macOS Sequoia Supports HDMI Passthrough for Dolby Atmos Content

[MacRumors]

In macOS Sequoia, several Apple apps have gained a new HDMI Passthrough feature that enables a Mac to send an unaltered Dolby Atmos audio signal to a connected AV receiver or soundbar.

The new functionality appears in various places in macOS 15, including Apple's TV, Music, and QuickTime Player apps. Apple says turning on the option lets users "Play supported audio in Dolby Atmos and other Dolby Audio formats using HDMI Passthrough when connected to a supported device."

The feature is likely to be welcomed by users who connect their Mac to an external device that supports Dolby Atmos, such as an AV receiver or soundbar. When conected via HDMI cable, the device will be able to decode and output the full immersive Dolby Atmos audio as it was meant to be experienced by the creators, while sending any accompanying video signal to a connected TV.

It's unclear whether this option will be included in tvOS 18, but given that Apple has made it a system-wide feature in macOS Sequoia, there is a good chance we will see it come to Apple TVs in a future update. Both macOS Sequoia and tvOS 18 are currently in developer beta, with public betas expected later this month, followed by a general release in the fall.

Article Link: macOS Sequoia Supports HDMI Passthrough for Dolby Atmos Content

 

[lindijones]

I think the Apple TV supports that already?

 

[ric22]

About time. Should have been implemented sooner.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I think the Apple TV supports that already?

This is more inline with ARC I believe. Not everyone has an AppleTV so plugging in an AV source via HDMI and having audio passthrough is appreciated. Example; I have a Sonos AMP in my office connected to some nice speakers that only has ARC. AirPlay is awful, delayed, and disconnects after 15min or so. If I could permanently plug in my MB and have all audio permanently output via HDMI that would be great!

 

[zack123]

What sort of Atmos are we talking about here? The streaming kind or the lossless one?

 

[rikki_t]

Doesn't 'digital out' send the full signal to a connected device already for decoding or am I missing something ?

 

[Paul Shields]

Surely this is just for eAC3 flavour Atmos (used by streaming services) rather than TrueHD? The Apple TV already does this.

 

[JeffPerrin]

When conected via HDMI cable, the device will be able to decode and output the full immersive Dolby Atmos audio as it was meant to be experienced by the creators, while sending any accompanying video signal to a connected TV.

This is a welcome feature for sure! 👍 However, one of the biggest gripes from audio engineers is how spatial audio in AirPods sounds so much different than their original Dolby Atmos mix.

 

[errol]

Hopefully this will go to the Apple TV.

 

[Aaargh!]

I think the Apple TV supports that already?

Apple TV only supports DD+ with Atmos, and only if you let the OS play the video file. Hopefully this change means proper support for bitstreaming: allowing any application directly send a stream of data to the receiver. That would allow apps like Plex to support Dolby TrueHD+Atmos and DTS:X.

 

[mandrake2016]

Maybe they could fix external monitor shenanigans we’ve been dealing with for ages on MBPs, like the inability to disable a screen with software settings, and remember external display setup through reboots.

 

[Jus711]

This a big one for us  TV users, we’ve been wanting this for years, hopefully it comes over to tvOS 🤞🏾

 

[urmaster]

What sort of Atmos are we talking about here? The streaming kind or the lossless one?

Isn’t that the point of the feature; it’s pass through it doesn't matter what the content is.

 

[chriscl]

Great. Maybe they could also support Display Port MST so you can drive two external monitors from a MacBook (you know, like every other OS on the planet, and like how you can if you run Bootcamp and Windows on the Apple hardware).

 

[Gnomeo86]

Why is Apple so often implementing basic features that everyone else supports YEARS later? I waited for HD audio passthrough for ages. Now I'm using a dedicated media player, so I don't need it anymore.

 

[Jus711]

Why is Apple so often implementing basic features that everyone else supports YEARS later? I waited for HD audio passthrough for ages. Now I'm using a dedicated media player, so I don't need it anymore.

No other mainstream streaming device supports it either that I know of outside of the Nvidia Shield, I just think most people don’t know/care about lossless audio so it’s not a selling point.

 

[Axl2023]

We are waiting for bitstream audio in tvOS 18

 

[urmaster]

No other mainstream streaming device supports it either that I know of outside of the Nvidia Shield, I just think most people don’t know/care about lossless audio so it’s not a selling point.

Xbox and PlayStation also support bit streaming but I think that’s only for the Blu-ray player app (at least on PlayStation, Xbox might allow that for other apps, can’t recall).

They aren’t dedicated streaming devices but I don’t think that helps the case for devices designed to stream.

 

[jo-1]

We are waiting for bitstream audio in tvOS 18

Do it like me and get for that feature a WIIM Pro or soon a WIIM Ultra - my music is on a roon server I am hosting on my Synology NAS and fed into my highend audio system with 24 bit 192 kHz ( maximum ) via SPDif coaxial. Works splendid.

I have lost any hope that Apple will do a roon endpoint with bit perfect transmission.

Apple has a different audience unfortunately - everytime I am getting excited others seem to be disappointed - like the Apple Vision Pro - exactly my gear - ordered it last Friday in Germany - top notch product with almost no compromises and people hate the price - unbelievable.

Same would happen once Apple would include high end audio features - people hat it when more than the minimum is built in - at least when it costs something.

I am the opposite - price is rarely an issue to me provided the features bring fidelity.

 

[SAIRUS]

Until my Apple Watch Supports it...no go!

(honestly in a AR world, having a speaker interact with you in a spatial sound field would be cool).

 

[Locutus8]

No other mainstream streaming device supports it either that I know of outside of the Nvidia Shield, I just think most people don’t know/care about lossless audio so it’s not a selling point.

Thats correct. Almost all streaming players decode in the player instead of passing the audio through. They do this to support added audio features. The very latest Fire TV revision will passthrough DTS and TrueHD but it breaks Alexa. Other audio formats are decoded and not passed through. All formats are decoded in the player in older versions of the Fire TV. The Apple TV has the same issue. It has audio features, including most of Control Center, that simply won't work unless the audio is decoded first and not passed through. The Shield will pass through audio, but it has limited audio features and thus doesn't have any audio features that require the audio to be decoded in the player.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Is this similar to VLC's "encoded output" option?
I use that on my Mac mini M1 connected via HDMI output to AV receiver.

 

[Slainor]

Such innovation! Blessed be our lord Apple! Took them how many years?

 

[xpxp2002]

The real controversy in that screenshot is why it's 2024 and we can stream in 4K from Apple, but can only download "up to HD."

 

[ric22]

The real controversy in that screenshot is why it's 2024 and we can stream in 4K from Apple, but can only download "up to HD."

Because we'd moan even harder about how Apple save a couple of dollars on storage costs, only to ask for many hundreds from us, were we to fill up our tidy disks even faster...