Apple has introduced an innovative new feature for musicians and vocalists with its latest Voice Memos update for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The new Layered Recording capability, available with iOS 18.2, allows users to record vocal tracks over instrumental recordings without requiring headphones.
Leveraging the studio-quality microphones and A18 Pro chip in the latest Pro iPhones, the feature uses advanced processing and machine learning to cleanly separate vocal and instrumental tracks. Users can play their instrumental track through the iPhone's speaker while simultaneously recording vocals, with Voice Memos automatically creating two distinct layers.
Musicians can incorporate various background instruments like acoustic guitar or piano as the first layer. The feature also integrates smoothly with Logic Pro, enabling producers to send instrumental mixes directly to Voice Memos for adding vocal tracks whenever inspiration strikes.
To demonstrate the capabilities, Grammy winners Michael Bublé, Carly Pearce, and producer Greg Wells collaborated on a new holiday song "Maybe This Christmas" using the Voice Memos feature on iPhone 16 Pro.
"Voice Memos on iPhone plays a critical role in the creation process for musicians," noted Bublé. "With Layered Recordings, being unencumbered by the traditional studio experience becomes the advantage, not the limitation."
The recorded tracks sync across devices and can be easily imported into professional production software like Logic Pro on Mac or iPad for additional mixing and editing.
The Layered Recording feature requires iOS 18.2 and is exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro models. For importing and working with these recordings, users need Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 with macOS Sequoia 15.2 or Logic Pro for iPad 2.1 with iPadOS 18.2.