What Is Spatial Audio and How Does It Work?
If you’ve bought a new iPhone, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max , or a new pair of Apple headphones or earbuds in the last year or two, then you’ve likely heard a sales pitch about spatial audio. But what is spatial audio, how to use it, and do you really need it? If you’ve been looking for answers to these questions, look no further.
What is spatial sound?
Spatial audio first started appearing in the original AirPods Pro and AirPods Max as a way to make your movies and videos more immersive. However, Apple and other companies have now expanded spatial audio content to other apps, including Apple Music. Essentially, spatial audio is how Apple is positioning its approach to immersive 360-degree audio. Apple isn’t the only one calling this technology spatial audio, so it might be a little confusing when you hear it in other places. But the basic idea is still the same.
If you’re thinking, “That sounds like regular old surround sound,” you wouldn’t be wrong. In essence, this is spatial sound. However, thanks to the technology Apple has incorporated into the latest AirPods Pro and AirPods Max in recent years, it offers a little more, allowing you to actually have a tether to sounds so you can move around and actually experience the sound. 3D sound instead of sounds surrounding you.
How does spatial audio work?
While some content will act the same as regular surround sound, giving you different sound levels for different effects depending on the direction they’re coming from, spatial audio can also use your smart device as an anchor and then create a virtual 3D environment. which is intended to give you the feeling that you are directly in the sounds you are listening to.
So some content with full spatial audio support will allow you to turn your head and change the sound source. For example, imagine you are watching an action movie and you hear screams and run to the right. Well, with spatial audio on, you can turn your head to the right and the direction of the sound will change from off to the right to directly in front of you.
This creates an immersive experience that simulates 3D surround sound, allowing you to turn your head and hear the sound move left, right, or up and down, depending on how you move your head. We’ve also seen this technology used in Dolby Atmos, which powers Apple’s spatial audio.
In some headphones, like the newest AirPods, this movement is tied to sensors and gyroscopes in the headphones themselves. Others rely on a completely virtual system to produce 3D audio. It’s likely that we’ll see more headphones and earbuds with full-fledged gyroscopes in the future to provide an even more immersive listening experience.
Which Apple devices support spatial audio?
If you want to experience spatial audio for yourself, there are plenty of Apple devices that support the system: AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, AirPods 3rd generation, and Beats Fit Pro. Apple also says that any devices running iOS 15.1 or later will be able to play spatial audio through their built-in speakers, including HomePod 2, iPhone 7 or later, and the following iPads:
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iPad mini 5th generation and later
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iPad 6th generation and later
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iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later
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iPad Pro 11-inch, iPad Air 3rd generation and later
What apps support spatial audio?
However, it’s not just about having the right equipment. You’ll also need apps that contain spatial audio content. Luckily, there are plenty of them, including Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and Apple Music. Other apps like Tidal and Amazon Music HD also provide Dolby Atmos support, but they’re tied to their own speaker systems. In Tidal’s case, it’s tied to Sony 360 Reality Audio, so you can’t use it with Apple headphones.
YouTube also supports two different spatial audio formats. However, keep in mind that any content from these other apps will need to offer Dolby Atmos 5.1 or 7.1 to actually use spatial audio.
How to enable spatial audio in Apple Music
For Apple and Beats headphones, spatial audio support will be automatically enabled. However, you can permanently enable it for other supported headphones by going to the Apple Music app settings and turning on the Dolby Atmos setting. To do this, go to Settings > Music > Dolby Atmos and check the Always On box.
Is spatial audio worth the hype?
Ultimately, spatial audio is a really cool feature that makes the audio experience more immersive. This isn’t a deal-breaker, however, and if you already have a working pair of headphones or in-ear headphones, I wouldn’t say it’s particularly worth upgrading to a new pair. However, once more services become available that support spatial audio, it will become one of the best ways to watch movies, listen to music, and enjoy many other types of audio content.