Apple Music has confirmed that it will support spatial and Hi-Res Audio this June, following rumors of a new subscription tier called Apple Music Hi-Fi

Instead of a new tier, these upgrades will be available to all Apple Music subscribers with no change to the current $999 per month subscription fee Apple previously posted a teaser on the Apple Music app, promising that "music is about to change forever"

Apple's announcement did not include the previously rumored AirPods 3, but Apple Music subscribers will be able to listen to spatial audio-mastered songs on their AirPods Pro or AirPods Max In fact, any Apple product with an H1 or W1 chip will work with the iPhone 12 series speakers as well

"Thousands" of songs will be mastered for Dolby Atmos and will also support spatial audio, a 3D surround sound format This is a major step forward for spatial audio in general, as previously it was not possible to enjoy it with music As such, Apple Music will bring it to a whole new medium

Apple Music will also offer a choice of lossless playback formats "CD-quality" 16-bit/441 kHz streaming will be available for those who don't want to use much data, but a 24-bit/48 kHz option will also be available This takes Apple Music into true high-res audio territory, but be aware that trying to play high-res music on an iPhone can be tricky

Just open Apple Music settings, go to "Music," and select "Audio Quality"

Apple has not revealed when these changes will take effect in June, but it will again be a free upgrade: Apple Music subscriptions will remain $999 per month

Competing streaming services with Hi-Fi tiers, such as Tidal and Deezer, are more expensive, so this could be a significant savings for those who want to try lossless/Hi-Res Audio streaming Spotify, which recently raised the price of its premium tier, has yet to even launch its own lossless tier

Hopefully, when Apple launches the AirPods 3, it too will support Apple Music's newfound spatial audio capabilities and be able to play lossless audio at its best