Spatial audio not available on MacBook Air m1?

I had this problem, then it suddenly started working for a few days only to go off again. It took me a while to figure it out. It was Shazam. If it's on then Spatial audio will not work. Simply quit Shazam and it works.

In Your case Ahmed-midou21,

I would try this first to fix AirPods Pro instead of reinstalling whole MacOs:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253307473

Basically reset your AirPods Pro ( I know its says 1.gen but it will work with all AirPods)

Here’s how to do an AirPods reset the right way:

1. Make sure your AirPods are in their case with the lid closed
2. After 30-60 seconds, open the lid of your AirPods case
3. On your iPhone, open the Settings app
4. Select “Bluetooth”
5. Select the “i” next to your AirPods
6. Select “Forget This Device” and confirm your choice
7. With the lid open on your AirPods case, press the small button on the back of the case. Hold it down for 15 seconds until you see the case status light blinking an amber color. Release the button.
8. With the case lid still open, bring your AirPods close to your iPhone to re-pair them

I stumbled upon this problem as well today, but I also figured out why. If I aren't playing any audio, I will have this Spacial Audio on "not available". If I open Spotify, it remains not available. If I open YouTube, it will suddenly become available. In other words, it all depends on whether the media you're using is supporting Spacial Audio the moment you're playing it.

Guys I have 2021 16" M1 max and have the same issue where Spatial Audio is greyed out in the AirPods Max menu. BUT I can 100% confirm spatial audio IS working. I still get the Dolby symbol when a song is playing indicating spatial audio. ADDITIONALLY, if I go to preferences and turn OFF spatial audio I can hear it change back to normal and the volume gets louder which is a clear indication that spatial audio is off. I also lose the Dolby symbol. Moreover when I turn it back on I get the symbol back and I can hear it is back to spatial audio. The Spatial Audio remains greyed out in the AirPods Max menu. So I think this is a bug under the AirPods Max menu but it is in fact working. Anyone else please confirm. on yours.

I was having the same issue but i solved it and it will only work on apple music that too you have to download the music that has dolby atmos sign on it and go to library and play the downloaded music and it will work

I can confirm this "download to fix" also works with my MBP M1 Max and AirPod 3s. I was beyond the returnable date for them, so i didn't end up returning them. It's weird because there is nothing stated about music being downloaded as a requirement for play spatial audio playback. Most of my music I only stream to keep my drive space available as you can probably tell by my flip/flopped audio quality settings being lossless for streaming, not downloads. Still seems like a bug to me, but nice that there is a workaround at least.

Found the problem, I think! Looks like Spatial audio is not working in Chrome, (at least on Disney+ app), but it is working using Safari!!

Try Safari!

lrossga

The solution is rather simple. Try it while playing something back. It is not available while playback is paused, but having pressed play, it can be switched on or off.

I'm using an M1 iMac and AirPods Pro. As far as I know, spatial audio is enabled/disabled under the following conditions:

Music.app : Enabled for playing Dolby Atmos songs downloaded locally from Apple Music (after download to a playlist) / Disabled for streaming or locally files of non-Atmos

Youtube(any video) : Safari / other browsers

mp4 video : QuickTime Player, play in Finder preview or QuickLook / VLC, mpv, IINA

m4a, mp3 locally music files : / completely impossible no matter what I do

As a side note, (I do) in order to add Apple Music songs to your library in Music.app, your music library must be (or converted to be) a cloud music library.

なお以上の情報はTwitterで@muota_hereとして日本語で呟き済みです。

I tried mu-on's tip and it's indeed working. Once Dolby Atmos songs are downloaded (the whole album has to be downloaded), it can be played using Spatial Audio.

Sadly "Spatialise Stereo" is still not working - even with this workaround - which is a big bummer.

Like you're correctly pointing out, "Spatial Audio" and "Spatialise Stereo" should definitely be possible by just streaming the music (like on iPhone and iPad, and like in the OTHER macOS apps).

Let's hope Apple will address this very soon and have a fix available.

I have just contacted Apple Support, the specialist that spoke to me told me that this issue is a bug with the apple music app and that there is an update for this coming out today or tomorrow. The specialist also advised to try to unpair the device, forgetting the device and repairing it to see if it will work.

Additionally, a fresh install of the apple music app may also remedy this issue. These two suggestions have not worked for me.

Thanks for the tip! Authorizing this M1 Max MacBook Pro in Music corrected this for me when playing back an Atmos movie in the TV app. Music reported that it re-authorized, but that this machine had already been authorized before. I knew it had been, but thought I'd give your idea a try anyway. Now when I play an Atmos movie from the MacBook, using the AirPods Pro, it sounds really good, the audio is anchored to the screen rather than being in the middle of my head, and the spatial audio controls show up properly in the Menu Bar.

The Spatial Audio had worked for me when I first got the laptop, but something must have gotten wonky that re-authorizing fixed.

Try to click on AirPlay in Apple Music and choose AirPods directly, not MacBook with connected AirPods. That works for my MacBook Pro M1

I have a MacBook Air M1 2020

It says spatial audio not available when you stream music directly.

Try downloading that track it works perfectly.

Well done - Thank you this worked for me too. Not sure why Apple say MacOS is currently not supported when it does work but does work only if the song is dowloaded first. It's a pity hopefully it will be fixed soon so we can play with SA directly from Music app. thanks again