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User profile for user: Joe Baldwin
Joe Baldwin Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

airpods pro 2 - spatial audio not available mac m1 pro

short description: spatial-audio config appears to be corrupted on mac m1 pro, causing it to be 'always-ON' but the airpods config-panel shows "Spatial Audio Not Available".


Hardware Affected: MacbookPro M1 Pro, iPhone SE 3, Airpods Pro 2 (just purchased)

Symptoms: spatial-audio appears to be ALWAYS-ON on the M1 & airpodspro-2 yet the config panel claims it is not available

Apple-Recommended-Fixes: all failed since the procedures ASSUME that the config-panel (i.e. the Control-Center AirpodsPro-2 configuration panel) provides controls - but in fact it shows the incorrect status as "greys out" (disabled) controls for spatial-audio. i.e. the spatial-audio controls are not functional

Associated odd behavior: some of the 'how-to' procedures show a very specific airpods icon in the menu bar - this does NOT appear in the MBP menu bar, but a set of standard headphones does. Not sure if this is important but it could indicate an improper/mismatched config plugin is installed.

Troubleshooting: worked with Apple tech support, who confirmed the anomalous configuration behavior - none of the suggested remediation steps fixed the problem.

Current Status: spatial-audio (or what the system is proffering as spatial-audio is always-on - the auto-installed config panel displays the wrong status and BLOCKS disabling spatial-audio) - can't turn it off since the config-panel status is wrong.


Comments to Apple Software Architects:

  • some of these new features are certainly fun/interesting, but as in this case, as a musician I do not like spatial-audio and would likely never use it. In general, it is sometimes VERY difficult to disable features that the designers think are really clever. I recommend that, at least for professionals, it should be a lot easier to disable non-pro features - defaulting to MUST-USE-THIS-COOL-FEATURE config is not always welcome.

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Sep 26, 2022 7:54 AM

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User profile for user: Joe Baldwin
Joe Baldwin Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Posted on Sep 26, 2022 10:48 AM

UPDATE (work-around):

  • so another Apple tech claims, that to fix the configuration problem, you have to execute a convoluted procedure
    • let me make this clear: this addresses 'how to disable spatial audio for apple-tv and apple-music apps on the mac, and for airpods pro 2'
    • also, there are two components to this: head-tracking and spatial-audio (which uses head-tracking)
    • this is an issue for people who want standard stereo WITHOUT the spatial-audio effects
    • I would consider this a "work-around" since it is decidedly NOT intuitive
  • configuration:
    • from the control-center (the slider-icon in the menu-bar) navigate to: Sound > Airpods Pro 2
    • you will likely see "Spatial Audio Not Available" - if this is checked, then that is the problem
    • so here is the convoluted procedure that the apple-tech came up with:
      • you MUST select a SOURCE that supports spatial audio first (why? I think this might be a bug), but I selected the Apple-TV app as the source
      • THEN you can go back to control-center > sound > airpods pro 2, and Spatial Audio should be available
      • THEN you can deselect it
      • as best as I can tell, that will deselect it for ALL apps
    • to enable/disable "head tracking", you must go to Preferences > Accessibility > Audio and select/deselect "Spatial audio follows head movements"


In my humble opinion, this is NOT intuitive from any perspective. I would recommend to the Software Engineers that all of this be in one System Preferences Audio section, and configurable whether or not a specific app is opened or not. This just makes no sense the way it is currently organized. I am sure someone is going to make a 30min video on this in YouTube. Don't even ask about configuring Dolby - the panel controls seemed to have disappeared and the apple-tech had no idea how to access them.

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User profile for user: Joe Baldwin
Joe Baldwin Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Sep 26, 2022 10:48 AM in response to Joe Baldwin

UPDATE (work-around):

  • so another Apple tech claims, that to fix the configuration problem, you have to execute a convoluted procedure
    • let me make this clear: this addresses 'how to disable spatial audio for apple-tv and apple-music apps on the mac, and for airpods pro 2'
    • also, there are two components to this: head-tracking and spatial-audio (which uses head-tracking)
    • this is an issue for people who want standard stereo WITHOUT the spatial-audio effects
    • I would consider this a "work-around" since it is decidedly NOT intuitive
  • configuration:
    • from the control-center (the slider-icon in the menu-bar) navigate to: Sound > Airpods Pro 2
    • you will likely see "Spatial Audio Not Available" - if this is checked, then that is the problem
    • so here is the convoluted procedure that the apple-tech came up with:
      • you MUST select a SOURCE that supports spatial audio first (why? I think this might be a bug), but I selected the Apple-TV app as the source
      • THEN you can go back to control-center > sound > airpods pro 2, and Spatial Audio should be available
      • THEN you can deselect it
      • as best as I can tell, that will deselect it for ALL apps
    • to enable/disable "head tracking", you must go to Preferences > Accessibility > Audio and select/deselect "Spatial audio follows head movements"


In my humble opinion, this is NOT intuitive from any perspective. I would recommend to the Software Engineers that all of this be in one System Preferences Audio section, and configurable whether or not a specific app is opened or not. This just makes no sense the way it is currently organized. I am sure someone is going to make a 30min video on this in YouTube. Don't even ask about configuring Dolby - the panel controls seemed to have disappeared and the apple-tech had no idea how to access them.

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User profile for user: KungFuLucky7
KungFuLucky7
User level: Level 1
8 points

Oct 11, 2022 12:39 PM in response to Joe Baldwin

I had the same issue and I opened the Apple Music app on my M1 Mac and started listening to an Apple Radio channel and the Spatialize Stereo settings appeared under the AirPods or Beats icon in the menu bar. Therefore, I think to use the spatial audio on an M1 Mac, it may require compatible audio source such as Dolby Atmos music.


About Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos in Apple Music - Apple Support


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airpods pro 2 - spatial audio not available mac m1 pro

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