Apple Music to offer Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and lossless audio

Apple on Monday (May 17) announced Apple Music subscribers will get access to high-quality audio from June onwards.

The company said that most of the updated songs listed on Apple Music will support lossless audio in addition to Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos to offer an immersive experience.

These new features will enhance the listening experience a notch up on Apple devices. They will be offered to existing and new subscribers at no extra cost.

“Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality. 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 favorite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more. Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with Lossless Audio. Apple Music as we know it is about to change forever,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats.

By default, Apple Music will play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The company said it will continue to add new Dolby Atmos tracks constantly and will be curating a special set of Dolby Atmos playlists to help listeners find the right music.
Apple Music has also set a target of adding more than 70 million lossless audios to its catalog.

"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," the company noted.

However, for the lossless audio, users have to tweak settings in Apple Music.

To start listening to Lossless Audio, subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music can turn it on in Settings > Music > Audio Quality. Once done, it will offer Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.1.

In India, Apple Music subscription for individuals costs Rs 99/month, Rs 149/month for a family (of five members), and Rs 49/month for students.

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