Apple releases huge audio upgrade for Mercedes-Benz and Apple Music

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple and Mercedes-Benz have announced Apple Music Spatial Audio support for a number of the German carmaker's vehicles.

The feature, now available "as a native experience in Mercedes-Benz vehicles for the first time," integrates with the MBUX in-car entertainment system.

Big cars, big sound

Apple confirmed that the feature is now available "in Mercedes-Maybach models, the EQS and EQS SUV, as well as the EQE and the S-Class."

“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 said via press release. For the first time, Apple Music subscribers can listen to their libraries in Spatial Audio — so long as they are driving one of the handful of supported vehicles, of course.

This move will also make Mercedes-Benz the first to offer Apple Music Spatial Audio in vehicles around the globe, bringing a new 3D audio experience to drivers and passengers via Dolby Atmos. Music is available via people's existing playlists, while Apple Music also offers curated playlists for those who want a helping hand discovering new music to listen to.

Now not only is Apple Music arguably the best iPhone music streaming service around, but it's now also the best one to use when driving around in your luxury German vehicle, too.

Apple Music is available as a $9.99 per month subscription while a family plan is also offered for those with more than one listener in the house. Alternatively, an Apple One subscription is also available, bringing Apple Music under the same roof as Apple TV Plus, Apple Fitness Plus, and more.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.