Dolby Atmos’ latest competitor is not what I anticipated

Dolby Atmos is without doubt one of the hottest, and arguably probably the greatest, 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 desires to construct upon Dolby Atmos too with its personal spatial audio format.

Throughout its current 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. Nonetheless, 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. Nonetheless, not like Elicpsa Audio, ASAF is not a rival to Dolby Atmos — but.

What’s Dolby Atmos and ASAF?

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

Pocket-lint / Apple

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

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

So what does ASAF need to do with this? As Flatpanels HD experiences, ASAF is actually Apple’s model of Dolby Atmos, and it is designed to create an immersive 3D sound surroundings. ASAF has two major parts you have to be conscious of. The primary is ASAF itself, utilized by builders in audio and video manufacturing to place audio parts in a 3D area. 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 bought me on blended actuality.

ASAF actually excels with the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, enabling sound to flow into in a sensible 3D area round you, by understanding the digital surroundings you are in. It responds to actions, reminiscent of turning your head, and dynamically adjusts parts like quantity, echo, and reverb. The principle 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 power to adapt sound to your actions in actual time, making a extra immersive expertise.

Whereas ASAF might be performed on all of Apple’s platforms, like iOS or macOS, it is going to be skilled greatest with visionOS attributable to its deal with augmented actuality experiences.

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

ASAF is just supported on Apple gadgets, so it is going to be troublesome for it to ever totally change Dolby Atmos. With that in thoughts, don’t fret about Dolby Atmos going wherever anytime quickly, due to its broad help for a variety of various gadgets.

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