Airplay stops working after Mac wake from sleep

Hardware: MBAir M4, 32GB, AppleTV 4K, stereo-paired 2nd-gen big Homepods, stereo-paired Homepods Mini.


Network: ethernet from router to Mac and ATV. Big Homepods are run through ATV, not the Mac, via Airplay; Mini 'pods are streaming from the Mac. They are all set to play from the Music app. The big 'pods are playing from the ATV because when I'm watching stuff on TV I want the audio coming from them.

OS: All the things are running the latest v26.x OS.


Music source: Apple Music+ custom streams from "Create station" from a song or artist.


This setup worked flawlessly on the prior macOS (Sequoia) and whatever was before tvOS 26. I put the MBAir to sleep when I go to bed or leave for the day. On wake, the Music app will resume playback but only via the MBAir speakers. To get streamed audio to play from the 'pods I have to either quit and relaunch the Music app or un-check then re-check the Airplay outputs in the player.


I was hoping 26.1 would fix this but it did not.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.1

Posted on Nov 28, 2025 11:13 AM

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Airplay stops working after Mac wake from sleep

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