iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max Users Can Compose Layered Recordings With Voice Memos Update

A new update to Voice Memos—an app for novice and professional musicians—now allows users the ability to layer a vocal track on top of an existing instrumental recording on iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max without the need for headphones.

With iOS 18.2, users will be able to play their original instrumental ideas through the iPhone speaker while simultaneously recording vocals using the new studio-quality microphones on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Voice Memos is powered by the A18 Pro chip and leverages advanced processing and machine learning to isolate the vocal recording. The app creates two individual tracks so users can apply additional mixing and production in professional apps like Logic Pro. With Voice Memos on Mac, layered recordings are further synced across devices and available on Mac to drag and drop into a Logic session.

Users can incorporate a variety of background instrumentals—like acoustic guitar or piano—as the first layer. In Logic Pro, artists and producers can also send an instrumental music mix as a compressed audio file directly to Voice Memos, making it easy to then record a vocal layer on top.

According to Apple, the Layered Recordings capability for Voice Memos is available on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max for users running iOS 18.2. Sharing to Voice Memos and importing a Layered Recording is available on Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 with macOS Sequoia 15.2 and Logic Pro for iPad 2.1 with iPadOS 18.2.

Additionally, Apple also announced in a media release on its website that a trio of GRAMMY Award winners—singer Michael Bublé, country star Carly Pearce, and record producer Greg Wells—have teamed up to compose a new track. The song “Maybe This Christmas” uses Voice Memos on iPhone 16 Pro. In a video, the artists share how the new Voice Memos feature allowed them to record their vocals on the iPhone 16 Pro.