What is Apple spatial audio? How it works and how to use it

What is Apple tree spatial audio? How it works and how to use it

(Image credit: Future)

Apple tree'southward spatial sound is a 360-degree audio format that recreates a surround effect through even a tiny pair of earbuds. It's mostly been used to enhance video playback with the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, merely a new, stripped-back grade of spatial audio is rolling out across Apple Music as well.

But what is spatial sound, and how do y'all use information technology? In this guide we'll explain everything yous need to go this 3D format up and running, from making sure you have the right hardware to finding compatible media content.

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What is spatial audio?

Spatial audio is how Apple brands its immersive, 360-degree sound tech, though the concept is sometimes referred to as "spatial audio" in more general terms as well. Information technology's essentially a form of digital surround sound wherein the origin points of different sounds can envelop you from all directions.

That sounds like plain, erstwhile, living room surround sound, right? Except with certain hardware, spatial sound can keep those origin points in place fifty-fifty when the speakers themselves are moving, namely on headphones similar the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.

Say you're watching a film on your iPhone where someone is loudly walking along the left of the screen. If the pic is compatible with spatial audio, you lot could plow your caput to the left and the footsteps would then audio like they were coming from straight in front of yous.

Being a class of 360-degree audio, spatial audio's effect isn't limited to a flat axis either. Similar Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, spatial sound can add a sense of pinnacle, making Television set and movie playback even more immersive. In fact, spatial audio piggybacks off Atmos, as content you tin view (or, as of June, heed to) was originally mastered for Dolby'south platform.

How do I apply spatial audio?

AirPods Max spatial audio — (Epitome credit: Apple)

The most of import thing is making sure yous have the right hardware. Right now, the only spatial sound-compatible devices for video playback are the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, and so pick upwards one of those unless you want to wait for the rumored AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro didn't launch with spatial audio support, but it should download and install the required firmware automatically.

However, for spatial audio as information technology appears in Apple Music, Apple says that any headphones will be able to play songs with spatial audio. On Apple and Beats headphones with a W1 or H1 chip, spatial audio volition be enabled automatically, but for any other headphones yous merely need to switch Dolby Atmos to "Always On" in Apple tree Music app's settings.

Apple Music's have on spatial audio tin can also be played through the integrated speakers of the post-obit Apple devices:

iPhone XS or later (except iPhone SE)
iPad Pro 12.nine inch (tertiary Gen) or later on
iPad Pro xi inch (1st gen) or after
iPad Air (quaternary Gen)

Yet, for video content, you'll need both one of those two AirPods models and a compatible source device. Apple Idiot box 4K is getting updated to offering spatial audio, as are recent macOS devices like the MacBook Pro, just for mobile usage you'll demand an iPhone or iPad running iOS 14.3 or later. However, not all older Apple tree devices will work, even if they tin can be updated to the requisite version. Here's a list of spatial audio-compatible mobile devices for video:

iPhone vii or after
iPad (6th Gen) or later
iPad Air (3rd Gen) or later
iPad mini (fifth Gen)
iPad Pro 12.9 inch (3rd Gen) or later
iPad Pro eleven inch (1st gen) or subsequently

With compatible hardware yous're nigh set, and remember that you tin plough spatial sound on or off at your choosing. To turn if off while y'all're already watching a video, open the Command Middle, press and hold the book control and then tap on the spatial sound pick to disable it.

To plow spatial audio on or off for everything, open Settings and navigate to the Bluetooth menu. In the listing of continued devices, tap the "i" icon next y'all're your AirPods then select whether to turn spatial audio on or off.

Apple too says that Apple tree Music's spatial audio content volition be playable through the speakers of the "latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac," though we'd be surprised if the outcome was well-nigh as stiff as if you were wearing headphones.

Also important to annotation is that media content must be available in the 5.ane, 7.1 or Dolby Atmos environs sound formats for information technology to work with spatial audio.

Some music streaming services already provided Dolby Atmos-compatible songs prior to Apple Music, namely Amazon Music Hard disk and Tidal. Notwithstanding, Amazon limits Atmos playback to its own Repeat speakers and Tidal seems to exist keeping its immersive capabilities exclusive to Sony's Spatial Sound rival, 360 Reality Audio. As such you can't get spatial audio music from either, leaving Apple tree Music every bit the sole source of uniform tunes.

Y'all exercise at least have a choice of where to stream uniform TV shows and movies. Apple Telly Plus, HBO Max, Disney Plus and Hulu all support spatial audio via their respective Atmos-enabled content.

How does spatial audio work?

Apple Spatial Audio — (Paradigm credit: Apple tree)

There'south a few things that are needed to make spatial sound happen. First, sound engineers volition map the private audio parts of a piece of content — dialogue, sound furnishings, non-diagetic music and and so on — to specific points on a digital 3D space. Imagine a sphere build around the listener, with each audio source placed around it. This allows for those individual sounds to seemingly come up from either side, behind, above or beneath you. Engineers can likewise conform the "distance" of sounds so that they seem closer or further away.

Apparently, headphones don't take a series of satellite speakers for "truthful" environs sound, and they can't attain a sense of height by bouncing sound off ceilings similar Dolby Atmos does. So spatial sound'southward surround audio effect needs to be purely digital.

AirPods spatial audio — (Image credit: Regan Coule/Tom's Guide)

Here'south where it gets a little complicated. 360-caste sound playback on headphones is achieved though Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF) filters, which digitally adjust how sounds are played then that they bounce into your ears in such a way that they appear to originate from a certain direction. It requires both ears for your brain to perceive the intended effect, which is why the technique is known as "binaural rendering."

The extremely bones version is that your brain is tricked into thinking you're receiving sound from a fully three-dimensional space even when it'due south coming from a fix of two drivers either side of your head.

Once the matter of plumbing fixtures surround sound into a pair of headphones is settled, spatial audio can then utilise head-tracking to create that feeling of existence able to love around (or at to the lowest degree look around) the 3D space. The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max therefore contain accelerometers and gyroscopes, which can track your head movements in relation to an anchor device: the phone or tablet that the headphones are paired to.

Considering the anchor device contains the screen on which you're watching the spatial sound-mastered content, the system can make sure that sounds are played from directions consistent with the on-screen action. All while you tin move your caput around inside that 3D space.

However, you'll detect Apple Music's implementation of spatial audio altogether simpler. Because the content is pure audio, it makes less sense to employ the source device as an anchor point, and more importantly, most headphones don't accept gyroscopes and accelerometers for head tracking. As such, it will probably be more akin to Sony's 360 Reality Audio: in that location volition still be a 3D effect, with instruments and vocals surrounding y'all, only without the origin points of sounds staying in identify as you movement your head.

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James is currently Hardware Editor at Stone Newspaper Shotgun, only before that was Audio Editor at Tom'southward Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and anything else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he also wrote computing and gaming news for TG, ordinarily relating to how difficult information technology is to discover graphics card stock.