Apple Music to bring lossless audio to its entire catalogue for free in June

Apple announced a big upgrade for its music streaming service. Apple Music will bring high quality, lossless audio and Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Additionally, these high-quality audio enhancements will be available to all Apple Music users for free.

In a blog post, Apple said that it will have 75 million lossless audio songs in its catalogue. All users listening to AirPods or Beats audio accessories that use the H1 or W1 chip will be able to listen to tracks with lossless audio. Additionally, the latest versions of the iPhone, iPad and Mac devices will have spatial audio tuned by default in their built-in speakers.

The company will also offer a set of curated playlists with Dolby Atmos supported tracks, while albums available in Dolby Atmos will have a badge on the detail page. Apple uses ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) to preserve every single bit of the original audio file. This means Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear the exact same thing that the artists created in the studio.

Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said, “Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favourite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and many more. Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with Lossless Audio.”

Head to Settings > Music > Audio Quality. You can then opt for different resolutions for different connections, like cellular, Wi-Fi, or for download.

Apple Music Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz) and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. For the best experience, Apple also offers Hi-Res Lossless audio up to 24 bit at 192 kHz. Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio is coming to Apple Music starting June 2021.