F1 on Apple TV adds Dolby Atmos starting with the U.S. Grand Prix on October 23

Apple and Dolby Laboratories announced on Tuesday that Apple TV's live Formula 1 coverage will be available in Dolby Atmos, starting with the U.S. Grand Prix weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The first Atmos session is Friday practice on October 23, and the format will stay in place for the races after that. According to Sports Business Journal, it is the first time Apple has used Atmos in a sports broadcast.

Every Grand Prix this season has already streamed in 4K with Dolby Vision and 5.1 surround sound, as Apple outlined when the season began in March. Atmos goes further by treating individual sounds as objects that can be placed around and above the listener, so engine notes, team radio, commentary, and pit lane noise are no longer locked to fixed channels.

What you need to know

• Start date: The U.S. Grand Prix weekend, beginning with practice on Friday, October 23. Apple's F1 schedule lists that session at 1:30 p.m. ET and the race on Sunday, October 25, at 4:00 p.m. ET.
• Devices: Supported Apple devices, plus compatible Dolby-enabled TVs, soundbars, and home theater systems, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
• Availability: U.S. only. Apple's F1 rights cover the United States, and races are part of the standard Apple TV subscription with no add-on, as 9to5Mac notes.
• At the track: Dolby senior vice president John Couling told Sports Business Journal that the Atmos mix draws on the microphones and sensors F1 already places around each circuit, so no extra hardware was needed.

Why Apple is adding it

"The sound of Formula 1 is such an important part of what makes the sport so exciting, and with Dolby Atmos joining Dolby Vision, fans can experience the energy and intensity of every Grand Prix in a whole new way," Apple's Oliver Schusser said in the announcement. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he was blunter about the state of sports streaming: "There really has not been a lot of innovation."

Atmos is not the only production change planned for Austin. Schusser told Sports Business Journal that Apple will use iPhones to capture some camera angles at the race, as it already does for MLB and MLS broadcasts, because they can go "in places where normally you can never put a traditional broadcast camera."

The upgrade lands in the first season of Apple's five-year U.S. deal with Formula 1. The Hollywood Reporter estimates Apple pays $140 million to $150 million a year for the rights, and Eddy Cue said last month that viewership is up by a significant double-digit percentage over last year's ESPN broadcasts.

Apple hasn't said which of its own speaker setups will get the full F1 Atmos mix. For anyone planning a home theater around Apple TV, beta code already points to four-HomePod surround sound, and Bloomberg expects a new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini on October 13.

Sources

• Sports Business Journal, Adam Stern, "Leveraging racing's raw sense of sound, Apple to deploy Dolby Atmos audio experience to F1," October 6, 2026
• The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Weprin, "Apple and Dolby Bringing Dolby Atmos to Live Formula 1 Coverage," October 6, 2026
• 9to5Mac, Marcus Mendes, "Formula 1 on Apple TV is getting Dolby Atmos, starting this month," October 6, 2026
• Apple Newsroom, "The 2026 Formula 1 season begins this weekend, exclusively on Apple TV in the U.S.," March 2026
• Apple Newsroom, "Apple is the exclusive new broadcast partner for Formula 1 in the U.S.," October 2025
• Apple TV, "Where to Watch Formula 1"