Joining competitors like Amazon Music and Spotify, Apple Music has now announced the arrival of high-quality lossless audio and Spatial Audio streaming.
Both features will arrive next month at no extra cost to subscribers. Apple Music's catalogue of over 75 million songs will be available in Lossless Audio using their ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format, allowing subscribers to "hear the exact same thing that the artists created in the studio."
Apple Music's Lossless tier starts at CD-quality audio, which is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. For more demanding audiophiles, Apple Music also offers "Hi-Resolution Lossless" all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz, best enjoyed with an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Spatial Audio arrives with support for Dolby Atmos, allowing for immersive multi-dimensional playback on on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, in addition to built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Apple adds in its announcement that the company is "working with artists and labels to add new releases and the best catalog tracks, as more artists begin to create music specifically for the Spatial Audio experience."
Keeping in step with its competition, Amazon announced today that the compnay will stop charging extra for its lossless streaming tier.
Spotify, which announced their "HiFi" lossless streaming tier in February, will launch its high-quality audio features "later this year."
Tidal, meanwhile, continues to charge $19.99 a month for its high-quality "Tidal Masters" streaming tier.
Both features will arrive next month at no extra cost to subscribers. Apple Music's catalogue of over 75 million songs will be available in Lossless Audio using their ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format, allowing subscribers to "hear the exact same thing that the artists created in the studio."
Apple Music's Lossless tier starts at CD-quality audio, which is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. For more demanding audiophiles, Apple Music also offers "Hi-Resolution Lossless" all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz, best enjoyed with an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Spatial Audio arrives with support for Dolby Atmos, allowing for immersive multi-dimensional playback on on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, in addition to built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Apple adds in its announcement that the company is "working with artists and labels to add new releases and the best catalog tracks, as more artists begin to create music specifically for the Spatial Audio experience."
Keeping in step with its competition, Amazon announced today that the compnay will stop charging extra for its lossless streaming tier.
Spotify, which announced their "HiFi" lossless streaming tier in February, will launch its high-quality audio features "later this year."
Tidal, meanwhile, continues to charge $19.99 a month for its high-quality "Tidal Masters" streaming tier.