Apple today released iOS 18.2 for the masses, and now the company has highlighted an update to its Voice Memos app, touting it can be used to record songs professionally.
The Voice Memos app now allows iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users to record vocals directly over instrumental tracks. This means musicians such as Canada’s Michael Buble can create a new song right on the iPhone, like he did with country star Carly Pearce. The song is now available in Apple Music.
In iOS 18.2, users can play instrumental tracks through their iPhone speakers while recording vocals using the device’s studio-quality microphones—no headphones required.
The feature creates two separate audio tracks, thanks to the A18 Pro chip and advanced processing. These tracks can be mixed and edited later in professional apps like Logic Pro. Recordings made on iPhone can also sync to Mac through Voice Memos, letting you seamlessly integrate into your Logic Pro sessions.
So this means you can also layer background instrumentals such as acoustic guitar or piano as a first track, or even import compressed instrumental mixes from Logic Pro into Voice Memos to record vocals on top. Apple is basically touting iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max as a professional recording studio on the go.
Michael Bublé, Carly Pearce, and Greg Wells used the new feature to record the holiday song “Maybe This Christmas” entirely on the iPhone 16 Pro. “It’s so typically Apple to create something we didn’t know we needed but now can’t live without,” said Burnaby’s Buble.
Layered Recordings is exclusive to iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max running iOS 18.2. You’ll also need Logic Pro for Mac (macOS Sequoia 15.2) and iPad (iPadOS 18.2). Listeners can stream “Maybe This Christmas” on Apple Music in Spatial Audio.
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