Tested here, and confirmed this bug is fixed (and no longer an issue) with Xcode 15 beta and Simulator 17. Thanks again, Developer Tools team (and thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread).

Quick test with Xcode 15 beta and Simulator 17, and indeed this issue appears to be fixed. Will run a few more tests to confirm later today and report back here, but for now the issue seems to be resolved, at least in the current Xcode 15 beta release.

Had a productive conversation via a 1on1 WWDC Lab session earlier today. Thank you to both Apple team members who were in the lab session. As per the team's request, I've filed a bug report (FB12264845) via Feedback-Assistant (mostly just a recap of this forum thread). Hopefully this helps us get closer to resolving this hls/m3u8 video issue (and/or getting a definitive answer, e.g. the previous DRM response shouldn't be an issue with simply playing back a file we have the copyright to stream).

I've requested a WWDC 1on1 "lab session" to get to the bottom of the issue, hopefully my request will be granted. This has been an incredibly frustrating "bug" (if it is a bug, and not intentional) in the 16.4 Simulators for those of use who are developing video enabled apps. Will report back here if/when I learn anything new.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone from Apple actually came here, commented on this thread, and explained WHAT THE HECK is going on w/ the 16.4 Simulators and HLS video.

That seems like an insane response, as we're working with media to which WE HAVE THE COPYRIGHT. Also have no choice now but to use older simulators, hope that was a wrong/BS answer you received and Apple provides a simulator fix soon.

Thanks for helping to clarify. I hadn't realized that the logical and physical HxW screen dimensions can sometimes be slightly different, e.g. the iPhone 12 Mini's logical 375x812 (x3) logical vs. physical 360x780 (x3) reporting.

Adding same issue even when not running in Rosetta mode. No copy&paste in 15.4 simulators.