Spatial Video: What It Is, How to Record It on iPhone and Watch It

A spatial video playing in a window on Apple Vision Pro. Image: Apple.

What is spatial video?

A spatial video is stereoscopic 3D video, two views of one scene from slightly different positions, like your two eyes, plus metadata that marks it as spatial video for Apple Vision Pro [1]. Technically it is a QuickTime movie with an MV-HEVC video track; MV-HEVC "stores the two views (one for each eye) in separate layers within the track" [1]. The still-picture version is the spatial photo.

On Vision Pro it opens in a window, with depth in the scene, or you can tap Immersive to see it at real-world scale [1]. It is not 360 or 180 video that surrounds you: Apple calls that immersive video, and describes its own Apple Immersive Video films as "180-degree 8K recordings" [12].

Last checked October 17, 2026: Apple's iPhone 18 Pro specifications.

Which iPhones can record spatial video

Apple's list, as of October 2026: iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max; iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max; iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max; iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max [3]. The iPhone 16e and iPhone Air are not on it. Apple Vision Pro also records spatial video with its own cameras [7].

The iPhone 15 Pro was first, with iOS 17.2 in December 2023 [2]. Meta's help page still says the 15 Pro and Pro Max "are the only iPhones that can shoot Spatial Videos" [8]; Apple's list above is newer.

How to record spatial video on iPhone

1. Open Camera and swipe right to Spatial mode [4].
2. Turn the iPhone to landscape [4].
3. Tap the spatial video button (the other button is for spatial photos) [4].
4. Tap Record to start [4], and tap it again to stop [5].

Apple's advice for good results: keep the iPhone steady and level, frame your subjects 3 to 8 feet away, and use even, bright light [4]. On an iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 18 or earlier, the button sits in Video mode instead: choose Video, turn to landscape, and tap the spatial video button [5].

The video goes into your library like any other; Photos also gathers them in a Spatial album [2].

No Spatial mode or button?

How to watch spatial video

On Apple Vision Pro

Spatial videos you record on the iPhone appear on Vision Pro by themselves if both devices use the same Apple Account with iCloud Photos turned on [4]. Open Photos, tap Spatial in the tab bar, choose a video, and tap the Immersive button to see it life-size [2][7]. If a video has too much motion, Vision Pro shows an alert when you open it in Immersive view [7]. A video recorded on someone else's iPhone can be shared with you to watch on your Vision Pro [7].

Apple's US store lists Vision Pro from $3,699 [9].

Last checked October 17, 2026: Vision Pro price, Apple's US store page, opened from outside the US.

On Meta Quest

1. On your iPhone, open the Meta Horizon app, tap Menu, then Gallery [8].
2. Tap Upload, choose Spatial, select your videos and tap Upload [8]. Each video can be up to 20 minutes long [8].
3. In the headset, open the Gallery app and choose Spatial videos from the drop-down at the top right [8].

Meta's page names only the iPhone 15 Pro models [8]. If videos from a later iPhone do not appear under Spatial, a side-by-side copy plays on a Quest too.

On other headsets, 3D TVs and 3D screens

Standard 3D players and video editors work with side-by-side or top-and-bottom files [11], so make a side-by-side copy:

• On the iPhone: i3DMovieMaker opens a spatial video from the Spatial album and saves its left and right images in other 3D formats; saving video needs a one-time in-app purchase [10].
• On an Apple silicon Mac: Mike Swanson's free command-line tool spatial exports a spatial video to side-by-side or top-and-bottom, and makes spatial video from those formats too [11].

Then play the copy as 3D side-by-side in a player on your headset (VR video players) or TV.

What owners report

First-hand comments; we have not tested them.

• Night scenes. A Vision Pro owner, under a YouTube video in 2024: "Currently videos take a hit on sharpness and low light performance so night scenes look muddy. But well lit scenes look fantastic." [15]
• On a 3D TV. A viewer, late 2023 or 2024: "I watched it on my LG 3D TV and looks awesome. The nearby contents have a good depth, but the far away contents looks flat." [16]
• Shared albums. A Vision Pro owner on Apple's Support Community, February 2024, found videos from a shared album "are recognized as regular videos"; ten people clicked "Me too". The reply: "we have to use airdrop to send videos directly to the AVP." [17]

Spatial video vs 3D side-by-side

The picture is the same kind of 3D: a pair of views, one per eye [1]. What differs is the packaging and where it plays.

Does spatial video show more of the scene when you move your head, as Apple's demos seemed to show? Mic Ty of 360rumors tested it on Vision Pro's launch day: "nothing I did changed the perspective of the spatial video", and he saw no difference from ordinary 3D video [13].

Make a spatial video from a 2D video

A video you recorded in 2D has no second view, so it cannot become spatial by changing the file format. Software can create the second view with AI.

Owl3D, the publisher of this guide, makes the Owl3D converter. On a Mac it exports Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro; on Windows and Mac it exports side-by-side, half side-by-side and top-bottom 3D for a Quest, a 3D TV or a projector. The conversion runs on your own computer and takes time, not real time. It is an AI conversion of a 2D video, not footage filmed in 3D. The free plan has no watermark and a limit of 60 seconds of video per conversion; plans are on the pricing page. Immersity for Web, a paid service from Leia, also exports MOV MV-HEVC, a format "for viewing stereoscopic videos on the Apple Vision Pro headset" [14].

From Owl3DOwl3D converterA desktop app for Windows and Mac that turns 2D videos and photos into 3D.

Frequently asked questions

Can I watch spatial video without a Vision Pro?

Yes. A Meta Quest plays it after you upload it with the Meta Horizon app [8], and a side-by-side copy plays on other 3D headsets and screens (how).

Is spatial video 4K?

Not from an iPhone. Apple lists spatial video recording at 1080p and 30 frames per second, on the iPhone 15 Pro and still on the iPhone 18 Pro [2][6].