There has been a combination of rumours and code evidence in a recent iOS 14.6 Beta release that show Apple is planning a Hifi version of Apple Music with support for Dolby audio formats including Dolby Atmos.

Apple Music Digital Masters

Currently, Apple already has their ‘Apple Digitial Masters’ label, which they released back in 2019 saying…

“About 75% of the Top 100 in the U.S. and 71% of the Top 100 globally were created under the program”.

Digital Masters, enables artists to offer higher-quality tunes and Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, and Sigrid, for example, have all chosen to offer use this higher quality service on iTunes, with second-generation AirPods able to take advantage of the ‘Digital Masters’ catalogue.

Apple Music HiFi - Rumour

It has been recently reported that Apple sources have told music site Hits Daily Double under the heading Apple Going HiFi? that Apple will announce a new high-fidelity audio streaming tier…

“Apple will announce a new high-fidelity audio streaming tier in the coming weeks at the same $9.99-per-user price point as its standard plan, label sources are telling us.

The announcement is expected to coincide with the launch of the third-generation AirPods. Whether these will be compatible with the new, improved audio offering is unknown.

Speculation within the industry suggests Apple's move is to provide a more aggressively priced, higher-quality option after Spotify announced this week it was raising prices.”

The $9.99 price tag, if correct, suggesting that Apple will not charge more for its HiFi plan.

Apple Music HiFi - Evidence

9to5Mac has now confirmed that a HiFi plan could be coming to Apple Music. In the first beta build of iOS 14.6, which was released recently to developers, they found that new code had been added to the iOS Music app specifically mentioning ‘Dolby Atmos’, ‘Dolby Audio’ and ‘Lossless’.

Some of you will be confused by the inclusion of the word ‘Lossless’, after all, Apple already has its own lossless codec - ALAC, however, ALAC and the Apple Music app do not have support for Dolby Atmos or Dolby Audio.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

It would appear that Apple has spotted the ‘leak’ because when 9to5Mac verified the internal files of iOS 14.6 beta 2, there was no reference to Dolby Atmos’, ‘Dolby Audio’ and ‘Lossless’. all suggesting that mention of Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio are indeed something new that Apple is trying to keep under wraps.

That’s what we know so far, but it is great news for all of us looking to create music in Dolby Atmos that another of the big music delivery platforms is planning to deliver Dolby Atmos content, following the lead of TIDAL and Amazon.