Apple Wants To Offer 24-bit Music On iTunes

According to CNN, Apple is currently negotiating with different record labels to improve the quality of songs available in the iTunes Music Store.

Current songs can be downloaded in 16-bit format, and Apple wants to increase the quality of downloads to 24-bit high-fidelity format. This is a format in which studio recordings are being originally captured. Then they usually get downgraded to 16-bit format and delivered to CDs and iTunes.

A chairman of Universal Music Group's Interscoe-Geffen-A&M record label Jimmy Iovine told about Apple's intentions after unveiling new HP products with built-in "Beats Audio" support.

Many Macs and PCs support 24-bit sound and iTunes can also playback 24-bit files. But the problem is that many other PCs and most portable devices still do not support this format. Iovine said if Apple wants to offer high-fidelity audio quality, it should implement the support of 24-bit format in future iPhones and iPods.

Apple's latest upgrade of the songs quality was back in 2007, when iTunes 7.2 and iTunes Plus were released. iTunes Plus tracks are encoded in HQ 256kbps AAC quality and have no DRM-protection. This format became a standard in 2009.