As if the reported $3.2 billion Beats deal isn’t enough evidence, Apple seems to be quite big on this “music” thing.

According to new reports, Apple will introduce high definition audio playback in iOS 8, alongside new versions of its In-Ear Headphones. The iOS rumor corresponds with earlier reports that Apple will announce high-fidelity iTunes music downloads at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). As it currently stands, iOS 7’s standard Music app can’t play high quality 24-bit audio files which contain a sampling frequency beyond 48 kHz.

While some third party apps are able to play these audio files, users are still limited to onboard playback at a 16-bit rate.

The report also suggests that Apple is working on new In-Ear Headphones designed to accomodate this high-quality audio playback.

Apple is set to introduce the world to iOS 8 at WWDC. While most of the press around it so far has focused on the rumored Healthbook app for fitness and health tracking, the announcement of high-def audio playback would likely be a welcome one for those of us who use our iOS devices as our primary music players.

Source: Macotakara