Apple Music Classical announced; to roll out from March 28

Apple has officially announced its new Apple Music Classical app, which is slated to go live on the App Store starting 28 March 2023. After acquiring Amsterdam-based Primephonic in 2021, Apple had originally aimed to release a dedicated classical music only app by the end of 2022.

Apple Music Classical will not come natively bundled into iOS, but as a standalone application available on the App Store. Worry not, though. Subscription to the app comes bundled with a standard Apple Music subscription.

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Apple Music Classical will be capable of streaming at up to 192 kHz/24 bit hi-res lossless quality and also support Dolby Atmos spatial audio support. Moreover, one can also stream music via AirPlay on compatible wireless Apple devices.

This app will include thousands of spatial audio recordings, and offer curated playlists, exclusive albums, composer biographies for each work, as well as deep-dive guides for many key pieces of music. Classical music is often called upon as the best use case for experiencing truly spatial audio.

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Like Primephonic, Apple Music Classical will offer thorough and accurate classical metadata, the company says. The same has often been a challenge for most music streaming services which offer all music genres in one place. This means one can search for music by composer, conductor, or even a catalog number, and find the recordings of their choice in an instant.

For now, Apple Music Classical will be an iOS exclusive release, but Apple says that it is already working on an Android version. Currently, it supports iOS 15.4 and later versions of Apple’s proprietary operating systems and will be available in every nation where Apple Music services are offered. However, it must be noted that that there won’t be a native iPad version of the app as of now, and Apple has confirmed that Apple Music Classical will not include offline downloads as of now.

As of now, Apple Music Classical is available for pre-order on the App Store and will be released on 28 of March. To use it, an Apple Music subscription is required, whether it is an individual subscription, available for Rs 99 a month in India, a student plan available for Rs 59 a month, or a Family plan for Rs 149 per month in India. While it is also available with an Apple One bundle subscription, it is not included in the Apple Music Voice Plan, which is priced at Rs 49 per month in India.