Apple Explains How Spatial Audio Head Tracking Will Work on Apple TV
With tvOS 15, Apple is bringing Spatial Audio to the Apple TV when the set-top box is used with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. It has been unclear how this feature will work because the Apple TV does not have a U1 chip for head tracking purposes, but Apple recently gave an explanation to Engadget.
When you’re watching a TV show or movie on the Apple TV, the head tracking feature (powered by AirPods Pro or Max) detects that you’ve been looking in the same direction, calculates your probable head orientation, and activates the Spatial Audio effect. If you get up, it reactivates.
When you sit down to watch a movie or TV show, the included head tracking feature will lock in after it detects you’ve been looking in the same direction for a while. Once you get up to walk around, it will reactivate.
Spatial Audio will work with stereo, 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos content, and connecting the AirPods to an Apple TV that’s running tvOS 15 has been streamlined. When you’re wearing AirPods and are near the Apple TV, you’ll see an on-screen popup that will let you connect with a click of the remote.
Spatial Audio is designed to provide a theater-like listening experience with sound that seems to come from all around you. tvOS 15 is also gaining new SharePlay features for watching TV with friends over FaceTime calls and support for pairing two HomePod mini speakers to an Apple TV.
Popular Stories
Apple today introduced its first two physical products of 2026: a second-generation AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch.
Read our coverage of each announcement to learn more:Apple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and More
Apple Introduces New Black Unity Apple Watch BandBoth the new AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided...
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
Alongside iOS 26.2.1, Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12 for devices that are still running that operating system update, eight years after the software was first released.
iOS 12.5.8 is available for the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6, meaning Apple is continuing to support these devices for 13 and 12 years after launch, respectively. The iPhone 5s came out in September 2013,...
Update: Apple Creator Studio is now available.
Apple Creator Studio launches this Wednesday, January 28. The all-in-one subscription provides access to the Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage apps, with U.S. pricing set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year.
A subscription to Apple Creator Studio also unlocks "intelligent features" and "premium...
Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that his company will have opportunities to deliver "innovations that have never been seen before" this year.
"As I said at the beginning of my remarks, this was, in so many ways, a remarkable quarter for Apple, and we're excited for all the opportunities we'll have in the year ahead to deliver innovations that have never been seen before and enrich the lives of...
