How to record spatial videos on your iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max

It’s been about a week since Apple began rolling out the iOS 17.2 update to iPhone users. The update brings with it several exciting new features, including the Journal app (finally!), catch-up arrows for messages, live translations with the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, contact key verification, and more.

However, an interesting new feature introduced with the update is the ability to record spatial videos on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. Here’s everything you need to know about the feature and how to use it.

What is the spatial video feature?

Support for spatial videos was first announced at WWDC earlier this year. What it essentially does, is allow iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max users to capture videos that can be viewed in 3D, using the Apple Vision Pro headset.

The headset itself is slated to go on sale sometime early next year. Now, users can capture spatial videos at 1080p at 30fps, with a standard dynamic range. Moreover, according to Apple, the feature also makes use of HEVC compression, such that the same is stored on the phone in a compressed size, as spatial video files are otherwise extremely large.

How to capture spatial videos on your iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

Here’s how to enable spatial video recording on your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Setting up spatial video recording on your iPhone for the first time

1. Ensure your iPhone is updated to iOS 17.2.

2. Head to the Settings app on your device.

3. Scroll and find the Camera settings and tap on the same.

4. Here, tap on “Formats,” and then turn the toggle on for the option that mentions “Spatial video for Apple Vision Pro.”

Capturing spatial videos on your iPhone

At this stage, you’ve set up spatial video recording on your iPhone. From there, do the following.

1. Open the camera app on your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.

2. Select “Video mode,” and then rotate your iPhone to capture video in landscape mode.

3. Here, there should be a small button on the left, with a Vision Pro headset depicted on the same. Tap on it.

4. Now, tap on the record button or volume buttons, to start and stop recording.

5. From there, to turn spatial video recording off, hit the button with the Vision Pro headset on it again.

Best practices to capture spatial videos on your iPhone 

Here are a couple of tips to ensure best results while capturing spatial videos.

1. Keep your iPhone level. Consider using a gimbal or tripod if possible.

2. Frame subjects at between three and eight feet away from your iPhone’s camera.

3. Ensure there is bright and unfirm lighting for your subjects and their background as well.

After you’ve recorded your video, you can view it in 2D, as well as share it like you would with any other photo or video, through the Photos app on your iPhone. The same can be viewed in 3D on the Photos app on the Vision Pro headset.

It is important to note that spatial video recording support is available only on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. As mentioned earlier, these videos are captured in 1080p at 30fps with standard dynamic range. One minute of spatial video then, comes up to approximately 130MB.