Dolby Atmos’ latest competitor is not what I anticipated

Dolby Atmos is without doubt one of the hottest, and arguably among the finest, 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 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

In case you’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 (equivalent 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 totally different heights, quite than simply from left, proper, or middle.

So what does ASAF must do with this? As Flatpanels HD reviews, ASAF is actually Apple’s model of Dolby Atmos, and it is designed to create an immersive 3D sound setting. ASAF has two important elements you need to be conscious of. The primary is ASAF itself, utilized by builders in audio and video manufacturing to place audio components in a 3D area. The second is APAC (Apple Positional Audio Codec), the codec accountable 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 practical 3D area round you, by understanding the digital setting you are in. It responds to actions, equivalent 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 power to adapt sound to your actions in actual time, making a extra immersive expertise.

Whereas ASAF may be performed on all of Apple’s platforms, like iOS or macOS, will probably be skilled finest with visionOS as a result of its give attention to augmented actuality experiences.

Apple mentioned at WWDC 2025 that the brand new APAC codec will probably 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 may nonetheless be used along with 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 will probably be tough for it to ever absolutely substitute Dolby Atmos. With that in thoughts, don’t be concerned about Dolby Atmos going wherever anytime quickly, because of its broad help for a spread of various gadgets.

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Don’t fret — you will not must improve in case you already like your present Atmos setup.