Apple has started to rollout the lossless audio and spatial audio upgrades for Apple Music announced last month.
The new lossless audio feature will be available for a catalogue of more than 75 million songs to all Apple Music subscribers. It will allow listeners to experience songs of the same quality the artists’ record in the studios.
Apple will use the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) to make its entire catalogue available in the highest audio quality possible. The latest version of the app allows hi-resolution lossless playback up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.
The Cupertino-based tech giant has also rolled out Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos to Apple Music, which will allow users to experience a more immersive sound and creators to mix music to leverage the feature.
Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos songs, the built-in speakers in the latest iPhone versions, iPad and Mac, and Airpods and Beats headphones with H1 or W1 chips. In addition, any album available in Dolby Atmos will have a badge on it to make it easier for people to discover tracks.
At the time of the launch, Spatial Audio will be enabled on thousands of songs ranging from hip-hop to classical. In addition, the company is actively working with more labels to expand its catalogue.
Spatial audio is also expected to roll out to Android devices in future updates.
Homepod and Homepod mini will also support lossless audio. However, Airpods and Beats wireless headsets won’t as Bluetooth doesn’t support lossless audio playback.
Airpods Max can support an almost lossless audio playback using Apple’s Lightning to 3.5mm audio cable. Those looking to connect their existing wired headphones or speakers to a newer version of iPhone or iPad can use Apple’s Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that supports 24-bit/48 kHz lossless audio.
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