As the name might suggest, Apple Music is Apple's music streaming service - a longstanding offering that makes it easy for iPhone and iPad owners to get their tunes without even needing to install another app. Apple Music recently benefited from a couple of big new features, so we're gonna take a look at those, in addition to everything else you need to know about the fruity streaming service.
In this guide:
- How much does Apple Music cost in Australia?
- Can I bundle Apple Music?
- How much data does Apple Music use?
- Can I use Apple Music data-free?
- What is Apple Music Spatial Audio?
- What is Apple Music Dynamic Head Tracking
- What is Apple Music Lossless?
- What devices does Apple Music work on?
- How does Apple Music compare to Spotify?
- How do I cancel Apple Music?
How much does Apple Music cost in Australia?
Apple Music has a few different pricing tiers in Australia. A standard Apple Music subscription will set you back $11.99 per month, and supports just a single user. Alternatively, you can pay $119 for a year upfront, which represents a saving of $24.99. If you're a student, you can get a subscription for $5.99 per month.
If you want to share your Apple Music subscription, you can opt for a family plan for $17.99 per month. This can be shared with up to five other users.
Can I bundle Apple Music?
Apple Music can be bundled with other Apple services as part of an Apple One subscription.
An individual Apple One subscription will set you back $19.95 per month and gets you Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud Storage.
If you want to share Apple services with others, an Apple One Family plan will set you back $25.95 per month and gets you Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 200GB of iCloud Storage. It can be shared with up to five other users.
If you want every service Apple has to offer, a Premier Apple One plan will set you back $39.95 per month and gets you Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and 2TB of iCloud Storage. Once again, this can be shared with up to five other users.
Apple One tends to represent a solid discount on buying the services individually, but you can read more about whether Apple One is a good deal here.
How much data does Apple Music use?
Apple music has four different quality tiers, and each uses a different amount of data. Here's how they compare:
Apple Music data usage
| Stream Quality | Data Usage Per 3 Minute Song | Data Usage Per Hour |
| High Efficiency | 1.5MB | 30MB |
| High Quality | 6MB | 120MB |
| Lossless | 36MB | 720MB |
| High-Resolution Lossless | 145MB | 2.9GB |
Can I use Apple Music data-free?
Apple Music is available data-free for Telstra mobile customers and Boost Mobile customers. This means streaming music via the Apple Music app won't count against your monthly data allowance. There are a few caveats, however. Downloading songs for offline listening, video streaming, and social interactions all still count against your monthly data cap. Lossless audio is still unmetered, however.
Here are Telstra's current SIM-only plans:
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Telstra
$84 Essential Upfront SIM Plan
$74.00/mth
Min. cost $74
Link not supplied
|
And here are Boost's prepaid recharges:
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#1
|
Boost Mobile
$28 Prepaid
$28.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#2
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Boost Mobile
$39 Prepaid
$39.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#3
|
Boost Mobile
$49 Prepaid
$49.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#4
|
Boost Mobile
$59 Prepaid
$59.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
|
#5
|
Boost Mobile
$74 Prepaid
$74.00
Per 28 Day Renewal
|
What is Apple Music Spatial Audio?
Spatial audio is a rather new, unique feature in Apple Music that adds support for Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos is the next evolution of surround sound, and essentially allows artists to place sounds anywhere around you - even overhead. At present, there are "thousands" of songs with Dolby Atmos available on Apple Music, with more to come.
Spatial audio will work with all headphones and earbuds (not just AirPods), but the better quality your headphones, the better the effect. It will also work on the loudspeakers on supported iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but it won't necessarily work on external speakers unless they support Dolby Atmos.
Spatial audio should be on by default, but if you want to turn it off, you can follow these steps on your iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll down to and tap on Music
- Tap Dolby Atmos
- Tap Off
What is Apple Music Dynamic Head Tracking?
If you've upgraded to iOS 15 and have AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, you get access to a new feature that builds on spatial audio: dynamic head tracking. The idea behind dynamic head tracking is if you turn your head, the sound reorients around you - to create an illusion that the music is coming from all around you - kinda like a concert -, rather than headphones.
The best experience with dynamic head tracking will be on spatial audio Dolby Atmos tracks, but stereo tracks support it too.
While spatial audio will work on any pair of headphones, dynamic head tracking specifically requires AirPods Max or AirPods Pro - it's a hardware feature. If you have either pair and want to enable it, follow these steps:
- Put on your AirPods and start listening to something in Apple Music
- Open the Control Centre on your iPhone or iPad by pulling down the top left hand corner of your screen
- Press and hold on volume slider icon
- Tap Spatial Audio or Spatialise Stereo if it's off
What is Apple Music Lossless?
As part of a recent upgrade, Apple Music subscribers can access lossless music at no additional cost. By default, the majority of music streamed online is compressed in order to reduce file size. On the other hand, lossless audio isn't.
Apple Music has two kinds of lossless. Lossless, which is ostensibly CD quality, and high-resolution lossless, which is studio quality. For most, the difference between Apple Music's regular compressed audio and lossless audio won't be noticeable. Some audiophiles say there's a meaningful difference, however.
By default, lossless music switched off due to its higher data usage. To enable it, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad
- Scroll down to and tap on Music
- Tap Audio Quality
- Toggle on Lossless Audio
- Tap Mobile Data Streaming and choose Lossless or High-Resolution Lossless
- Tap Wi-Fi Streaming and choose Lossless or High-Resolution Lossless
You'll need to be on iOS 14.6 or better to get these settings. Not all songs are available in lossless, but you'll get a badge that pops and informs you when you're listening to either lossless or high-resolution lossless audio.
Of course, to get the most out of lossless music, you'll need certain gear. Apple suggests you need wired headphones for lossless, and an external DAC for high-resolution lossless. While there may still be some quality improvements over Bluetooth, it's not technically a lossless standard.
What devices does Apple Music work on?
Apple Music comes preloaded on pretty much every device Apple sells: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac. It's naturally also compatible with the HomePod and HomePod mini. In addition, you can use Apple Music in your web browser on any PC or laptop, and there's even an Android app. Select Samsung smart TVs can run Apple Music.
How does Apple Music compare to Spotify?
Spotify is naturally the biggest rival to Apple Music, and while they share key features - and almost have identical features, there are some differences. Here's a breakdown of how they compare:
Apple Music vs. Spotify
| Apple Music | Spotify | |
| Individual price | $11.99 per month | $11.99 per month |
| Student price | $5.99 per month | $5.99 per month |
| Family price | $17.99 per month | $18.99 per month |
| Family members | Up to six | Up to six |
| Free trial | Three months | One month |
| Spatial audio | Yes | No |
| Lossless audio | Yes | Coming soon |
| Catalogue | ~70 million songs | ~70 million songs |
| Offline downloads | Yes | Yes |
| Offline songs allowed | Up to 100,000 | Up to 10,000 |
Read more about the difference between Apple Music and Spotify here.
How do I cancel Apple Music?
The easiest way to unsubscribe from Apple Music is to do so via the web. Follow these steps:
- Go to music.apple.com
- Click the account icon at the top of the page (if you don't see it, click Sign In)
- Select Settings
- Scroll to Subscriptions and click or tap Manage
- Click or choose Cancel Subscription
If you're subscribed to Apple Music as part of Apple One, you'll need to cancel Apple One instead. The best way to do so is via your iPhone or iPad. Follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap your name
- Tap subscriptions
- Tap Apple One
- Tap Cancel Subscription
Alex Choros
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