Radio streaming in Music keeps getting stuck re-buffering the stream after updating to Sequoia

Just to be clear: this happens with every stream. I tried several and Sequoia/Music gets always stuck after a couple of seconds while rebuffering, just as barfh1 described.

Another annoyingly obvious bug in the long list of Sequoia bugs Apple's tester team surprisingly did not catch :(

I recently upgraded my MacBook Pro (16-inch 2019) to Sequoia. I am also experiencing a similar issue where streaming music begins playing just fine, but stops after a short time when using Apple Music or a browser (both Chrome and Edge). This occurs when using both a wired and wireless network connection. To confirm this was NOT an internet connection issue, I started a continuous ping to Google, started my streaming music and continued to receive responses even after the music stopped. This was not an issue when my machine was running Sonoma. Luckily, it appears VLC is not affected, so I am using that app as a workaround. Hoping Apple addresses this issue in an upcoming Sequoia update.

Today I noticed open webpages exhibiting connection issues. For example, in Gmail I would see the 'Oops, we encountered an error… retrying' banner on a fairly regular basis. Also the WebRTC phone I use in my browser would lose connection and then reconnect. After Googling my symptoms I came across this article:

What's new in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mac

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/mac-whatsnew

Under Sequoia support, the following is mentioned:

In macOS Sequoia (version 15.0), if you have Network Protection enabled, you might see crashes of the network extension (NetExt). This issue results in intermittent network connectivity issues for end users.

Note: The core functionalities of antivirus, endpoint detection & response, and threat and vulnerability management continue functioning.

We're recommending that customers who have Network Protection enabled in their organization to either:

Delay updating to macOS Sequoia (version 15.0); or

Use the instructions to disable Network Extension as described in Troubleshoot NetExt issues in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mac. This causes Network Protection, Web Content Filtering, and IP address/URL Indicators to be nonfunctional.

Microsoft Defender is collaborating with Apple to provide our mutual customers a solution when Network Protection is enabled in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on macOS Sequoia (version 15.0).

I followed a link to this article:

Troubleshoot Network Extension (NetExt) issues in Defender for Endpoint on Mac

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/mac-troubleshoot-netext-mde

At the end of this article there is a Manual method. Following these steps resolved both my streaming music issue as well as the abovementioned symptoms. In System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Extensions > Network Extensions, I disabled Microsoft Defender.

I hope this helps.

I can confirm that also the latest macOS (without any Microsoft stuff!) does *not* solve the issue. :(

@ScotchNSoda

You are correct, VLC is also my workaround solution currently. Albeit streaming also worked for me directly in Safari just fine the other day, while it got stuck as expected in Music.

About your Microsoft Defender suggestions: did it work for you? I don't have Defender. The only network extensions on my system stem from Little Snitch and ProtonVPN. Both latest versions of course. Temporarily deactivating one or the other for testing didn't make any difference for me.

Same here on my M1 iMac. Problem is streaming from RadioTunes, but not WTOP or other internet radio stations. I made sure Music was allowed all streaming in the Firewall. Trying to switch streams caused Music to loop consistently and had to Force Quit the application. Not running any antivirus. The issue is intermittent. Had no problem last night, but is rebuffering this morning. SpeedTest shows 805 Mbps. Music and RadioTunes are both allowed in Little Snitch.

Guess I will try VLC. My wife has no problem on her Samsung laptop with Windows 11 Home.

Microsoft just updated their 'What's new in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mac' article with the following:

In macOS Sequoia (version 15.0), if you have Network Protection enabled, you might see crashes of the network extension (NetExt). This issue results in intermittent network connectivity issues for end users. Please upgrade to macOS Sequoia version 15.0.1 or newer.

If you haven't already, try upgrading to macOS Sequoia version 15.0.1. I have not yet upgraded to 15.0.1, but will soon and will post back here with the results.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yes, the Microsoft Defender suggestion worked for me. I have not experienced any network connectivity or music streaming issues since disabling the Microsoft Defender network extension.

Thanks for the update.

However, I am on the very latest macOS (I'm developing software, I have to :D ), don't have any MS Defender and am still suffering from the re-buffering issue unfortunately.

Maybe I spoke too soon. Actually the auto update didn't yet update to the latest version. It did now, so I'll test a few days and report back.

I updated to macOS Sequoia version 15.0.1 and contrary to what the Microsoft article states, this did NOT resolve the issue.