A method of decomposing gypsum to sulfur dioxide, and the apparatus thereof are disclosed. The apparatus comprises a set of four-stage cyclone preheater and a rotary kiln for decomposing and calcining. In the four-stage cyclone preheater, the off-gas of the kiln conducts heat-exchange with materials. By such processing, the efficiency of heat exchange is high, and gypsum which contains 10-25% of water can be directly used for preparing crude materials. The entrance temperature of the preheated materials can be up to 600-720° C., while the temperature of the off-gas can be decreased to 260-400° C., so that heat utilization ratio is high, and the cost of the apparatus can be cut down. The concentration of SO2 in the off-gas may be up to 11-14%, so that two-conversion two-adsorption process can be employed for preparing sulfuric acid.