The fourth developer beta of iOS 18.1 brings spatial photo capture to the iPhone 15 Pro ahead of the iPhone 16 launch, which also gets the feature.
On Tuesday, Apple released the fourth developer beta of iOS 18.1 for all compatible devices. While the main focus of the iOS 18.1 update is Apple Intelligence, the company's latest beta introduces support for a new camera-related feature on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
With iOS 18.1 developer beta 4, the iPhone 15 Pro gains support for spatial photos, meaning that users of this device will now be able to take immersive 3D images. Spatial photos taken with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro, letting users relive their favorite moments through the headset.
The spatial photo feature on iPhone was previewed at Apple's "Glowtime" event, held on September 9, 2024. During the event, Apple explained that every device belonging to the iPhone 16 range would be able to take spatial photos. This is in addition to the spatial video capability, which was already available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple has now brought the spatial photo capture feature over to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max as well, with the fourth developer beta of iOS 18.1. As a result, users will no longer need to rely on third-party applications as the only means of taking spatial images on these devices.
It's worth noting, however, that third-party products such as Spatialify still offer added functionality in certain areas. For instance, the Spatialify app lets users record spatial videos in 4K resolution, while Apple's built-in Camera app only lets users record 1080p spatial videos.
To take spatial photos on the iPhone 15 Pro, users will need to open the Camera app, select Spatial mode, and then rotate their iPhone to landscape mode. The user will then be presented with options to record spatial video and take spatial photos, as per the instructions on Apple's website.
iOS 18.1 introduces a variety of other new features to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in the form of Apple Intelligence, which lets users edit text and images. It also lets users summarize conversations through the help of Apple's generative AI software.
3 Comments
Do Spatial photos look any good? I'm not impressed with the 1080p Spatial video. How well do 4k versions look?
Is the depth of spatial photos viewable on iPhones and iPads? It seems like it would be easy enough, the way icons on the home screen seem to float over the background, but I’ve seen no mention of this. Maybe Apple is intentionally limiting this in the hope of getting more people to buy AVP.