Apple Music Quietly Adds Dolby Atmos Support for Windows

Apple Music now offers Dolby Atmos playback on Windows, upping its support of devices outside the ecosystem. The strategy makes sense to capitalize for Apple’s Services division—main competitor Spotify’s high-fidelity audio offering is still MIA.

Dolby Atmos is a surround-sound audio format that allows music to be heard in an immersive, three-dimensional audio experience. The feature was added to Apple Music for Windows in a recent update—which will require a PC and headphones with Dolby Atmos audio playback support. Apple first debuted Dolby Atmos support for Mac and iOS devices in June 2021, so the Windows update has been a long time coming.

Apple initially delayed supporting Dolby Atmos playback on Android devices when the feature launched more than four years ago. But now Apple Music supports both Android and Windows devices—though Windows support requires the additional step of installing the Dolby Access app for full functionality. That app requires a $14.99 license to continue to playback Dolby Atmos audio after a seven-day free trial.

Despite the additional step required, Apple Music is now one of the only major DSPs to give Windows users access to spatial audio. Spotify officially announced its HiFi audio service at its Stream On event in February 2021—but Apple’s support of Dolby Atmos for free took the wind out of those sails. From 2021 throughout 2024, CEO Daniel Ek continually reaffirmed that high-fidelity audio was coming to Spotify.

Now rumors suggest Spotify is testing what it’s calling ‘Music Pro’ which is an add-on priced at ~$5 month that bundles HiFi audio with features like AI tools and concert ticket availability and additional audiobook listening hours. This new premium add-on is expected to launch this year—but it’s unclear how willing Spotify Premium users will be to pay extra when both Apple Music and Amazon Music include HiFi in their base streaming tiers.

The ‘Music Pro’ add-on plan is also still pending label negotiations. Spotify secured a multi-year deal covering HiFi streaming with Warner Music Group in February 2025. It also secured a similar deal with UMG for ‘new paid subscription teirs’ and ‘super fan experiences’ in January 2025. Talks with Sony Music are ongoing and not yet finalized. Spotify’s rumored AI-powered song remixing may be part of the hold-up.