Feature Request: Apple TV needs HDMI Bitstream Audio (Passthrough) support
I absolutely love the Apple TV – it’s hands down the best streaming box out there in terms of performance, design, and ecosystem integration. But there’s one critical limitation that keeps many audiophiles and home theater fans like me from using it in : Apple TV does not support HDMI bitstream audio passthrough.
Currently, all audio (including Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and even Apple Music’s Hi-Res Lossless) is decoded internally by tvOS and then output as multichannel PCM. This completely defeats the purpose of using high-end AV receivers and DACs, which are designed to decode these formats natively.
Competing devices like the NVIDIA Shield and Amazon Fire TV already offer this feature. It’s frustrating that Apple TV, which excels in so many areas, lacks what appears to be a purely software-level toggle.
Please let users choose whether to let the Apple TV decode audio (as it does now) or pass it untouched via HDMI using a “Passthrough” toggle in the audio settings.
This would make Apple TV the ultimate choice not just for streaming, but for serious AV users as well.
If you’re someone who also wants this, please leave a comment or upvote – maybe we can get this on Apple’s radar.
Apple TV 4K, tvOS 18