Apple has launched a new app called Apple Music Classical, which is now available for download by everyone. This app is free of charge, but requires an Apple Music subscription. However, it is not accessible in certain countries including Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, and Turkey.
The app currently offers more than 5 million tracks, including western classical music, Hindustani classical music, and Carnatic music. The new service is based on Primephonic, a company that was acquired by Apple in 2021. The app also includes exclusive albums, composer bios, and editorial deep dives on certain key works.
Apple Music Classical is designed to focus more on the discovery of composers rather than interpreters. It allows users to filter tracks by composers, periods, genres, conductors, orchestras, ensembles, and choirs under the “Catalog” tab, and by different instruments through the “Instruments” tab. Curated playlists can also be found under the “Playlists” tab.
Although users can add a track to their library or own playlist, they cannot download tracks directly. Instead, they can add them to their library and download them via Apple Music, which can be a tedious process. Shuffle is also not available on the Classical app.
All compositions are available in quality up to 192kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless, and many tracks support immersive spatial audio with Dolby Atmos if users have compatible speakers or headphones. Currently, only AirPods Pro (1st or 2nd generation), AirPods Max, AirPods 3rd gen, or Beats Fit Pro support spatial audio.
The app is currently only available on iPhones, and cannot be accessed on Mac or iPad. To use the app, users must be running iOS 15.4 or newer.
In addition to the release of Apple Music Classical, Apple also launched the iOS 16.4 update on Monday, which includes features like new emojis, notifications for web apps, and voice isolation for improved call quality.