Apple Spatial Audio Doesn’t Work With Built-In Speakers on These Devices

Apple updated a support document about spatial audio in Apple Music on Thursday, revealing that the Dolby Atmos-powered spatial audio feature does not work with built-in speakers on the iPhone XR, iPad mini 5, iPad Air 3, iPad 6, iPad 7, and iPad 8 — reports MacRumors.

The support document now lists the iPhone XS or later (not including the iPhone SE), the 11-inch and 12.9-inch 2021 iPad Pro, and the iPad Air 4 as the devices that support spatial audio playback on Apple Music via their built-in speakers.

The support document previously said you could listen to spatial audio on:

The built-in speakers on an iPhone XR or later (except iPhone SE), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch, iPad (6th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), or iPad mini (5th generation)

This has been changed to:

The built-in speakers on an iPhone XS or later (except iPhone SE), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch, or iPad Air (4th generation)

The footnote on the Apple Music page has not yet been updated to reflect the change. This is also not the first time Apple has amended the list of devices that support spatial audio on Apple Music with their built-in speakers — the iPhone maker originally said that the iPhone 7 or later would support the feature on built-in speakers, before upping the ante to the iPhone XR in June.

Unsupported devices will still be able to play spatial audio on supported headphones and earphones, including the AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Beats X, Beats Solo 3 Wireless, Beats Studio 3, Powerbeats 3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Solo Pro, and Beats Studio Buds.

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