Apple Music Beta for Android Confirms Lossless Audio Streaming in the Works

[MacRumors]

Following a report that Apple could announce a brand new HiFi Apple Music tier as soon as Tuesday, May 18, new warnings within the music streaming services app on Android have confirmed that lossless audio is in the works.

As reported by 9to5Google, the Apple Music beta for Android has multiple warnings within the app that inform users that streaming audio at lossless, another term often used for high-fidelity streaming, will consume more data and bandwidth.

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 lossless

Lossless 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 kHzSupport varies and depends on song availability, network conditions, and connected speaker or headphone capability.

Suggestion of a lossless audio tier for Apple Music first sparked earlier this month with a report from Hits Daily Double. The report stated a launch is imminent and that the new tier will cost the same $9.99 as the current individual Apple Music package; however, how Apple will allow existing customers to upgrade to HiFi remains unknown.

Apple is currently testing iOS and iPadOS 14.6 with developers, which compared to iOS 14.5 released in April, the upcoming update seems more subdued with new features and changes. Code within the update, although, has indicated that users will have the option to switch between different streaming qualities and that Apple Music may be able to dynamically switch between lossless and standard audio depending on factors such as signal strength, battery life, and data consumption.

Article Link: Apple Music Beta for Android Confirms Lossless Audio Streaming in the Works

 

[Zadigre]

I hope this will be a free upgrade for those paying for Apple One subscription.

 

[FightTheFuture]

Oof. Not sure why I didn't consider the impact of data usage with lossless. I listen to music most in the car.

 

[SamRyouji]

This is great for me to listen every single details of my favourite music and concentrate on my works while at Starbucks. Finally free WiFi has earned another usefulness instead of just working or gaming on public.

Edit: My country has a minimal lockdown measures with still the same strict health and safety protocols, if you wonder why I still could get outside.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Honestly, I love the current iPhone model. But if Apple decides to port iTunes, iWork Apps, and at least most of the Apple Ecosystem over to Android I'd consider picking up a Galaxy or Pixel .... just one of those two.

 

[CarpalMac]

Honestly, I love the current iPhone model. But if Apple decides to port iTunes, iWork Apps, and at least most of the Apple Ecosystem over to Android I'd consider picking up a Galaxy or Pixel .... just one of those two.

My personal ideal would be vanilla Android on iPhone (Pro) hardware. But for the very reason you just gave, that is why they for the absolute foreseeable, will not. iPhone is still their majority revenue stream.

 

[xxray]

Not gonna lie, as a Spotify user, this is appealing. And the fact that such a high-profile streaming service is taking it seriously and adding it as a feature is huge. It used to be that you could only get music this high-quality if you bought an album online from specific websites at 2-3x the cost of a normal album.

 

[GermanSuplex]

256kbps AAC is good enough for me. There's nothing wrong with having the best, but I can't really tell the difference between lossless and 128kbps mp3. I reckon for every 100 people who will swear by lossless, there's probably 1 or 2 who can actually tell the difference.

 

[CarpalMac]

Not gonna lie, as a Spotify user, this is appealing. And the fact that such a high-profile streaming service is taking it seriously and adding it as a feature is huge. It used to be that you could only get music this high-quality if you bought an album online from specific websites at 2-3x the cost of a normal album.

I agree about the potential appeal but will depend on the pricing / bundling!

 

[dannyyankou]

Oof. Not sure why I didn't consider the impact of data usage with lossless. I listen to music most in the car.

If you have unlimited data, you could always stream. I have apple lossless files in my iCloud library and they stream with no issues.

 

[Feyl]

I can't wait for this honestly. Especially if it's a free upgrade.

 

[sorgo †]

I knew I went with that 1TB iPad Pro for a reason.

 

[AppleTO]

Oh wow! So it looks like their may be multiple formats options available. Nice.

 

[1258186]

This is exactly why we need strong competition from the likes of Spotify. Without their HiFi tier announcement a few weeks ago Apple would never have done this. People have been asking Apple for lossless downloads and streaming for years and they just ignored everyone. Now suddenly it’s all go. I bet they’re had this sitting in the wings for ages just waiting for Spotify to move first.

 

[mcfly88]

I mean nice to have the option, but ultimately it's gimmicky / pointless. 256 VBR is transparent for probably 95% of people. Even then... unless you have some golden ears / ridiculously expensive equipment.. I sincerely doubt you'll hear much of a difference, outside of side by side comparisons.

 

[Johnny London]

I am clueless yet how Apple will market hifi music to the masses. Looking at the obscene amount of data, a technical solution would be a new more efficient codec? Spotify user, but cannot wait for the reveal.

 

[bsamcash]

Goodbye Amazon Music HD!

 

[TheSynchronizer]

I mean nice to have the option, but ultimately it's gimmicky / pointless. 256 VBR is transparent for probably 95% of people. Even then... unless you have some golden ears / ridiculously expensive equipment.. I sincerely doubt you'll hear much of a difference, outside of side by side comparisons.

You’re forgetting the power of the placebo effect - if people believe the higher quality sounds better to them on their AirPods, then it will.

 

[caliguy]

Curious if they'll introduce a high end HomePod replacement for home theater that could make use of this.

 

[Kiaeldan]

Free upgrade for student too ?

 

[anza]

Please god let this be in conjunction with a top down rewrite of all versions of Apple Music, but especially macOS. Embarrassingly bad for a flagship service, just abysmal.

 

[AJTC]

If you have unlimited data, you could always stream. I have apple lossless files in my iCloud library and they stream with no issues.

They're not lossless when they upload to iCloud. Remove the download on your Apple Music macOS app and you'll see it switch to 256kbps when it re-downloads from iCloud.

I'm hoping with offering lossless streaming they'll allow us to upload lossless audio to our iCloud libraries.

 

[Spungoflex]

This is pretty huge news.

It not only indicates that Apple will be offering a "hi-res" audio option up to 24-bit/192 kHz, but even bigger news is that the "lossless" audio will be standard at 24-bit/48 kHz, which would be an industry-changing decision. CD is 16-bit/44.1 kHz.

Would absolutely LOVE Apple to push mainstream lossless to 48 kHz. That should have been the standard for CDs from the beginning.

 

[ladodger5]

I think 24 bit is overkill for most people but I'm glad it is an option

 

[ClockWork72]

Wow this would be perfect timing since I just upgraded to HiFi speakers.