Apple’s new Apple TV 4K is up for pre-order at $299 and arrives on 13 November. It’s a faster box with a new chip and better wireless, but home theater owners will want to know one thing first: does it finally send lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos and DTS soundtracks to an AV receiver? Based on Apple’s published specifications, no. Here’s what that means for your receiver, your sub and your bass.
- New Apple TV 4K: $299, pre-orders open now, available from 13 November 2026.
- A19 chip, HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 7 and Thread, according to Apple’s specifications.
- Audio formats listed by Apple include Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos, but not Dolby TrueHD or DTS.
- Streaming Atmos from Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and others works as before, LFE bass channel included.
- For lossless disc-quality soundtracks from your own media files, a dedicated player is still the better choice.
What’s new
Apple lists an A19 chip, HDMI 2.1 output, Wi-Fi 7, Gigabit Ethernet and Thread for smart-home devices, with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The audio formats on its specification page cover AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC and WAV for music, and Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3, up to 7.1) and Dolby Atmos for films and TV.
Streaming Atmos: no change, and that’s fine
Almost all streaming services deliver Dolby Atmos inside a Dolby Digital Plus stream. The Apple TV sends that to your receiver or soundbar, which decodes it and routes the bass to your subwoofer exactly as it should, including the separate LFE channel used for explosions and effects. If you mainly stream, the new box works with your sub just as the old one did.
The lossless gap
Blu-ray discs and many home media libraries use Dolby TrueHD (often carrying Atmos) or DTS-HD Master Audio. Apple doesn’t list either, and there’s no sign of bitstream passthrough. Apps such as Infuse can decode these tracks and send them to your receiver as multichannel PCM, which keeps the lossless channel audio, including the LFE track, but loses the Atmos height objects.
ecoustics reported a developer workaround in a test build of a third-party app that renders TrueHD Atmos into Apple’s own spatial format. It’s lossy, it isn’t true passthrough, and it isn’t in a public release, so we wouldn’t buy the box counting on it.
What it means for you
- Mostly streaming? The new Apple TV 4K is a fine source for an AV receiver and sub.
- Playing your own disc rips? Your sub still gets the full bass through PCM, but you lose Atmos height effects from TrueHD tracks. A media player that bitstreams TrueHD and DTS will serve you better.
- Setting up a new system? Make sure the receiver’s bass management is right; our crossover finder and LFE vs line-in guide cover the essentials.
Our take
The new Apple TV 4K is a meaningful hardware upgrade and remains the slickest streaming box for many people. For home theater fans with a library of lossless soundtracks, though, Apple still hasn’t closed the gap that sends many of them to other players. If that matters to you, wait for reviews that test audio output.