Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio on Apple Watch - When?!

[biting-mammal]

With the S9 chip on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, I would've thought that it was powerful enough to play Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio Apple Music tracks, but unfortunately not

When do you think Apple Watch will finally be able to play Dolby Atmos / Spatial Audio tracks natively? I am hoping for it in the rumoured Apple Watch X this year. Any rumours swirling around?

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Why would it? It has zero speaker separation to even pretend to have that capability.

 

[biting-mammal]

Why would it? It has zero speaker separation to even pretend to have that capability.

I mean when listening to AirPods Pro.

 

[ElBerserko]

Considering the S7 chip in the HomePod 2nd generation (and A8 in the 1st gen HomePod for that matter) can handle it, I'd say this is a software limitation.

 

[kitKAC]

Does anyone know if the files for Atmos tracks are noticeably bigger than non-Atmos versions?

 

[HDFan]

Does anyone know if the files for Atmos tracks are noticeably bigger than non-Atmos versions?

There was a post some time ago which showed a way to see the contents of a track file. In some cases the file holds multiple versions with different characteristics (atmos) and bitrates. Unfortunately I can't find the post that discussed how to display the information.

 

[biting-mammal]

Considering the S7 chip in the HomePod 2nd generation (and A8 in the 1st gen HomePod for that matter) can handle it, I'd say this is a software limitation.

Interesting that they would limit it like this then. It doesn’t make any sense to me, especially as they’re marketing the Apple Watch as a premium product.

 

[ElBerserko]

Interesting that they would limit it like this then. It doesn’t make any sense to me, especially as they’re marketing the Apple Watch as a premium product.

Honestly I think their audio implementation on the Watch is an afterthought. It misses many other features such as EQ, Soundcheck, crossfade, quality settings, etc. Pretty sure Apple expects the vast majority of people to just pair with their phones where battery life is less of a concern.