Apple Loyalists Delight as LG Rolls Out No-Cost Audio Improvement, Featured

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

If you own an LG television and use Apple Music, today is your lucky day. This week, LG announced that its TVs would be the first to gain support for spatial audio through Apple Music with Dolby Atmos. The feature is already starting to roll out to compatible TVs, which – LG says – include its OLED and QNED models.

Also: The 5 best LG TVs you can buy

Initially, spatial audio was available exclusively through Apple’s devices, but in 2021, the company added the feature to its Apple Music app for Android. LG’s webOS now becomes the second third-party operating system to pick up the feature. It’s a nice addition to the Apple Music experience on TVs, although we don’t know how good it will sound given that spatial audio mixes are often hit or miss.

According to LG, spatial audio will work with the built-in speakers on your TV, as well as compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled LG soundbars. If you use a soundbar, it will automatically tune the volume of the mix so everything remains balanced. (LG calls this the “loudness normalization algorithm.”)

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If your TV doesn’t support Dolby Atmos by default, LG says you can add a soundbar and gain spatial audio support. Also, you can pair your AirPods with your TV to listen to spatial audio mixes.

Also: The best 85-inch TVs: Expert tested and reviewed

To get the feature on your TV, LG says, just update the Apple Music app. LG says that spatial audio will work on all OLED models launched from 2018 to 2024, as well as QNED models Q90T and above. If your webOS-based TV isn’t included in that list, LG says you’ll need one of its soundbars from 2024 for it to work.

In celebration of the launch, LG is offering a free three-month trial of Apple Music for all LG smart TVs dating back to 2018. The offer is available through the Apple Music app on TVs running webOS 4.0 and above.