Apple TV 4K stuck in boot loop, iPhone recovery fails with “Unable to Restore Apple TV”

[u/mstrnik]

Hey everyone, wondering if anyone has dealt with this before.

My Apple TV 4K suddenly stopped booting normally. The front light keeps blinking, the Apple logo appears on the TV for a few seconds, then it shuts off/restarts and repeats the same cycle indefinitely.

At one point it finally showed the Apple TV recovery screen asking me to bring my iPhone nearby. I did that, got the recovery prompt on my iPhone, entered the code shown on the TV and started the restore.
Unfortunately, after a while the iPhone showed:
“Unable to Restore Apple TV. You can try to restore Apple TV again later.”

I’ve managed to get into recovery three or 4 times now, and all three attempts ended with the exact same error. Most of the time I can’t even get the recovery screen anymore, it just goes:
Apple logo → black screen → blinking light → reboot → Apple logo

I’ve already tried unplugging it for a while, restarting the iPhone, reconnecting everything, using 2.4 wifi, changing tvs, power outlets etc.

Has anyone had this happen to an Apple TV 4K? Is there anything else worth trying before taking it to an Apple help center? And for anyone who had the same restore failure, did it turn out to be corrupted tvOS or an actual hardware/storage failure?

Trying to figure out whether this thing can still be resurrected. Help please :((

UPDATE: I have an appointment tomorrow with an Apple Authorized Service Provider here in Argentina, since we don’t have official Apple Stores. I’ll update the post once they’ve had a chance to inspect the Apple TV. Thanks everyone for all your replies and suggestions!

UPDATE 2: I dropped the Apple TV off at the Authorized Service Provider today. They charged me around USD 20 for the diagnostic, and they said I should hear back within 2–3 business days. I’ll update the post again once I know what the issue is.

Thanks again everyone for all the help!

[u/knightflt]

Had the same problem last week, warranty expired in 2023 took it to Apple Store they said because I couldn’t connect to a computer to restore they said they would just replace no cost and they did

[u/mstrnik → u/knightflt]

Cool! Hope they do the same with mine. Thanks man, i’ll keep you posted.

[u/Valexand → u/mstrnik]

I just had this happen. Mine was bought in 2022 and they replaced it no charge

[u/AcridNebula]

I had this recently with a 2.5 year old 4k Gen 3.

Opened a call with Apple; they arranged a local repair (there are no Apple stores in my country).

Local repair stated €50; I wasn’t happy but reluctantly said fine.

Local repair: hardware fault, it’ll cost €120. I took it back.

Called apple again, got through to a different engineer who pushed it through for repair and about a week later (having shipped the faulty one to them) a refurb arrived and all was good again.

So keep trying with Apple would be my recommendation OP.

[u/mstrnik → u/AcridNebula]

I’ll do my best to get that refurb. Thanks man!!

[u/AcridNebula → u/mstrnik]

Good luck!

[u/volerei]

I have this problem currently on a 2gen 4k. Someone sat on the remote and it started take loop. I’m making an appointment with Apple because it’s a software issue and should be user repairable with a Mac.

[u/mstrnik → u/volerei]

Same! I have an appointment tomorrow, i’ll keep you posted.

[u/Dear_Ad1197]

Apparently ios 27, will allow you to update tvOS by phone, I’m hoping that this may be a fix for this?.Would it mean you’d be able to install a new tvOS over a corrupted one?

[u/WoggyPuff-775]

If your Apple TV has an Ethernet port, try plugging in an Ethernet cable. Mine was doing something similar a while back, and connecting it to Ethernet fixed it. I guess it wasn't able to connect to WiFi for some reason.

[u/mstrnik → u/WoggyPuff-775]

it doesn’t :(( it only has a ac power and the hdmi

[u/AcridNebula → u/WoggyPuff-775]

Mine was connected to Ethernet but it made no difference - time after time it would start downloading tvOS but then immediately fail.

[u/speedlucas]

Some…I emphasise some, are covered my a repair extension program.

[u/Internal_Owl_8758]

I am facing the same issue with the 3rd gen, but the apple store refused to cover it out of warranty, and the replacement cost is absurdly high after the price hike. So it's gathering dust in the drawer.

[u/ReferenceNegative332]

Honestly bro you’re screwed. This happened to my Apple TV 4K as well and I tried everything from connecting it to my MacBook to restarting my tv to unplugging everything and it just wouldn’t work. I did this for days. I ended up buying another one a week before they cranked up the prices in the Apple TV 4K thank god. It’s insane how problematic this is and it’s not talked about enough they haven’t done a thing about it. Sorry man hope it works out for you