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

m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
M3 iPad Air

Apple's Next Two Products Are Coming Soon

Thursday February 12, 2026 11:17 am PST by
Apple plans to release an iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip "in the coming weeks," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple retail employees say that inventory of the iPhone 16e has basically dried out and the iPad Air is seeing shortages as well," said Gurman. "I've been expecting new versions of both (iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air) in the coming weeks."...
macbook air prime day 2025

M5 MacBook Air: Release Date, Features, and Performance Predictions

Wednesday February 11, 2026 3:36 am PST by
The MacBook Air is Apple's most popular laptop – a thin, fanless machine that wields quiet power thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon. While the M4 model isn't exactly old, attention is already turning to its successor. Apple doesn't telegraph new product launches ahead of time, but we can draw a surprisingly clear picture of what to expect by looking at Apple's silicon roadmap,...
iPhone 16e Bottom Crop

Apple Reportedly Unveiling a New iPhone Next Week

Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically. The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...

Top Rated Comments

Steve.P.JobsFan Avatar
168 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
168 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
168 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)
168 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)
166 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
167 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)