While Apple Music might be priced similarly and cheaper in some regards compared to its rivals, the question is will the price be worth it in terms of audio quality? This is something that Apple failed to mention during its announcement of their new service, but according to the folks at Slashgear (via AppleInsider), Apple Music will reportedly stream at 256kbps.
For the most part we’re not sure if the majority will be able to tell the difference between audio quality above a certain level, but for audiophiles with higher-end equipment, this could be a deal-breaker. Beats Music, for example, streams at 320kbps as does Apple Music’s chief rival Spotify. Tidal on the other hand goes even further with lossless streaming.
That being said, it should be noted that music sold on iTunes is also at the 256kbps standard so if you’re fine with that quality, then Apple Music’s streaming bitrate should not be an issue. In fact the fact that it is at 256kbps means its file size should technically be smaller so streaming it should be faster than when streaming higher-quality audio.
However like we said audiophiles might take issue with this “lower quality” stream. Apple has yet to confirm the quality of the stream or if there is an option to opt for better quality streams, but in the meantime what do you guys think? Does the 256kbps bitrate put you off, or do you think that it does not matter?
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