Apple’s Spatial Audio upgrade could run rings around Dolby Atmos

When it comes to killer audio quality, Dolby Atmos has long been considered a gold standard. The technology offers spatial audio, which is a must-have for immersive experiences in home cinema, or for audiophiles.

Now, it looks like Apple may be ready to put the fight to Dolby. In a developer session at WWDC 2025, the brand announced the Apple Spatial Audio Format, which is effectively Apple’s take on the same form.

As reported by FlatPanelsHD, the new format will play on almost every Apple platform. You’ll be able to utilise it on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and MacBook, though it won’t be available on Apple Watch.

The experience is said to properly excel on the Apple Vision Pro, though, where things like real-time head-tracking and positional data ensure a seamless experience. That allows for precise placement within the mixed reality space, and should improve things dramatically.

It’s not just going to be for professional-grade content, either. The iPhone 16 is already capable of capturing spatial audio, meaning users should be able to view home-captured content in that style.

The system itself doesn’t sound all too different from other spatial audio’s on the market. It makes use of the positioning of both the user, and objects within the space, to adapt things like the volume and reverb in real time.

Still, the proof will almost certainly come in the pudding. Anyone who has used a pair of AirPods with Dolby Atmos will know just how well the brand can resolve this kind of audio, and seeing what it can do in a first-party sense is tantalising.

I’m hoping it could be a similar event to when the brand brought its first-party chips into the MacBook range. That saw them push on really quickly against the older Intel-powered models, and marked a turning point for the industry at large.