What you need to know
- Apple has released a new beta for the Apple Music app on Android.
- The beta hints that the music service could start supporting lossless audio shortly.
We have another hint that lossless audio is incoming for Apple Music.
As reported by 9to5Google, Apple has released a new beta for the Apple Music app on Android. Looking into the Apple Music 3.6.0 beta, the outlet discovered language talking about download options for lossless audio.
According to the report, Apple could release both "lossless" and "high-res lossless" versions of songs. The lossless versions of a song would stream at 24-bit/48kHz but high-res lossless would crank that up all of the way to 24-bit/192 kHz.
With Apple Music 3.6.0 Beta, rolling out now via the Google Play Store, we've found similar signs of high-quality audio streaming and downloading options coming to Apple Music for Android. As you'd expect, Apple includes a prominent warning of how much data and storage high-quality audio uses.Lossless audio files preserve every detail of the original file. Turning this on will consume significantly more data.Lossless audio files will use significantly more space on your device. 10 GB of space could store approximately: – 3000 songs at high quality – 1000 songs with lossless – 200 songs with hi-res losslessLossless streaming will consume significantly more data. A 3-minute song will be approximately: – 1.5 MB with high efficiency- 6 MB with high quality at 256 kbps- 36 MB with lossless at 24-bit/48 kHz- 145 MB with hi-res lossless at 24-bit/192 kHz. Support varies and depends on song availability, network conditions, and connected speaker or headphone capability.
Rumors of a Hi-Fi version of songs on Apple Music starting circulating at the beginning of the month. The original rumor came from HITS Daily Double, which has only made one other prediction of an upcoming Apple product: the iPod. While that doesn't mean everything, it certainly does look more and more like they are on the money with the latest betas for Apple Music on both iOS and Android.
The launch of a lossless version of Apple Music is expected to be rolled into the existing $9.99 price, so customers will not have to pay more in order to enjoy higher-quality audio. Apple may also introduce its third-generation AirPods in the same announcement.
