Airpods Pro - No spatial Audio

Hi Bob,

I have contacted Apple Support, they advice me to check the settings: (**** I have iOS in Polish) that will be usability? Accessibility something like this > than Sound/Wizual > than Mono Sound I had this option enabled so once I have disabled it the spatial sound starts to be available.

Spatial Audio needs hardware which iPhone 6s don’t have, iPhone 7 and above has more audio related hardware than the iPhone 6s and below.

Yes that would mean that your device would not have spatial audio when using airpod pros

That's correct, the image/vocals should be in the direction of the spatial audio-compatible device.

Can you confirm that you are using a compatible device and that the source you are playing from supports spatial audio? What you are describing is stereo audio (most known as L-R 2 channel audio).

Some major streaming apps that support (5.1, 7.1, Atmos) spatial audio are

Apple TV+

Disney+

Netflix

Plex

HBO Max

Youtube does not take Atmos audio, they reduce into 2.2 (Studio audio)

Hi Bob!

Since you said that you have already updated your devices and enabled spatial audio we'll move to the next steps

First we need to check if the audio or video you are playing, only specific videos have spatial audio. (They only said that it works with 5.1,7.1, and Dolby. I personally don't know what the heck they mean because I'm not a sound engineer XD)

But... we can check if spatial audio is active or not. Find a movie that supports Spatial audio (or a video on youtube that has Dolby Atmos)

1. Open Control Center. (Swipe down top right of screen)
2. Touch and hold the volume control to turn spatial audio on or off and see the status icons.

Spatial audio is enabled, but not active for the audio content that you're listening to.

Spatial audio is active. <<< this is a moving image

Spatial audio is off.

There isn't a troubleshooting guide available for users to diagnose problems while attempting to use spatial audio as of yet. I recommend that you contact apple directly - Contact Support

You can't use spatial audio without one of the following connected devices

• iPhone 7 or later or one of these iPad models:
  • iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (3rd generation) and later
  • iPad Pro 11‑inch
  • iPad Air (3rd generation)
  • iPad (6th generation) and later
  • iPad mini (5th generation)

More info here - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211775

Great Job covering the Serial Number. Thumbs up

Spatial audio is so bad it should not have been released. The image is inside your head. This is totally wrong. The image should (vocals etc) should be coming from IN FRONT of you. Where the TV is. Dolby headphone is a far better and more convincing product.

Oh my gosh. No wonder it was so bad. So I was just getting plain stereo? It was pretty good stereo though.

But I suppose atmos with Apple TV works with HomePods. It was okay but I think Apple needs a full on wireless Atmos solution. Home Sub. Upwards ceiling bounce HomePods etc. The whole package. The entire receiver/speaker/HTIB market is there for the taking.

Also I must add I convinced a friend to buy an Apple TV based on the spatial audio feature. I hope it gets implemented soon. The use case is simple. Kids asleep and mommy/daddy want to watch a movie on their AirPods. I don’t personally know anyone who watches movies on their phone outside an aircraft. I’m sure it’s common with a certain demographic.

Apple wants 6s customers to upgrade. Strategy 😀

Thanks. When I contacted Apple weeks ago, they wasted several hours of my time. I am glad they are now pointing people to a quick fix. Thanks for the tip. It worked.

i have and iPad Pro 2nd gen doesn’t that mean that I can’t use the spatial audio on it?

Btw I used Netflix and the titles “Roma” and “6 underground” to test it. It’s not convincing. Just gimmicky at best.