F1 on Apple TV gets Dolby Atmos from the US Grand Prix weekend in Austin on 23 OctoberF1 on Apple TV gets Dolby Atmos from the US Grand Prix weekend in Austin on 23 October

Apple TV will stream its live Formula 1 coverage in Dolby Atmos from the US Grand Prix weekend, which starts in Austin, Texas, on 23 October.

Apple and Dolby Laboratories announced the change as a partnership on 6 October. Atmos sound will sit alongside the Dolby Vision picture the coverage already uses. Apple's announcement, as quoted by 9to5Mac, lists team radio, commentary, engine noise and the pit lane among what Atmos is meant to carry. THR reports that both companies plan to continue it for future races.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed both companies. Dolby's John Couling told it that sound is what builds the tension in a race, and Apple's Oliver Schusser described sports viewing elsewhere as an experience with little real innovation. THR also notes that F1 itself produces the race coverage, with Apple delivering it, and estimates Apple is paying $140 to $150 million a year for the rights.

Who can hear F1 in Dolby Atmos?

The coverage is still US only: Apple's F1 rights, a five-year deal that began this season, cover the United States, and the races come with an Apple TV subscription at $14.99 a month rather than an extra charge. Atmos needs a playback chain that supports it. THR says it will work on supported Apple devices and on compatible Dolby-enabled televisions, soundbars and home cinema systems. Neither Apple nor Dolby has published a device list for the F1 feed, so we would expect it to match the devices already playing Atmos films in the Apple TV app.

Our take

Atmos is a natural fit for motor racing. Cars passing left to right, a crowd behind and a radio message cutting in are exactly the kind of sound that spatial audio places well. The bigger point is what Apple keeps adding to its F1 coverage without charging more for it. This season it has streamed the Bahrain Grand Prix free in the US, with no subscription, and now it adds Atmos. That is a company buying an audience for its streaming service rather than trying to make the rights pay on their own.

The timing with Apple's own hardware is hard to miss. Code in the latest beta shows four HomePods working as a surround system for Apple TV, and a new Apple TV is expected on 13 October. Live sport in Atmos is the best demonstration anyone could build for that setup, and it arrives ten days after the hardware.

What is still unknown is whether the mix is a full object-based Atmos production at the circuit or an upmix of the existing broadcast. That is the difference between hearing a car move around the room and a wider stereo image, and neither announcement says. APPDOOK will judge it on the Austin weekend; until then, viewers outside the US get none of this, and Apple has given no date for F1 rights beyond it.