Today, Apple revealed Spatial Scenes, a new iOS 26 feature that turns 2D photos into immersive 3D effects. And here’s the good news: even if you don’t have an iPhone compatible with Apple Intelligence, you’ll still get access to it. Here’s how it works.
As Apple explains it, the Spatial Scenes feature works by using advanced computer vision techniques running on the Neural Engine to reconstruct depth from flat images.
The result is a spatially reactive version of your photo that subtly shifts and animates as you move your phone, giving it a dynamic, almost video-like presence.
Apple first showed off the feature as part of its updated Lock Screen, but later explained that the same 3D effect will be built right into the Photos app, meaning you can relive any of your past moments with a surprising new sense of depth and motion.
While it uses on-device AI to create the effect, Spatial Scenes doesn’t rely on the full Apple Intelligence stack. So people on older iPhones will still be able to enjoy it, as long as their device supports iOS 26. What’s more, it also works with pretty much any photo you might have in your Photo Library.
In a way, Spatial Scenes in iOS 26 can be seen as a direct offshoot of the Spatial Photos format introduced with Apple Vision Pro. But instead of relying on dual-camera depth data or stereoscopic image pairs, it reconstructs 3D depth using advanced monocular computer vision techniques on-device.
From a platform perspective, this is a meaningful bridge: it brings a core spatial computing experience to millions of people who haven’t yet used Apple Vision Pro. By adding depth and motion to everyday photos, Apple is quietly turning the Photos app into something more immersive and emotionally engaging, mirroring one of the headset’s biggest selling points.
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Marcus Mendes is a Brazilian tech podcaster and journalist who has been closely following Apple since the mid-2000s.
He began covering Apple news in Brazilian media in 2012 and later broadened his focus to the wider tech industry, hosting a daily podcast for seven years.