Apple TV is bringing Dolby Atmos to F1 for the first time — and I’ve heard the night-and-day difference

Apple TV has been the home of Formula 1 in the United States since the start of the 2026 season.

Much like the technology giant's approach to MLS (Major League Soccer) and Friday Night Baseball , it's been a modern, very Apple take on the sport.

With extended commentary, original content, and more in addition to race coverage, Apple has aimed to innovate and differentiate the experience from what it formerly was.

For starters, if you subscribe to Apple TV in the States, you get it for free.

On top of that, there's a clean, modern set of visuals around the action, with several view options, including the ability to customize your own multi-view setup, and, most notably, Dolby Vision support.

Apple wants to up the immersion, though, and is deepening its partnership with Dolby to bring Dolby Atmos to its live broadcast of Formula 1 races, starting with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Notably, it doesn't require changing microphones or the existing race-broadcast setup.

Speaking with TechRadar, Jim DeLorenzo, Apple's Global Head of Sports, noted that this innovation had been on the vision board for quite some time.

"One of the things that we thought about for quite some time is the audio side of that... how can we get to a point where we have not just Dolby Vision, but Dolby Atmos." And Apple isn't swapping out the microphones used around the track to make it happen.

"We don't change the mic array for this," DeLorenzo told TechRadar.

Instead, Apple is working with the existing microphone setup used for the F1 broadcast.

If we can bring a little bit more of this into somebody's viewing experience when they're not at the track, that's going to help connect them a little bit more Jim DeLorenzo DeLorenzo said sound is a big part of what makes a live event feel different from watching at home.

"Any sporting event, when you're there, one of the things that is so impactful on the experience is the sound," he said.

"Because the sound in an F1 race is so visceral... if we can bring a little bit more of this into somebody's viewing experience when they're not at the track, that's going to help connect them a little bit more." (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol) "We are always trying to figure out, how do we break down that barrier a little bit between the people who can go to the event and the people who are watching at home?" DeLorenzo added.