At WWDC, Apple announced that tvOS 26 will include passthrough audio, which offers the potential for a superior listening experience. This feature will eliminate audio preprocessing on the Apple TV, allowing the raw audio stream to be directly handed off to external sound systems. Historically, while Apple TV has been a powerful set-top box, its handling of audio has raised concerns due to the lack of passthrough audio features. This is set to change with the new update.
According to the Apple Developer documentation for AVFAudio, there’s a case for “passthrough” within the AVAudioContentSource enumeration, indicating that the feature is in development. Passthrough audio allows devices or operating systems to transmit audio from an application without altering it. Typically, applications like Netflix send audio through the Apple TV for processing before playback. Many high-quality home cinema systems can handle and process audio themselves; however, this often leads to a situation where users miss out on the benefits of their sophisticated audio equipment due to the intermediate processing by the Apple TV.
Apple has confirmed that enabling passthrough audio—when supported by a streaming app—will allow the original audio to bypass the Apple TV’s processing, giving external hardware the opportunity to enhance audio quality. While the primary focus for passthrough audio is Apple TV, the feature is not limited to tvOS 26. The documentation indicates that passthrough capabilities will also extend to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. Although passthrough may be less relevant for Apple Watch, it holds promise for Macs, which can connect to TVs and home theater systems in ways similar to Apple TV.
The introduction of the passthrough case signifies progress in audio functionality, but it requires developers to implement it within their applications. Additionally, Apple may need to introduce a specific setting to enable this new feature, as the initial beta of tvOS 26 does not currently include such an option in the audio settings.
Leave a Reply