At its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple unveiled a streaming music service it billed as "revolutionary," but the company was mum on the actual format Apple Music would use. Now a new report claims to have discovered the bit rate of the service.
Apple Music will stream at 256 kilobits per second (kbps), according to The Next Web. Other streaming services, including Spotify, offer streams at 320kbps (albeit only to their premium subscribers).
Generally, the higher the bitrate, the better the sound quality, but in this case, it's not that simple. For its iTunes music downloads, Apple offers 256kbps tracks encoded in the AAC format. Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis and the current Apple-owned Beats Music app uses MP3s. Rdio, however, streams in AAC format at up to 320kbps.
According to most audio experts, music encoded in AAC format sounds better than both MP3 and Ogg at the same bit rate, and the files are often smaller, too. That means Apple Music could be less likely to stutter while streaming. But Apple hasn't yet confirmed that it's going with its usual AAC format for the new service.
We still don't know the sound quality for Apple Music's free offerings, which include iTunes Radio and the new live global station, Beats 1.
And whether or not the average listener can tell the difference between different kinds of audio files is up for debate. Tidal, Jay-Z's artist-focused streaming music service, launched with a big focus on audio quality, but the service has plummeted in App Store rankings since its March debut.
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment. Apple Music is set to launch June 30 as part of iOS 8.4.