A few hours ago we reported on a new rumor that Apple is working on a HiFi plan for Apple Music. Now, clues have actually been discovered in the iOS 14.6 beta.
A new rumor According to reports, Apple plans to introduce a HiFi tier in Apple Music in the next few weeks, which will cost exactly the same as the current subscription. That would definitely be a deal-breaker! Now the US blog 9to5mac has been able to find clues in the code of iOS 14.6 ensurethat actually prove the whole thing. In the first beta build of iOS 14.6, which was released to developers last week, code appears in the Music app that specifically mentions "Dolby Atmos," "Dolby Audio," and "Lossless." Although the Music app supports Apple's own hi-fi audio codec ALAC, it has never offered support for Dolby Atmos or Dolby Audio. Interestingly, however, the code in question is only supposed to be present in the first beta version of iOS 14.6. That means it does not appear in iOS 14.5 or in the second - current beta - of iOS 14.6. This suggests that the mentions of Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio are actually related to something new that Apple wants to keep secret for the time being.
Apple Music with HiFi support could be introduced as early as May
Here's a quick explanation: HiFi songs have less audio compression, which means they sound better and with more detail. TIDAL, for example, has long been known to offer a HiFi plan, while Spotify recently announced that it is also working on a version with access to HiFi songs. Apple Music, on the other hand, currently only offers songs in the AAC codec with 256kbps bitrate. As things stand, iOS 14.6 will hardly have any new features. However, the update is supposed to introduce paid subscriptions in the Podcasts app. Apple has already stated that the new feature will be released sometime in May. The Hifi function for Apple Music may also be introduced at the same time. So it remains exciting as always. (Photo by Unsplash / Daniel Cañibano)
