Apple Music starts to rollout new Spatial Audio feature

Apple Music has today begun the rollout of its advanced Spatial Audio feature.

As detailed in Apple’s WWDC 2021 keynote overnight, Apple Music users will be able to engage with Spatial Audio content on compatible devices from today at no extra cost.

With support for tracks mixed in Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio provides users with an immersive listening experience by recreating a 360-degree multi-dimensional effect through headphones.

When enabled, Apple Music will automatically play Spatial Audio tracks on H1 or W1 chip-integrated AirPods and Beats headphones, as well as the inbuilt speakers of the latest iPhones, iPads and Mac devices.

Although Spatial Audio will only be engaged when listening to tracks that support the feature, Apple Music said in a statement last month that ‘thousands’ of songs will launch with the immersive listening mode, including those by The Weeknd, Kacey Musgraves, Ariana Grande and J Balvin.

Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said last month that Spatial Audio was one of Apple Music’s “biggest advancement ever in sound quality”, noting that the streaming service as we know it is “about to change forever”.

“Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible,” Schusser said.

“Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favourite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more.”

Despite being announced alongside Spatial Audio last month, Apple Music are yet to share any further details of its high-resolution Lossless Audio mode, which was also set to launch this month.