The PS5 update that adds Dolby Atmos support is finally rolling out to all users today. It was launched earlier in the Summer for PS5 software beta users, but now all users can download and install the update. Or if you keep your PS5 in rest mode most of the time the update would have installed automatically for you.
This update adds lots of new features and improvements. One of the biggest being the support for Dolby Atmos. You can go into the settings and then the sound menu and turn this on under Audio Format if you use Dolby Atmos soundbars, home theater systems, and the like. Enabling it does turn off the Tempest 3D AudioTech option for speakers though.
And unless you have Dolby Atmos speakers or a TV with it built-in, the Tempest 3D AudioTech for Speakers definitely sounds better and puts out louder, more robust audio quality. In addition to the Dolby Atmos support, the PS5 update also adds the ability to mute the startup beep. There’s an option to change the volume of it too if you’d still rather leave it on.
In addition to Dolby Atmos, the latest PS5 update adds support for 8TB SSDs
One of the features that was initially announced during the beta software rollout was an upgrade to the supported storage amount. Prior to this update, you could use up to a 4TB NVMe SSD in the PS5’s storage expansion slot. But the console will now support up to a whopping 8TB. You’d likely never run out of room for games when you factor in the PS5’s built-in storage. But it’s worth keeping in mind that not many established brands will make an 8TB NVMe SSD that the PS5 will be compatible with. On top of that, an 8TB NVMe SSD is going to be wildly expensive. The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus for example comes in 8TB, and it’s $999.99.
Sony is announcing some new features with today’s rollout. The first of these is added Remote Play support for more Android devices. Specifically Android TV devices that are running on Android TV OS 12. At the start of the rollout Sony has only verified two devices. It’s own Bravia XR A95L TV, and the 4K model of the Chromecast with Google TV. More devices will be added though as they become verified to work.
There are now also more voice command options for the voice command preview. While the voice command preview itself is not new, there are two new commands. You can ask your PS5 what’s new and it’ll post up the latest PS5 features as well as the current PlayStation Plus monthly games. The second command lets you activate help content.
Sony is also rolling out a number of UI feature changes. Like enabling haptic feedback from the DualSense controller while navigating around menus. It’s also now possible to add players to closed parties without automatically adding them to the group. And there’s a new capability to use a second DualSense controller as an assist controller to help friends or family in a game.