Dolby Atmos’ latest competitor is not what I anticipated

Dolby Atmos is likely one of the hottest, and arguably top-of-the-line, spatial audio formats on this planet. Google and Samsung lately teamed as much as create its competitor to Dolby Atmos referred to as Eclipsa Audio, and now Apple needs to construct upon Dolby Atmos too with its personal spatial audio format.

Throughout its latest WWDC keynote, Apple did not waste any time. It showcased its new Liquid Glass design, enhancements to iPadOS, updates to CarPlay, and new options for iOS, together with Call Screening and Hold Assist. Nevertheless, one factor Apple did not point out throughout its hour-and-a-half-long keynote was its new spatial audio format, aptly named Apple Spatial Audio Format (ASAF).

ASAF was launched in a developer session throughout WWDC (by way of FlatpanelsHD), with Apple stating it is designed to ship “actually immersive audio experiences” for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS, and visionOS. Nevertheless, not like Elicpsa Audio, ASAF is not a rival to Dolby Atmos — but.

What’s Dolby Atmos and ASAF?

ASAF is delivered via Apple’s APAC audio codec, which nonetheless helps Dolby Atmos

Pocket-lint / Apple

If you happen to’re unfamiliar with the precise ins and outs of Dolby Atmos, it is a spatial audio format that creates a practical and immersive 3D sound expertise. It is supported on quite a few streaming platforms, together with Disney+ and Netflix, and plenty of modern-day TVs include Dolby Atmos help.

The first distinction between Dolby Atmos sound and common encompass sound (similar to 5.1) is that Atmos creates a 3D spatial expertise, making it really feel as if the sound is coming from throughout you at completely different heights, somewhat than simply from left, proper, or heart.

So what does ASAF should do with this? As Flatpanels HD studies, ASAF is actually Apple’s model of Dolby Atmos, and it is designed to create an immersive 3D sound setting. ASAF has two essential parts you ought to be conscious of. The primary is ASAF itself, utilized by builders in audio and video manufacturing to place audio components in a 3D house. The second is APAC (Apple Positional Audio Codec), the codec answerable for delivering ASAF to customers.

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Whereas not sufficient to make me buy a Imaginative and prescient Professional, distinctive experiences like this are what’s offered me on combined actuality.

ASAF actually excels with the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, enabling sound to flow into in a practical 3D house round you, by understanding the digital setting you are in. It responds to actions, similar to turning your head, and dynamically adjusts components like quantity, echo, and reverb. The primary distinction between Dolby Atmos and ASAF is that Dolby Atmos assumes you are sitting in a single spot in your front room or in a movie show, whereas ASAF has the flexibility to adapt sound to your actions in actual time, making a extra immersive expertise.

Whereas ASAF will be performed on all of Apple’s platforms, like iOS or macOS, it will likely be skilled finest with visionOS on account of its deal with augmented actuality experiences.

Apple mentioned at WWDC 2025 that the brand new APAC codec can be required for all Immersive Video titles going ahead. Nevertheless, creators can nonetheless use Dolby Atmos throughout the APAC codec, which means that ASAF is not exactly a Dolby Atmos rival simply but, as it could possibly nonetheless be used along side it on Apple gadgets to ship compelling audio experiences. Nevertheless, I would not be stunned if Apple’s endgame right here is to make ASAF a real various to Dolby Atmos sooner or later.

ASAF is simply supported on Apple gadgets, so it will likely be tough for it to ever absolutely change Dolby Atmos. With that in thoughts, don’t fret about Dolby Atmos going anyplace anytime quickly, because of its broad help for a variety of various gadgets.

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Don’t be concerned — you will not must improve should you already like your present Atmos setup.