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tvOS 18.5 Adds Synchronized Dolby Atmos Playback for AirPlay and Bluetooth Speakers

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The tvOS 18.5 update that Apple released yesterday adds support for synchronizing Dolby Atmos playback to speakers over AirPlay or Bluetooth, according to Apple's release notes for the update.

Apple TV 2022 Feature Blue
The feature could help address some persistent syncing issue that some Apple TV users have encountered when trying to play audio with Dolby Atmos. There are multiple complaints on Reddit and the Apple Support forums about Dolby Atmos audio syncing issues with sound bars and speakers, including those connected via ‌AirPlay‌ and Bluetooth, such as the HomePod.

On affected devices, users find that dialog and other audio can be slightly out of sync with the content that's playing, so lips do not move correctly when people speak in TV shows and movies, and sound effects like explosions are delayed. Switching to 5.1 surround sound eliminates the problem, but people with expensive audio setups have been understandably disappointed not to be able to use Dolby Atmos.

Apple says that the new Dolby Atmos synchronization feature for ‌AirPlay‌ and Bluetooth speakers can be found by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Wireless Audio Sync.

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Top Rated Comments

O
onenorth
16 months ago

" tvOS 18.5 update that Apple seeded to developers yesterday..."

It wasn't just to developers, it was to everyone:
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/12/apple-releases-tvos-18-5/
Is MR using AI to write these articles?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unami Avatar
Unami
16 months ago

I just recommend watching the Apple TV with AirPods Max. Headtracked spatial is the future on so many dimensions.
Works only if there's no more than 1 person watching, does it? And then you have to wear those headphones, e.g. can't lie sideways, have to keep them charged or on a cable when bingewatching, get warm ears,... .

Personally, that headtracking where the sound is then tracked to the position of the screen, distracts me. I switch that to fixed position.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
centauratlas Avatar
centauratlas
16 months ago
" tvOS 18.5 update that Apple seeded to developers yesterday..."

It wasn't just to developers, it was to everyone:
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/12/apple-releases-tvos-18-5/
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
B/D
16 months ago
Can confirm that the WAS utility has been completely revamped and now it first plays a stereo PCM tone followed by a Dolby Atmos tone.

Also it now works as it should, completely eliminating lip sync and audio lags issues from AirPods Pro, Max and HomePods.

Not only that, but now, if you do the sync in say, 4K SDR 60hz, it compensates and calculates the difference automatically for the rest of the frame rates, so you only need to do it once.

Great little update.

EDIT: For the new version of the tool to work correctly, the IOS device used to perform the calibration must be on 18.5 as well. If not, the Atmos tone wont play and the utility wont compensate the delay for the rest of the frame rates.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
dbc34
16 months ago
I wonder if this will allow using HomePod mini as rear or side satellite speakers.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
B/D
16 months ago

Apple TV 4K 2021, with two HomePod minis paired in stereo.
The syncing utility works only for the TV audio, completely disregarding my HomePods.
Lips are still out of sync with HDR movies and Settings > General > Video > Adjust content > Adjust (or set?) frame frequency set to "Yes". If set to "No" it syncs Ok.
My ATV is in Spanish so I may have mistranslated items in the menu.
Carlos
Update the Apple TV and the IOS device that you use for the calibration to 18.5 (if the IOS device is not on 18.5, the new tones wont play, very important). Once the Apple TV is updated, ran the audio calibration again. Should be OK now.


As for this:


The syncing utility works only for the TV audio, completely disregarding my HomePods.

Yeah, it's working correctly. It will play the tones trough your tv or wired audio system.

Here is why:


"The Apple TV already knows how long it takes to play AirPlay audio (otherwise it couldn't synchronize AirPlay across multiple speakers).

What it doesn't know is how long it takes your particular television to process the Apple TV's HDMI signal, decode audio and video, and ultimately play sound out of the television's own speakers.

Let's say that whole slog takes your television 50ms. The Apple TV itself is naturally in sync with the AirPlay speakers, but any audio (or video!) your TV plays is delayed 50ms, and therefore out of sync with everything else.

So you'd hear an echo when you played music across the house, or you'd see lip sync problems when you used AirPlay for movie audio.

When Wireless Audio Sync plays a tone out of your TV's onboard speakers, it's measuring that processing delay, so the Apple TV can do some math to compensate".
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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