What happened to Spatial Audio in iOS 26?

By Ricardo BrandΓ£o, 19 December, 2025

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hello dear friends and team, I hope and wish you all well.

To provide context, I'm a user of the spatial audio feature, especially with Apple Music, and I have a pair of second-generation AirPods Pro in perfect condition. I use an iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 26.2. I also activated the custom spatial audio function for the geometry of my head and ears.

I don't know if the iOS 26 updates or the AirPods firmware have anything to do with it, but it seems that the spatial audio has gotten worse, especially in relation to the center channel, where the voices of singers or the person in the center of a movie are usually located. Sometimes I miss the bass, sometimes the treble seems to be distorted, sometimes all of this happens at the same time.

Does anyone else experience this, especially with iOS 26? If our friend Levi Gobin, who has already demonstrated great mastery of audio, and other people who understand more or less, or even laypeople like me, could guide me, my gratitude would be immense.

Thank you all very much, a big hug, until next time!!!

Ricardo S. BrandΓ£o

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