Apple says it has finally gotten around to a fix for an annoying issue that prevents Apple TV from synchronising properly with Dolby Atmos speakers. The fix is coming via the tvOS 18.5 firmware upgrade, and should solve a bug that has frustrated some users for many years.
There are numerous complaints about the issue on the official Apple Support forums and on Reddit. The problem is that Dolby Atmos playback from speakers connected to the Apple TV over Bluetooth or AirPlay are often out-of-sync with the content shown on screen.
As you might imagine, it’s quite an infuriating and off-putting problem when the dialogue doesn’t quite match with the character’s lip movements. Many users say it can ruin the entire experience.
What’s worse is that this bug is not only present for those who have Dolby Atmos speakers connected to their Apple TV. It can manifest itself even when Dolby Atmos made is enabled, even if there are no Dolby Atmos speakers present, and they’re all wired.
One posted on Reddit, LastUserStanding, experienced the problem with exactly the same setup – a bunch of wired, non-Dolby Atmos speakers – yet he resolved it when he switched Dolby Atmos off on the Apple TV menu.
The posts on Reddit and the Apple Forums suggest the issue impacts a wide range of third-party speakers, as well as Apple’s HomePod, and so the problem is entirely due to Apple’s implementation of a feature launched in tvOS 13 in 2019. The feature is known as “Wireless Audio Sync”, and allows users to synchronise audio and video using the iPhone’s microphone, but it often fails to do so correctly.
Apple says the feature has now been fixed with the tvOS 18.5 update. According to the release notes, the update “adds support for synchronising Dolby Atmos playback to speakers over AirPlay or Bluetooth”. To implement the fix, you’ll need to go to the Settings menu > Video and Audio > Wireless Audio Sync. With this, it reportedly expands the sync function to run test signals with both regular stereo surround sound and Dolby Atmos, to ensure they're perfectly in tune. To do this, you'll need to ensure your iPhone is running iOS 18.5.
According to various posts on Reddit and the Apple Forums, the fix seems to have done the job, enabling perfect synchronisation between Apple TV and whatever speakers are being used.
