone to not see the exact same issue (symptom and cause) twice.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)