A new report about the rumored iPhone 7 has surfaced on Tuesday, saying that tech giant Apple Inc. is planning to launch a high-resolution audio with lightning cable headphones that will be integrated with the company's next generation phone. The news comes after details of the said plan have been revealed by several industry sources during the Tokyo's Portable Audio Festival.
Sources who spoke to Mac Otakara claim that the Cupertino-based company is currently developing the Hi-Res Audio with a transmitting capacity of 96kHz/24bit, which will be officially launched in 2016, a report from iDigital Times said.
"This would allow Apple Music to offer Hi-Res Audio streaming, something that would differentiate Apple Music from rival streaming services. Not much is known about this, but the Hi-Res Audio music service could possibly be offered on a higher tier plan that steals the thunder away from audiophile-focused streaming services like Tidal," the report said.
Macrumors reports that aside from Apple, other audio equipment manufacturers are also planning to develop their own Lightning cables after recent speculations surfaced earlier this month that the Cupertino-based will improve the audio quality through its patented cable.
"Apple has long been rumored to be looking to introduce higher-quality audio formats for iTunes Store downloads and perhaps also Apple Music streaming. High-definition 24-bit downloads are said to offer better detail, greater depth, and a deeper bass response compared to traditional 16-bit music downloads, but the file sizes are much larger. Though Apple only offers 16-bit audio files at present, the company does encourage artists to submit music in a 24-bit 96kHz resolution, which it uses to "create more accurate encodes," the report said.
It can be recalled that back in 2014, popular music blogger Robert Hutton has made a similar claim with that of Mac Otakara, saying that Apple is planning to release a high-resolution audio for the company's iTunes Store.