Apple High Resolution Audio Formats Coming Next Year

The new comes from Mac Otakara who spoke to some industry sources at the Portable Audio Festival in Tokyo recently.

Tidal’s claim to fame may be high-resolution music streaming, but starting next year the artist-owned service could face some tough competition from Cupertino. Apple is preparing to launch high-resolution audio on its digital music store and Apple Music streaming service, according to Japanese blog Macotakara.

There have been several rumors in the past regarding Apple’s intentions for a high-res audio format. Earlier this year, Apple introduced the ability to transfer audio signals via the Lightning connector on its devices.

While there are many who wouldn’t notice the difference in audio files after conversion, audiophiles will be excited to know that higher quality audio streaming will soon be available on iDevices. This offered a break from the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple is hoping that offering Hi-Res Audio for Apple Music will lead to increased sales of the Apple iPhone. According to rumors, the company might just scrap the headphone jack in the next iPhone, which will make the Lightning connector the only option for both, charging and headphones. We are still going to have to wait for further updates in order to substantiate this claim but if Apple is working on better quality audio formats, then you can rest assure that the company is getting ready to tap the audio market. In essence, we’d take a bigger bite out of our monthly broadband data caps in exchange for songs that don’t sound noticeably better than they did before.