I have an issue with six MiBoxer MLZ5 controllers using Apple Adaptive Lighting. All six are running firmware 1.3.0 and are connected to Apple Home via Matter over Thread. An Apple TV 4k is acting as the home hub and Thread border router.
Three controllers are set to RGB+CCT mode and three to CCT mode. Apple Home offers Adaptive Lighting for all of them and all six show the same problem.
With Adaptive Lighting enabled, I can switch a light off in Apple Home and the LED strip turns off normally. At some point later, the strip turns on again by itself. Apple Home still shows the MLZ5 as off, even though the LEDs are physically on.
This has happened repeatedly, both during the day and at night. The controllers are installed in two different rooms, and the issue occurs in both CCT and RGB+CCT mode. There are no automations or scenes set up in Apple Home. DND is enabled on all six controllers.
When Adaptive Lighting is disabled, the problem does not appear. However, disabling this feature is not a viable solution for me.
For comparison, I tested a Matter over Thread CCT controller from another manufacturer in the same Apple Home and Thread setup. This has worked reliably over several days with Adaptive Lighting enabled. The LEDs stayed off and used the correct adaptive color temperature when I switched them on manually.
It this a known issue with the MLZ5 and is a fix planned? Is firmware 1.3.0 the latest version? Can existing controllers receive firmware updates through Matter OTA in Apple Home to address this issue?
I did some more testing and found a simple way to reproduce the problem in Apple Home. The issue is not limited to Adaptive Lighting.
The steps are:
Disable Adaptive Lighting.
Switch the MLZ5 off and make sure the LED strip is actually off.
Without switching the light back on, select a different color temperature in Apple Home.
The LED strip turns on immediately with the new color temperature, but Apple Home still shows the light as off. The light should remain off and only use the new color temperature the next time it is switched on.
For comparison, a Matter over Thread CCT controller from another manufacturer behaves as expected in the same Apple Home setup: it stays off when I change the color temperature or enable Adaptive Lighting, and uses the new setting when I switch it on later.
On the MLZ5 RGB+CCT controllers, selecting a different color while the light is off causes the same problem. I tested this on all six MLZ5 controllers with firmware 1.3.0, three in CCT mode and three in RGB+CCT mode. The result is the same on all six. No automation, power cycle, or waiting is involved.
Adaptive Lighting causes the same behavior. If I select Adaptive Lighting while the MLZ5 is off, the LED strip turns on, but Apple Home continues to show it as off. If I switch if off again and leave Adaptive Lighting enabled, it can also turn on again later without any interaction. My guess is that a later Adaptive Lighting color temperature update triggers the same issue.
I reproduced this with an Apple TV 4K, 2nd generation, running tvOS 26.6.
The important part of the test is that Apple Home already shows the MLZ5 as off and the LED strip is physically off before changing the color temperature. Could you please test these exact steps?
If you test unit behaves differently, could you please tell me its firmware version, hardware revision, and output mode?
My guess is that a later Adaptive Lighting color temperature update triggers the same issue.
I changed the color temperature to a temperature far away from what Adaptive Lighting requested, then turned Adaptive Lighting back on and quickly turned the light off. The light turned itself back on after a moment, while still showing as off in Apple Home.
I have now tested this on an SMZ2 (firmware 1.3.0) and can confirm it shows the same issue.
With Adaptive Lighting disabled, changing the color temperature while the light is off turns the LED strip on, but Apple Home still shows it as off. Enabling Adaptive Lighting while the light is off causes the same behavior.
On both the MLZ5 and the SMZ2, a manual color temperature change is enough to trigger the problem without Adaptive Lighting.
In my setup, disabling Adaptive Lighting stopped the lights from turning on by themselves. This is however only a workaround, not a fix. Changing the color temperature while the light is off still turns on the LEDs, but Apple Home continues to show them as off. This appears inconsistent with how the Matter specification handles color changes while a light is off.
Adaptive Lighting is a core feature for me, having to disable it is not a satisfactory solution.
An update from MiBoxer would be appreciated after all this time. Have you been able to reproduce the problem using the steps described earlier in this thread? Is a firmware fix planned for existing devices?
I have exactly the same issue, I also use Adaptive Lighting on all of my lights.
Come on MiBoxer do something about this, you have been shown how to reproduce the issue, there is no excuse to ignore this. This will only make your product better..