Apple Music Launching Spatial Audio With Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio in June at No Extra Cost

by

Apple today announced that Apple Music will be gaining support for Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos at no additional cost starting in June.

apple music spatial audio
At launch, Apple Music subscribers will have access to thousands of songs in Spatial Audio from artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and many others. Apple says this feature will provide a "revolutionary, immersive audio experience that enables artists to mix music so the sound comes from all around and from above."

Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen to more than 75 million songs in Lossless Audio at no additional cost:

Apple Music will also make its catalog of more than 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio. 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.

Apple says 20 million songs will be available in Lossless Audio at launch, with the full 75 million songs available by the end of the year.

Apple Music's standard Lossless tier will start at "CD quality," which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz, and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz, according to Apple. Apple Music will also offer Hi-Res Lossless up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.


By default, Apple Music will automatically 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 the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, according to Apple.

Apple Music will be getting new Dolby Atmos tracks constantly and will offer a curated selection of Dolby Atmos playlists, according to Apple. Dolby Atmos albums will have a badge on their detail page for easy discovery.

Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio will be available on iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, macOS 11.4, and tvOS 14.6 or later.

Tag: Apple Music Guide

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Read Full Article • 64 comments
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Read Full Article
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Read Full Article • 28 comments
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Read Full Article • 227 comments
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Read Full Article • 132 comments
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
Read Full Article • 220 comments
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
Read Full Article • 29 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...
Read Full Article • 66 comments

Top Rated Comments

markfc Avatar
markfc
48 months ago
For no additional cost!!! Awesome.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Expos of 1969 Avatar
Expos of 1969
48 months ago

I have yet to meet a soul that will listen to music past a certain point, usually the decade that they were a teenager. Regardless, Beethoven isn't going to produce a new composition.
Hello, nice to meet you. I am 62 and am happily discovering new music all the time.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
poseidondev Avatar
poseidondev
48 months ago
There seems to be a lot of misconceptions and questions going around.

For now, Atmos is specifically mentioned ('https://www.apple.com/apple-music/') for HomePod as well. They don't specifically mention the HomePod for lossless.



[HEADING=2]How can I listen to Dolby Atmos music?[/HEADING]
All Apple Music subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV7 ('https://www.apple.com/apple-music/#footnote-8') can listen to thousands of Dolby Atmos music tracks using any headphones. When you listen with compatible Apple or Beats headphones,8 ('https://www.apple.com/apple-music/#footnote-9') Dolby Atmos music plays back automatically when available for a song. For other headphones, go to Settings > Music > Audio and set Dolby Atmos to Always On. You can also hear Dolby Atmos music using the built‑in speakers on a compatible iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, or HomePod,9 ('https://www.apple.com/apple-music/#footnote-10') or by connecting your Apple TV 4K to a compatible TV or audiovisual receiver.


[HEADING=2]How can I listen to lossless audio?[/HEADING]
You can listen to lossless audio using the latest Apple Music app on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV.7 ('https://www.apple.com/apple-music/#footnote-8') Turn on lossless audio in Settings > Music > Audio Quality. You can choose between Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless for cellular or Wi-Fi connections. Note that Hi-Res Lossless requires external equipment such as a USB digital to analog converter.
Additionally, even with wireless headphones you can enjoy "lossless", i.e. an improvement in quality. Only what they call "Hi-Res Lossless" requires a DAC (like the dongle) and wired headphones to enjoy, which for the average audiophile is not some shocking news, and they were probably already exclusively using wired headphones anyways.


In Apple Music, “Lossless” refers to lossless audio up to 48kHz, and “Hi-Res Lossless” refers to lossless audio from 48kHz to 192kHz. Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless files are very large and use much more bandwidth and storage space than standard AAC files.

Apple Music’s Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), and goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz and is playable natively on Apple devices. For the true audiophile, Apple Music also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.
1. Due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Audio, subscribers will need to opt in to the experience. Hi-Res Lossless also requires external equipment, such as a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Atmos will automatically be selected when you use compatible Apple or Beats headphones, but as you can read in the "How can I listen to Dolby Atmos music?" quote, you can also enable this for other headphones if you happen to have a headphone that supports it.

Which Apple or Beats headphones are considered compatible?
These:


[LIST=1]
* Works with AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, BeatsX, Beats Solo3 Wireless, Beats Studio3, Powerbeats3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro.

These are the devices (plus HomePod) that are listed as compatible with Dolby Atmos:


[LIST=1]
* Works with iPhone 7 or later with the latest version of iOS; iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch, iPad (6th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), and iPad mini (5th generation) with the latest version of iPadOS; and MacBook Pro (2018 model or later).

And both Atmos and Lossless will become available with:


[LIST=1]
* Available in iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, macOS 11.4, or tvOS 14.6 or later.

Hope this answers some recurring questions.

[HR][/HR]
That said…
Can we stop badgering people that don't use Apple Music and instead are using their own library in iTunes?
I'm a happy AM user and don't use the iTunes library, but how ridiculous is it that people have to justify why they'd rather use their own catalogue of music or that they are being attacked for expressing their disappointment that the press release doesn't mention anything about an option to upgrade their music quality?

Let's keep it civil and respect everyone's choices.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ruka.snow Avatar
ruka.snow
48 months ago

lol. In 2021 most people are streaming.
Why? If you already own every song you listen to. Why would you pay monthly to stream the same songs you own?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
snapster Avatar
snapster
48 months ago

I already own all the music I listen too, why would I buy more?
You've already read all the content on MacRumors -- why did you visit again?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
brofkand
48 months ago
20+ years after the digital download music revolution we are finally back to CD quality, and even exceeding it. Amazing it took this long.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments