Apple Music and Mercedes‑Benz announce new partnership to bring Spatial Audio to drivers

Apple has announced a new partnership with Mercedes‑Benz to natively support Spatial Audio on Apple Music in the car for the first time, with the two working together to introduce Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos in vehicles, including Mercedes-Maybach models, the EQS and EQS SUV, as well as the EQE and the S-Class with the MBUX infotainment system.

To listen to Apple Music Spatial Audio in the car, vehicles must have the Mercedes‑Benz MBUX infotainment system installed, which is a paid upgrade costing between $4,500 to $6,700.

Spatial Audio enables you to hear three-dimensional audio around the car. If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can listen to selected songs in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, with the audio feature available on the AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and AirPods (3rd generation).

“Sound quality is incredibly important to Apple Music, which is why we are so excited to be working with Mercedes-Benz to make Spatial Audio on Apple Music available natively in the car for the first time,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s Vice president of Apple Music and Beats in a press release shared on Sunday. “Spatial Audio is revolutionizing the way artists create and fans listen to music, and it’s an experience that is impossible to explain in words; you have to hear it for yourself to appreciate it. Together with Mercedes-Benz, we now have even more opportunities to bring wholly immersive music to our subscribers all over the world.”