Everything new in tvOS 12 beta 2: Dolby Atmos arrives on Apple TV 4K

AppleInsider

Apple TV 4K gets long-awaited support for Dolby Atmos surround sound in the second tvOS 12 beta release, but developers testing the feature will have an extremely limited selection of content to choose from.

Atmos support is finally here. After teasing support for the Dolby's latest surround sound technology, which adds sound channels above the viewer, Apple is making the feature available to developers with Apple TV 4K in the latest tvOS 12 beta release. As previously announced, members of the general public will gain access to Atmos and a slew of other new features when the operating system arrives this September.

When we updated our Apple TV 4K test unit to tvOS 12 beta 2, there were no easily apparent changes in the system's audio settings. We decided to test the unit with a working Atmos surround sound system. After plugging the box into an Atmos-equipped Onkyo receiver, the Apple TV 4K recognized the new audio hardware and automatically enabled a setting for Atmos sound.

Unfortunately, browsing through a long list of recently released movies in iTunes revealed no films with Atmos support, meaning Apple has yet to update its library. Heading into the Netflix app, we went through a list of films known to support Atmos on Xbox One X, but again no Atmos support appeared. As a final test, we opened Apple Music and, surprisingly, Apple TV 4K output audio through all speakers, including the Atmos units mounted to the ceiling.

Now that Atmos is officially working, we hope iTunes and other apps add support sooner rather than later.

Aerial Screensavers, Password sharing and more

At WWDC, Apple showed off the ability to view the location of each Aerial Screensavers as it played onscreen, but unfortunately that feature still doesn't work in beta 2. However, the latest seed allows users to swipe on the Siri Remote to switch between screensavers.

Apple also introduced a new feature that hands off password input to your iOS device or to guest devices when their phone is near the Siri Remote. We tested this out on tvOS 12 beta 2 by signing into the Photos app, which prompted us to sign into iCloud. When tapping the popup, we simply pressed the "Passwords" icon and Face ID autofill did the rest.

Password autofill also worked when logging in to an Amazon account, but instead of an icon we saw two emails that had corresponding passwords saved to our iCloud keychain. Selecting the correct email automatically populated our login information, a huge convenience if you use safe, long computer-generated passwords.

Lastly, we experienced a few issues in the first beta that would cause our Apple TV to randomly exit out of applications when pressing the Menu button. Apple has fixed that in the second beta.

MacPro

Can't help but remember trying to get the Beatles White Album in stereo (I still have it too), Mono was in stock and the sales person suggested stereo was a passing fad anyway.  I chose make a special order and to wait the two week it took.

SoundJudgment

MacPro said:

Can't help but remember trying to get the Beatles White Album in stereo (I still have it too), Mono was in stock and the sales person suggested stereo was a passing fad anyway.  I chose make a special order and to wait the two week it took.

There were so many sonic-mixes and instrumentation differences in the White Album MONO vs Stereo release... that White Album collectors insist one should have both versions to get a more complete 'picture' of the variations in content and timing. It was a lot more involved than just some engineer who twisted the PAN pots on the console and exclaimed, "Yureeka! Now we have a Stereo Mix!"

Mcnaugha2

A shortlist of movies already register as having Atmos on iTunes but allegedly they don’t all offer it yet when played on the Apple TV.

Allegedly, Blade Runner 2049 has working Atmos. I’m too cheap to pay for it to find out. I would pay for Ready Player One though but it’s preorder only.

Blade Runner 2049	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Warner Bros
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Hi’ilawe
Justice League	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Warner Bros
Paddington 2	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Warner Bros
Ready Player One	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Warner Bros
The LEGO Batman Movie	4K + Dolby Vision	Dolby Atmos	Warner Bros
Transformers: The Last Knight

https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1505495519

thrang

Tantalizing - when using Infuse to play a UHD Atmos title, the processor shows a Dolby ATMOS bitstream signal - but only two channels of audio at the moment... still, since Firecore hasn't had a day to look at it, that's potentially promising...

macwhiz

Did your receiver indicate it was receiving a Dolby Atmos bitstream, or were you hearing music from the ceiling speakers because the Dolby Surround function of Dolby Atmos was automatically upmixing the stereo bitstream to an Atmos experience?

"Dolby Surround" used to mean Dolby's original matrix-surround product for home use. They've started repurposing that brand to mean the function built into Atmos-capable receivers that upmixes 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1 sound inputs to Atmos output (5.1.2, 7.1.4, whatever you've got).

thomasu

I can confirm that swiping between screensavers also works on the iOS 12 beta app as well as the Siri remote.

MacPro

SoundJudgment said:

MacPro said:

Can't help but remember trying to get the Beatles White Album in stereo (I still have it too), Mono was in stock and the sales person suggested stereo was a passing fad anyway.  I chose make a special order and to wait the two week it took.

There were so many sonic-mixes and instrumentation differences in the White Album MONO vs Stereo release... that White Album collectors insist one should have both versions to get a more complete 'picture' of the variations in content and timing. It was a lot more involved than just some engineer who twisted the PAN pots on the console and exclaimed, "Yureeka! Now we have a Stereo Mix!"

And all done on a 4 Track if memory serves?

claire1

I think this update is lackluster and it's sad things like name change are touted as "new features". Shows how lackluster this is.
And "check cable" has been there so cross that out as a new feature.

MacPro said:

Can't help but remember trying to get the Beatles White Album in stereo (I still have it too), Mono was in stock and the sales person suggested stereo was a passing fad anyway.  I chose make a special order and to wait the two week it took.

Not sure the relevance of your comment but I can assume it's about Atmos?

The problem with Atmos is that it requires so many speakers and is expensive. Finding a 7.1 system alone in a home is tough and most people don't even know how to set up a simple 5.1 system. Add receivers in the mix(which aren't user friendly) and you have a mess.

I set up a 2.0 system for my sister and she won't even turn it on. That's how "user-friendly" this stuff is. I wish Apple would develop a soundbar since Apple makes things just work.

Are any "Atmos" soundbars even worth a grand?

Mikhail B.

FYI: Really serious fans of high-resolution movie sound should note that the version of Dolby Atmos supported by the Apple TV 4K is ‘DD+’ - a relatively compressed version designed to suit streaming compared with the full-bore Dolby TrueHD delivery system used on 4K Blu-rays. So the Dolby Atmos sound from the Apple TV 4K won’t sound as pristine and dynamic as a good 4K Blu-ray Dolby Atmos soundtrack can. But even a DD+ Dolby Atmos mix can still sound clearly superior to a regulation, non-object-based soundtrack.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2018/06/04/apple-tv-4k-just-took-its-movie-game-to-a-whole-new-level/#a2cb99b48ffd

thrang

macwhiz

said:

Did your receiver indicate it was receiving a Dolby Atmos bitstream, or were you hearing music from the ceiling speakers because the Dolby Surround function of Dolby Atmos was automatically upmixing the stereo bitstream to an Atmos experience?

"Dolby Surround" used to mean Dolby's original matrix-surround product for home use. They've started repurposing that brand to mean the function built into Atmos-capable receivers that upmixes 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1 sound inputs to Atmos output (5.1.2, 7.1.4, whatever you've got).

Me? It was bitstream specifically. No upmixing applied. But for Blade Runner 2049 only. I have not found any other titles, including on the list above, that has Atmos at the moment...