The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max both offer the ability to record spatial video, which could in turn be used on the Apple Vision Pro headset. Rumor has it that all iPhone 16 models will offer that same functionality, and Apple may extend those capabilities to other camera apps in the process.
Apple confirmed this news during a coding session at WWDC 2024 (via MacRumors). Apparently the company has released an API that lets developers add spatial recording capabilities to other apps. Better still, it’s built into the existing camera framework, which means it should be easy for developers to implement.
Spatial video works on iPhone 15 Pro by combining the main and ultrawide angle cameras when the phone is held in landscape mode. By capturing video from two separate angles simultaneously, depth is added to the video — which lets Apple Vision Pro users play the videos back with a 3D-style effect.
The current batch of rumors claim that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will rearrange their camera lenses into a vertical format. It’s expected that this has been done to allow spatial video recording on both devices, meaning more people can produce their own Vision Pro capable videos.
That means developers would also have a much larger pool of potential users, and could incentivize them to add spatial video recording to their apps. Imagine being able to record spatial video in the TikTok app and immediately upload it to the feeds of Vision Pro users around the world.
But the ball is currently in the developers’ court, and it’s entirely on them to add spatial video recording to their apps. Until they do, the feature is going to be restricted to Apple’s own camera app, and only on the phones that support it.
So here’s hoping by the time the iPhone 16 launches there’s a more third-party support.
