Netflix may be testing spatial audio support for the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro

One of the neat tricks that the AirPods Pro introduced is support for spatial audio. It gives a “theater-like” experience when listening to supported content on your iPhone or iPad. And Netflix may fall under the supported content category in the near future.

That’s according to a report from iPhoneSoft. The publication states it heard from a developer at Netflix regarding the support, and that development has been underway for the iPhone and iPad since December of last year. This is potentially exciting news, even though it’s just a rumor for now. It’s certainly plausible, though. Netflix already supports surround sound by default, and surround sound is what spatial audio converts into virtual surround sound for AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.

There is also no word on when Netflix might launch support for spatial audio. The original report states that it may launch sometime in the spring of this year, and that a limited amount of content will be supported right out of the gate. However, when that might be, and just what content might be supported remains unknown.

A safe guess is that it will be a lot of Netflix’s first-party stuff at launch, if they decide to be picky about it.

Tutorial: How to use AirPods Pro spatial audio for an immersive 3D experience

Spatial audio is supported with the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro, but you need to be watching content on your iPhone or iPad. It brings dynamic head tracking to the in-ear headphones, offering up the ability to place sound anywhere in space. So as you turn your head, the sound that emits from the headphones will still sound like it’s coming from the iPhone or iPad.

It really is fun to listen to. Have you tried it out?