I was immediately giddy the other day when I learned that the AirPods Pro's spatial audio feature was finally available for testing; first announced at WWDC 2020, the feature presents audio in three dimensions, and when your head and AirPods Pro move, so does the sound of the show

I tested the AirPods Pro's spatial audio with an episode of the Apple TV Plus show "Ted Lasso" on my iPhone (spatial audio requires 51, 71, or Dolby Atmos audio content, so any song you can't play any) and it was weird and cool

As I placed the iPhone on the living room table, Jason Sudeikis' dulcet tones stayed in place and I walked around the phone, sounding as if I were moving through the show

But beyond this cool sensation, I'm hoping Apple is planning how to use their new spatial audio tricks Hopefully, it will create a more immersive experience and draw people into the world of seeing, where hearing is most important

The only tricky thing about Spacial Audio is how to get it For now, you'll have to download the iOS 14 public beta, the iPadOS public beta, or the macOS Big Sur public beta to try it out; once Apple releases the finalized versions of these major updates this fall, we should be able to support spatial audio that way should be able to support spatial audio that way

But that's not all: the AirPods firmware needs to be updated to version 3A283 I had this happen last night without doing anything special, but several other times it required a bit of work

The way to try to "force" the AirPods Pro case is to charge the AirPods with the AirPods in it and open the case lid Next, place one of your Apple devices near it Finally, wait It should download immediately

If your AirPods Pro firmware is not 3A283, you will need to go through the process of enabling the update Pair the AirPods with your iPhone as described above, making sure the AirPods are in the case and the case is charging Then open the lid with the AirPods in it and wait

It's annoying, but this is how I have done it successfully in the past Once you hear it for yourself, it will be worth it