iPhone 16: How to Capture Spatial Photos and Video - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone 16: How to Capture Spatial Photos and Video

by

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16, you can shoot spatial photos and video for viewing in the Photos app on Apple's Vision Pro headset. Keep reading to learn how it's done.

spatial video apple visioin pro
Apple's Vision Pro headset launched in February 2024 in the United States, and has since been released in several countries around the world. One of the many features of the device is its ability to display spatial photos and play back spatial videos captured on iPhone 15 Pro and ‌iPhone 16‌ models.

When played on an iPhone in the ‌Photos‌ app, spatial photos and videos (marked with a "spatial" label) appear as regular 2D photos and videos without any extra depth effect. But viewed on Apple Vision Pro, they take on a 3D depth that is far more lifelike, intimate, and immersive.

For best results when recording Spatial Video, the iPhone should be held stable in landscape orientation while capturing video. Video is recorded at 30 frames per second at 1080p, and one minute of video takes up 130MB of storage space.

Here's how to capture spatial photo and video on iPhone 15 Pro and later models:

  1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
  2. Swipe left to Spatial in the mode options below the viewfinder.
  3. Tap the camera/film camera toggle to switch between photo and video.
  4. Hold your phone in landscape orientation, then tap the shutter to take a photo or start recording video.
  5. If you're shooting video, tap the shutter again to stop.

camera

Note that on the Vision Pro headset, Spatial Videos are not shown full screen by default. If you expand the video, Apple warns that the video "has excess motion" and "could cause discomfort if expanded."

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, iPhone 16
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Neutral)
Related Forums: Apple Vision Pro, iPhone

Popular Stories

General visionOS watchOS and tvOS Betas Feature Redux

Apple Releases Fifth watchOS 26.6, tvOS 26.6 and visionOS 26.6 Betas

Monday July 13, 2026 10:27 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the fifth betas of upcoming watchOS 26.6, tvOS 26.6, and visionOS 26.6 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple seeded the fourth betas. The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required. There's no word on what's in the...
curved windows visionos 27

Apple Seeds Fourth visionOS 27 Beta to Developers

Monday July 20, 2026 12:24 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the fourth beta of an upcoming visionOS 27 update for testing purposes, with the beta coming two weeks after Apple released the third beta. visionOS 27 can be installed by opening the Settings app, going to Software Updates, and opting into Beta Updates. visionOS 27 introduces Siri AI, the smarter and more capable version of Siri that's similar in...
General visionOS watchOS and tvOS Betas Feature Redux

Apple Seeds watchOS 26.6, tvOS 26.6 and visionOS 26.6 Release Candidates

Monday July 20, 2026 10:00 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the release candidate versions of upcoming watchOS 26.6, tvOS 26.6, and visionOS 26.6 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple seeded the fifth betas. The RCs are the final version of the software that will be released to the public as long as no bugs are found during this final testing period. The software updates are available...