As rumored Apple has announced that it is bringing lossless audio to its entire Apple Music catalog. Contrary to what was previously rumored the company is offering the higher quality lossless audio to Apple Music subscribers at no extra cost.
Every song that is available on Apple Music streaming service will be offered with Lossless audio through Apple’s ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format. This format will preserve every single bit of the original audio file according to Apple.
The Lossless Audio feature is opt-in and uers can enable it by going into Settings -> Music -> Audio Quality.
Apple Music’s Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz and is playable natively on Apple devices. For the true audiophile, Apple Music also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.
-Apple
The feature will be available with the release of iOS 14.6.
The fact that Apple is offering lossless audio to Apple Music subscribers without charging extra comes as a surprise, as everyone expected the company to offer a more expensive tier for lossless audio, similar to its biggest competitor in the space Spotify.
In addition to Lossless audio Apple is also bringing Spatial Audio feature with support for Dolby Atmos to Apple Music. With this update users will be able to enjoy immersive audio experience with “true multidimensional sound and clarity”.
The Spatial Audio feature will be activated on Apple Music for users of AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 and W1 Chip. The feature will also be available on latest models of iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Apple Music will display a Dolby Atmos badge on albums that are available with its support while a new playlist with Dolby Atmos supported tracks will also be launched on Apple Music service.
Just like Lossless audio Apple will be offering Spatial Audio feature to Apple Music subscribers at no extra cost.
