AirPlay to HomePods fails on Mac mini M6 with Ethernet enabled

I have an M6 Mac mini running macOS 27.2 and three Apple TVs (one 4K and two older models) on a wired home network built from Apple AirPort base stations (Time Capsule, Extreme, and Express). I also have a 2017 iMac 5K running Ventura. I set up the Mac mini with Migration Assistant from the iMac, so the two share most settings and the same music library.

The iMac can still AirPlay normally to all the Apple TVs and AirPlay speakers, over Ethernet or Wi-Fi. With the new Mac mini on its built-in Ethernet, I could not get AirPlay to work with the Apple TVs. After pressing play, the Apple TV would wake and turn on its TV. Sometimes there was a brief repetitive ticking or pulsing sound followed by silence and the track info sometimes displayed on screen, but the vast majority of the time the connection dropped after 1-2 seconds and sound fell back to the Mac’s speakers or the older AirPlay speakers, depending on what was selected. This happened despite both the Mac mini and the primary Apple TV connected on Ethernet, so Wi-Fi wasn’t involved. The AirPort Express and my older AirPlay speakers worked fine from the Mac mini. If I unplugged Ethernet and used only Wi-Fi, AirPlay to the Apple TVs worked normally.

After using Grok and finding this thread, I used Terminal to turn IPv6 off on the Ethernet service: sudo networksetup -setv6off "Ethernet". That fixed it, and AirPlay from the Mac mini to the Apple TVs now works normally, including synced playback to several speakers at once. If you try this, allow a couple of minutes afterward, because the connection briefly resets and the devices need time to find each other again. No restart was needed for me. To undo it: sudo networksetup -setv6automatic "Ethernet".

After doing this, System Settings > Network > Ethernet > Details > TCP/IP > Configure IPv6 now shows an “Off” option, alongside Automatically, Manually, and Link-local only. I haven’t tried a USB-C Ethernet adapter. I’m treating the IPv6-off setting as a workaround until Apple issues a fix. I left the iMac alone, and its IPv6 is still on Automatic. I’ve opened a case with Apple Support and hope this is fixed in a future macOS 27 update.

You're very welcome, glad it helped! I worked this out together with Claude, which went through the logs and packet traces and found the workaround.

To answer your question: in System Settings you can usually only choose "Link-local only", which keeps the fe80:: address — and that's exactly the path AirPlay uses and where it breaks. The Terminal command removes IPv6 from the interface completely, so AirPlay falls back to IPv4.

The problem seems to be in the built-in Ethernet of this year's Mac mini and Mac Studio models: I tested with a USB Ethernet adapter and AirPlay worked fine over that, even with IPv6 enabled.

I have an open case with Apple, they asked for more details and I've sent them, so hopefully a fix follows soon. If you file a report via Feedback Assistant as well, please describe the same issue and the IPv6 workaround, and include a link to this thread. That way Apple can connect the reports and see it affects more Macs and setups.

Quick update: I contacted Apple Support via chat and asked for an escalation. A senior advisor linked all the open cases on this issue, including reports he found on the Apple Developer Forums, so Apple now sees it as one known problem instead of separate reports. From what he could see, all affected Macs are the latest desktop models introduced recently: the M5 Mac Studio and the M6 Mac mini, which use the new Realtek Ethernet.

I also filed a new, more detailed Feedback report with the driver details (Realtek / AppleEthernetRL), the comparison with the M4 Max (Aquantia chip, works fine) and a packet capture showing the Mac sends no PTP clock-sync packets over the built-in Ethernet.

If you're affected, it still helps to file your own Feedback report, or contact Apple Support and mention this thread, so your case gets linked as well. Until Apple releases a fix, the workaround keeps working:

sudo networksetup -setv6off "Ethernet"

I'm fairly confident it's a software bug, not a hardware defect, so I wouldn't replace your Mac. A few reasons:

- A pure software setting (turning IPv6 off on Ethernet) fixes it completely, and Wi-Fi works fine too. A faulty Ethernet port wouldn't behave like that: all other network traffic over Ethernet works normally.

- It's not one unit: so far it has been reported on the Mac mini M6, the Mac Studio M5 with 10GbE and now your M5 Ultra, with different routers and with both HomePods and Apple TVs.

- My previous Mac (M4 Max Studio) worked fine with the same HomePods on macOS 26, so it looks like something that changed in macOS 27.

- In my testing, a USB Ethernet adapter on the same Mac worked even with IPv6 on, which points to how macOS handles the built-in Ethernet, something Apple can fix with an update.

I have an open case with Apple and they've asked for detailed logs, which I've sent. In the meantime the IPv6-off workaround is safe to keep using; on most home networks nothing depends on IPv6 internally.

It would really help if you filed a report via Feedback Assistant as well, with a link to this thread. The more reports Apple can connect, the higher it gets prioritized.

Great, thanks! That narrows it down to the same hardware: both affected Macs (Mac mini M6 with Realtek RTL8125, Mac Studio M5 Max with Realtek RTL8127) use Apple's Realtek driver (AppleEthernetRL) with the same firmware version, while the M4 Max Studio with a Marvell/Aquantia chip works fine on macOS 27. So it really looks like a driver issue.

Unfortunately Apple closed my Feedback report as "unable to diagnose with the provided information", and it shows "no similar reports". Apple only counts Feedback reports, not forum posts, so if you're affected, please file one via Feedback Assistant (area: AirPlay). Mention the Realtek/AppleEthernetRL Ethernet driver and the IPv6 workaround, and include a link to this thread. The more reports they can connect, the less likely it gets closed again. I'll file a new report to Apple Support this time with all the driver details.

Thank you thank you thank you! I have had this issue since DAY ONE with my new expensive Mac Studio connected at 10Gb (and wi-fi). With the help of the best router support from Firewalla who spent at least 8 hours working with me to figure this out, we did try in the network settings to disable IPv6 to no avail. Evidently the terminal command works differently?

My HomePod collection, ALL work now, none worked till this fix:

Pair of HomePod OG's

HomePod mini V1's, 4 of them.

HomePod mini V2, new pair today.

Much respect!

Update with an interesting comparison: a friend's Mac Studio M4 Max on macOS 27 AirPlays to a HomePod without any problems, over exactly the same path that fails for us (IPv6 link-local on the built-in Ethernet, confirmed in Terminal).

The difference seems to be the Ethernet chip:

- Mac Studio M4 Max: Marvell/Aquantia 10GbE (vendor ID 0x1d6a) — works

- My Mac mini M6: Realtek 2.5GbE (vendor ID 0x10ec) — fails

So it looks like the problem is tied to the Ethernet controller in the new Macs, not to AirPlay over IPv6 in general. I've added this to my Feedback report.

If you have a Mac Studio M5 (or another Mac) with this issue, could you post the output of this Terminal command?

system_profiler SPEthernetDataType | grep -iE "vendor id|device id"

That would show whether the affected Macs share the same chip.

Hello,

I’m experiencing exactly the same issue with my new Mac Studio M5 Ultra.

I’ve just finished setting everything up, and I discovered the problem when I tried to play audio through one of my HomePods. I can also work around it either by using Wi-Fi only or by disabling IPv6 on the Ethernet connection.

Do you think this is a software bug that Apple needs to patch, or could it be a hardware defect?

Replacing the Mac and having to set everything up again would be quite disruptive, especially since I use it for work.

I also have an open case with Apple on this issue for my MacStudio M5 Max. With my Apple Advisor, I've run several scripts and sent the logs to Apple. I messaged her via the case response tool and pointed her to this thread. Hopefully the cases will be linked.

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation and for sharing your findings.

It’s reassuring to hear that the evidence points towards a software issue, especially given the disruption that replacing a Mac used for work would cause.

I’ve also contacted Apple about this issue

I’ll submit a report through Feedback Assistant as well and include a link to this thread so Apple can connect the reports.

Thank you again for taking the time to investigate this and keep everyone informed. I really appreciate your help.

Looks like the same chip on my Mac Studio M5 Max running at 10GbE, system report also handily provides this.

Realtek 8127 (10 GbE):

  Bus:	PCI
  Vendor ID:	0x10ec
  Device ID:	0x8127
  Subsystem Vendor ID:	0x10ec
  Subsystem ID:	0x8127
  Revision ID:	0x0001
  PCIe Link Speed:	16.0 GT/s
  PCIe Link Width:	x1
  Firmware Version:	0.1.0.202607081
  Driver:	com.apple.driver.AppleEthernetRL
  BSD Device Name:	en0
  MAC Address:	<cut>
  AVB Support:	Yes
  Maximum Link Speed:	10 Gb/s

Quick update: I contacted Apple Support and was given a case number.

They told me that similar reports had already been received and that the issue had been forwarded to the department responsible for investigating it.

They asked me to call back in a week if the problem persists. Of course, unless a fix is released in the meantime, I don’t really expect it to resolve itself, so for now I’m continuing to use the workaround while waiting for the outcome of their investigation.

At least the issue has been reported and escalated. Hopefully we’ll get a proper fix soon. I’ll share any further updates I receive.

The result from the System Information for my MacStudio M5 Max matches this. The HomePod connection fails for me with IPv5 enabled on Ethernet.

The command also returns the same hardware that’s causing the issue.

    Realtek 8127 (10 GbE):

      Bus: PCI
      Vendor ID: 0x10ec
      ...