In a recent developer session, Apple quietly revealed its new spatial audio format. While new innovations like Liquid Glass and Apple Immersive Video took most of the limelight at the company’s WWDC25 conference, new details about the Apple Spatial Audio Format (ASAF) were announced. While the new format will run on most Apple platforms, including tvOS, iOS, and macOS, it was specifically designed for visionOS, the operating system of Apple Vision Pro. Because of this, not only does ASAF calibrate audio for object positioning like all spatial audio, but it also adjusts audio based on the user’s head position.
“Spatial Audio is as important as video when considering creating a compelling immersive experience,” said Apple Immersive Video Engineer Blake Gordon. “We have created a new format for Spatial Audio called Apple Spatial Audio Format, or ASAF. ASAF is used in production to create truly immersive audio experiences. The Apple Positional Audio Codec, or APAC, is used to encode this audio format for delivery purposes.”
While the above video focuses mostly on Apple’s immersive video tech, the new spatial audio format is discussed beginning at the 11:21 mark.
