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

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.