Apple Seeds tvOS 15.5 Release Candidate to Developers

Apple today seeded the release candidate version of an upcoming tvOS 15.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming one week after the release of the fourth beta.

Apple TV tvOS 15 Feature
Developers can download the new tvOS 15.5 update by downloading a profile onto the ‌Apple TV‌ using Xcode.

tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes.

Though we don't often know what's new in tvOS during the beta testing process, we let MacRumors readers know when new updates are available so those who are developers can download it upon release.

As of now, we have not found new features in tvOS 15.5 and there's no word on what might be in the update beyond bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.

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

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

No iOS 19: Apple Going Straight to iOS 26

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:56 am PDT by
With the design overhaul that's coming this year, Apple plans to rename all of its operating systems, reports Bloomberg. Going forward, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS will be identified by year, rather than by version number. We're not going to be getting iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. iOS 26 will be accompanied by...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday May 27, 2025 9:10 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of May 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X ...
28 years later iphone 1

Filmmakers Used 20 iPhones at Once to Shoot '28 Years Later'

Friday May 30, 2025 7:27 am PDT by
Sony today provided a closer look at the iPhone rigs used to shoot the upcoming post-apocalyptic British horror movie "28 Years Later" (via IGN). With a budget of $75 million, Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later will become the first major blockbuster movie to be shot on iPhone. 28 Years Later is the sequel to "28 Days Later" (2002) and "28 Weeks Later" (2007), which depict the aftermath of a...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

iPhone 17 Display Sizes: What to Expect

Thursday May 29, 2025 11:38 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup will include four iPhones, and two of those are going to get all-new display sizes. There's the iPhone 17 Air, which we've heard about several times, but the standard iPhone 17 is also going to have a different display size. We've heard a bit about the updated size before, but with most rumors focusing on the iPhone 17 Air, it's easy to forget. Display analyst Ross...
macOS 26 visionOS Inspired Feature

macOS 26 Rumored to Drop Support for These Five Macs

Thursday May 29, 2025 5:31 am PDT by
The next major version of macOS, now dubbed "macOS 26," is rumored to drop support for several older Intel-based Mac models currently compatible with macOS Sequoia. According to individuals familiar with the matter cited by AppleInsider, the following Macs will not be supported by the next version of macOS: MacBook Pro (2018) iMac (2019) iMac Pro (2017) Mac mini (2018) MacB...
iOS 26 Mock Rainbow Feature

With iOS 18 Jumping to iOS 26, Will Apple Renumber iPhones Too?

Thursday May 29, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
With the next-generation version of iOS and other 2025 software updates, Apple is planning to change its numbering scheme. Rather than iOS 19, which would logically follow iOS 18, Apple is instead going to call the update iOS 26. Apple plans to use 26 across all of its platforms (the number representing the upcoming year), which will presumably be less confusing than having iOS 19, macOS 16,...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

6 visionOS-Inspired Design Elements Coming to iOS 26

Friday May 30, 2025 3:26 pm PDT by
With iOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26, Apple is planning to debut a new design that's been described as taking inspiration from visionOS, the newest operating system. With WWDC coming up soon, we thought we'd take a closer look at visionOS and some of the design details that Apple might adopt based on current rumors and leaked information. 1. Translucency Inside Apple, the iOS 26...
iphone 16 teal

iPhone 17 Base Model Now Said to Feature A18 Chip and 8GB of RAM

Friday May 30, 2025 11:07 am PDT by
The latest rumored specs for the iPhone 17 base model are underwhelming. In a research note with equity research firm GF Securities this month, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said that the lowest-end iPhone 17 model will be equipped with the same A18 chip that is used in the iPhone 16 base model. The chip will continue to be manufactured with TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, known as N3E, he...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
40 months ago

YouTube HDR playback support please. Please. Please. If it's something Google needs to do, then do it. Please.
Support of reading metadata from Amazon for auto mode switch too. FILMMAKER MODE. :)
Thats only on ATV4K 2nd gen. The ATV 4K 1st gen A10X Fusion SoC doesn't support hardware decoding of VP9 videos.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
40 months ago

2nd gen Apple TV 4K supports YouTube HDR, but with a caveat. YouTube doesn't support tvOS's Match Dynamic Range feature. So to watch, you need to change Apple TV's Video Format setting to HDR (HDR10), then flip it back to SDR when you want to watch non-HDR contents.

I've reported this bug to Google earlier, as I am sure others have, but it remains unfixed.

To be fair, some of Apple's own features and apps don't support Match Dynamic Range either -- Photos and screensavers.
I have it connected to a LG OLED. If I set the 2nd gen 4K to its default 4K@60Hz HDR with last few betas. It correctly switches to Dolby Vision automatically and doesn't have any issues with YouTube working SDR to HDR10 automatically. Just don't set the ATV4K 2nd gen to have a GUI using 4K Dolby Vision at all. I have both match dynamic range and frame rate set to auto.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
40 months ago

Which is why Apple needs to add bitstream passthrough, so our soundbars & AVRs can decode the audio. Period.
Very true. I agree. I think it wont happen though, because of Siri and other system sounds that Apple want to have mixed unto the audio stream.

I hope I´m wrong.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
40 months ago
Is EARC still in beta?.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
40 months ago

Exactly my point. NO. That method is an archaic delivery schema for data. Leave "normally" in the past where it belongs.

We don't want to do that anymore a la HDMI 2.1 & its features: QMS, QFT, VRR via FRM (24.95Hz or 30/60Hz for YouTube), etc.

The way forward isn't the "normally" way.

Cease with the pre-HDMI 2.1 way of thinking, that's not the direction the industry is headed. Apple needs to catch up because it's clearly not pushing the envelope.
Why is it a archaic delivery schema for the bitstream? The AVR is nothing more the a HDMI repeater, it does nothing to the video data, and is a far superior decoder for the audio going to amp driving your speakers. They have AVRs that are now 8K capable pass through. You trust the audio quality more from the source to TV and back to AVR?

Is this coming from the gaming perspective because you mentioned QFT? Lets also remember Apple is notorious slow on supporting HDMI standards, so everyone talks about HDMI 2.1 on a ATV 4K so we need to wait for the next ATV4K to see if its added.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
InauguralHobbit Avatar
40 months ago

Why is it a archaic delivery schema for the bitstream? The AVR is nothing more the a HDMI repeater, it does nothing to the video data, and is a far superior decoder for the audio going to amp driving your speakers. They have AVRs that are now 8K capable pass through. You trust the audio quality more from the source to TV and back to AVR?

Is this coming from the gaming perspective because you mentioned QFT? Lets also remember Apple is notorious slow on supporting HDMI standards, so everyone talks about HDMI 2.1 on a ATV 4K so we need to wait for the next ATV4K to see if its added.
Not at all from the gaming perspective. QMS because because I don't wish to wait 3 full-count seconds when playing media in Dolby Vision / HDR10--switching from SDR. QFT for the same reason, but in regard to switching from 59.95Hz to 24.95Hz for films & 30/60Hz for YouTube content.

And an HDMI 2.1 port ('https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-4k/specs/') is already on the 2021 2nd-Gen ATV 4K. These features can be & should be implemented via firmware within tvOS. This is no longer a hardware issue.

I prefer perma-MAT > PCM for 5.1 & MAT for Atmos. It's an annoyance dealing with pops & crackles when changing from 5.1 to Atmos content & vice versa, and it can't be good for the channel drivers in sound systems over time.

But I believe we're at an impasse. We simply believe one method is superior to the other. Connecting directly to a soundbar/AVR may have had the upper-leg pre eARC & HDMI 2.1, but now with bigger bandwidth pipelines for faster & larger data transfer that is no longer the case--or shouldn't be.

The software needs to be perfected & implemented. That will take time, I presume.

HDMI 2.1 bandwidth limits support QMS & QFT without the need for any of the gaming (120Hz) aspects. That aside, Apple really pushed this ATV in its marketing throes for Apple Arcade, so it's honestly a matter of Apple holding to their word of updating their software capabilities.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)