Being seen is an essential part of any video call, but being heard is just as important. Poor audio from you can ruin the experience for other people on the call if they can’t understand you or hear the tones they need or want to hear. Unlock your iPhone’s hidden audio filters to enhance your audio feed during FaceTime, Google Meet, Instagram, WhatsApp, Zoom and other video calls.
Microphone mode processing was first introduced in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey along with video effects as a new FaceTime feature. But you can use it in almost any audio and video calling app as long as it adds support.
With the hidden microphone mode effects, Apple gives you control over how the audio processor interprets the signal from your devices’ microphones. The effects use machine learning to either attenuate ambient noise around you to isolate your voice, or to include even more audio around you without annoying echoes.
There are three modes to choose from:
- default (default): This uses standard digital signal processing (DSP) for audio, the same processing available for all apps on your device.
- language isolation: This prioritizes your speech and removes unwanted ambient noise such as keyboard typing, mouse clicks, lawn mowers, construction work, etc. Use it when your voice is the only important thing others need to hear. It’s most useful in group video conferences and work meetings where you don’t need to emphasize sounds around you.
- wide spectrum: This minimizes audio processing to better capture your voice and all the noise around you, but still includes echo cancellation to keep calls smooth. Use it when you want other participants in the video call to feel like they’re right there with you. It’s most helpful when you chat with family so they don’t miss anything, and when you do music and other audio-based lessons, e.g. B. teaching someone to play the guitar or understanding music history.
Which apps support microphone mode?
Any app that uses Voice over Internet Protocol background mode automatically supports microphone mode without code changes, but only for video calls.
That means it won’t work on audio-only calls or when recording video in a camera app. So for apps like FaceTime, Google Meet, Skype, and Zoom, you can use microphone mode in any video conference. But for other apps that don’t focus on video conferencing, like Instagram and WhatsApp, you can only use them for video calls – not audio messages or stories.
When recording video stories in apps like Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, the video effects tool may work but the microphone mode is useless. Developers can manually disable support in their apps, and those not using VoIP background mode can integrate the feature.
Which devices support microphone mode?
Microphone mode works on any iPhone running iOS 15 or later with an A12 Bionic or newer chip. The chip requirements are the same for the iPad, and you should be running iPadOS 15 or later. It’s also available on Mac models from 2018 or later with macOS Monterey 12 or later. The full list of compatible Apple devices can be found at the bottom of this article.
How to enable microphone mode effects in supported apps
Start a video call or conference in whatever app you normally use for it, then open Control Center. If the app supports “Video Effects” and/or “Microphone Mode”, you will see two new buttons for it above. By default, the microphone mode is always set to “Standard” and you have to switch it manually – apps can’t change it for you.
To change the mode, tap on “Mic Mode” and a new menu will appear with the different options. Choose from Voice Isolation, Wide Spectrum, or Standard. Then tap on the background to return to the main Control Center screen and you should see your selected filter with the name inside the Mic Mode button. Exit Control Center and resume your call with better audio.
An app may support video effects but not microphone mode. In this case, the Microphone Mode button would say “Off” and nothing would happen when you tapped it. In some cases, you’ll see “Default” but you can’t select a different audio filter when you open the microphone mode selector. Instead, you get the “Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum are currently unavailable” warning.
All Apple devices that support microphone mode
- iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iphone 11
- iPhone 11 pro
- iPhone 11 Pro max
- iPhone 12 mini
- iphone 12
- iPhone 12 pro
- iPhone 12 pro max
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 pro
- iPhone 13 Pro max
- iPad mini (5th generation and above)
- iPad (8th generation and above)
- iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
- iPad Pro 11 inch (all generations)
- iPad Pro 12.9 inch (3rd generation and above)
- MacBook Air (2018)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018)
- MacBook Pro (15 inch, 2018)
- Mac mini (2018)
- iMac (21.5 inch, 4K, 2019)
- iMac (27-inch, 5K, 2019)
- MacBook Air (2019)
- MacBook Pro 13″ 2019
- MacBook Pro 15″ 2019
- MacBook Pro 16″ 2019
- Mac Pro (2019)
- iMac (27-inch, 5K, 2020)
- MacBook Air (2020)
- MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
- MacBook Pro 13″ 2020
- MacBook Pro 13″ M1 2020
- Mac mini (M1, 2020)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021)
- MacBook Pro 14″ M1 Max 2021
- MacBook Pro 16″ M1 Pro 2021
- MacBook Pro 16″ M1 Max 2021
- iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
- MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
- MacBook Pro 13″ M2 2022
- Mac Studio (2022)
Spatial audio in FaceTime
Besides microphone mode, spatial audio is another way to change your FaceTime audio settings. This feature distributes the voices so that they sound as if they are coming from the direction the person is positioned on the screen.
This audio mode is on by default as long as your device is compatible and works with AirPods (2nd Gen), AirPods (3rd Gen), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.
Spatial Audio is compatible with the same iPhone and iPad models listed above, running iOS and iPadOS 15 or later, but only with Mac computers with Apple Silicon running Monterey 12 or later, as listed below.
- Mac Studio (2022)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
- iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
- Mac mini (M1, 2020)
- MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
- MacBook Pro 13″ M1 2020
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