Apple first announced its Spatial Audio feature for AirPods Pro last summer, but it wasn’t until AirPods Max launched that Apple’s version of surround sound came into its own. If you own a new over-the-ear pair of headphones from the company – or an AirPods Pro – you might be wondering, what the hell is Spatial Audio, and how do you actually use it? Wonder no more.
Spatial audio essentially makes it seem like audio is coming from all directions, and in our tests it’s pretty amazing.
To enable it, turn on your AirPods Max or AirPods Pro and open it Bluetooth in Settings. Press ‘I’ next to the name of your headphones or earbuds in your list of devices. Switch on Spatial audio
It’s incredibly easy to set up, but the biggest problem with Spatial Audio is that only certain models of iPhones and iPads are compatible. See the full list below:
- iPhone 7 or later
- iPad 6th generation or later
- iPad Pro 3rd generation or higher
- iPad Air 4th generation or newer
- iPad mini 5th generation or later
It would be a dream if Apple added support for Apple TV so you could fully immerse yourself in a bigger screen, but unfortunately.
After enabling Spatial Audio, now comes the challenge of finding content to watch that takes advantage of the feature. Not every streaming service supports it (ahem, Netflix), but services like Apple TV + and Disney + do. In the details of the show or movie you want to watch, look for Dolby Atmos, 5.1 channel or 7.1 channel surround sound. These formats are compatible with Spatial Audio and make everything you watch sound incredible.