Apple's ‌HomePod‌ (first- and second-generation) and HomePod mini feature support for Apple Music's Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio formats. This article explains how to enable them.

homepod lossless spatial audio
Apple's spatial audio feature uses Dolby Atmos to create a richer, more immersive soundstage when listening to songs in the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog that support spatial audio. With Dolby Atmos enabled, the subjective experience is that musical notes are coming from all around you. ‌Meanwhile, ‌Apple Music‌‌ Lossless provides listeners with higher quality audio in a lossless file format, which is great news for audiophiles and purists.

To enable Dolby Atmos and Apple Lossless on your ‌HomePod‌, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Home app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the ellipsis button (three dots encircled) in the top-right of the screen.

  3. Select Home Settings from the dropdown menu.
  4. Under "People," select your named owner profile.
    home

  5. Under "Media," select Apple Music.
  6. Scroll down and toggle the switches beside Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio to the green ON position.
    Home

Now that you've enabled Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio, you'll be able to enjoy a more immersive audio experience, and if you've enabled Apple Lossless, higher quality music tracks. You can check which songs support the audio effects by looking for the respective logos in the ‌Apple Music‌ app interface.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral), HomePod Mini (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: HomePod, HomeKit, CarPlay, Home & Auto Technology

Top Rated Comments

Pro Apple Silicon Avatar
Pro Apple Silicon
53 months ago
Is it just me or has the Home Pod received more new updates and features after it has been discontinued than it did while it was still available?
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kurtfoster Avatar
kurtfoster
53 months ago

Why isn't Dolby Atmos on by default? Is there any penalty to having it on, or other reason to leave it off?
Some of us don’t like the sound of Dolby Atmos. To me it sounds tinny and underwater and has a sound reminiscent to 1960s fake stereo sound. Honestly, it gives me a headache and I’m glad that they don’t turn it on by default.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
Kylo83
53 months ago
Lossless all the way, special audio is a gimmick that ruins songs and makes them sound like demo tracks
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cribsheet22 Avatar
Cribsheet22
53 months ago
The HomePod pair with 15.1 sounds way too good for Apple to have discontinued it cold. There must be something coming to fill the gaping void above the mini or Apple is bananas.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aibo82 Avatar
aibo82
53 months ago
They should of sold the original at a loss at about £99, got them into peoples homes and increased the price year on year with new more capable ones. They needed to have pushed the original one into peoples homes to show what people are actually missing sound quality wise regardless of Siri.

I think the HomePod mini is a bad approach because Siri is nowhere near good enough and neither is the sound….
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chabig Avatar
chabig
53 months ago

Why isn't Dolby Atmos on by default? Is there any penalty to having it on, or other reason to leave it off?
Mine was on without me doing anything.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
Read Full Article
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Read Full Article • 63 comments
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Read Full Article • 362 comments
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
Read Full Article • 100 comments
Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
Read Full Article • 55 comments
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.1 With Liquid Glass Toggle, Slide to Stop Alarm, New Apple Intelligence Languages and More

Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.1 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
Read Full Article • 179 comments
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
Read Full Article • 207 comments
Early Black Friday Deals 2

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Sunday November 2, 2025 10:04 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Read Full Article • 10 comments