We should know a lot more about the imminent Spatial Audio feature on Apple Music by the end of today. Apple is reportedly holding an event dedicated to it at its annual WWDC developers conference taking place later today.
The event – called "Introducing Spatial Audio" – isn't on the official WWDC schedule, but was spotted in a teaser video uploaded to Apple Music. The video has since been removed, MacRumors reports, which suggests someone accidentally let the cat out of the bag.
The timing is also quite revealing. It's set to take place at 3PM ET (8pm BST), right after Apple's opening keynote. Giving it such a prominent standing in the schedule shows that Apple is heavily promoting Spatial Audio as a key differentiator between Apple Music and rival music streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz.
Three weeks ago, Apple announced that the immersive audio feature would come to Apple Music in June, around the same time it would start supporting lossless audio. However, while lossless audio isn't supported on some Apple products like AirPods wireless earbuds, Spatial Audio is much better supported throughout Apple's product categories. (To see which devices do support both technologies, check out our full guide: Apple Music lossless: which devices will (and won't) play lossless and Spatial Audio.)
Spatial Audio uses Dolby Atmos technology to offer an immersive 3D audio experience, meaning users will hear sounds coming from in front of them, from the sides, the rear, and even above. The idea is to recreate the audio experience of a cinema or a live concert.
"Thousands" of Apple Music tracks will be available in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos at launch, with more being added regularly.
Today's event is likely to be an explainer of Spatial Audio, but it's sure to contain some newsworthy bits too. Fingers (and toes) crossed for a launch date.
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