Apple Music Classical is now available for some countries on the App Store for all iPhones running iOS 15.4 and later. The app was announced for preorder on Thursday, March 9, and features over five million tracks.
Users in Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines can now download and access Apple Music Classical, as the region approaches the official launch date of March 28.
Apple Music Classical
The new app dedicated to classical music is available free of charge on top of existing Apple Music and Apple One subscriptions, with the exception of the entry-level Voice plan.
The new Classical app will allow users to search their music by classical-specific metadata such as composer, work, conductor, and catalog number. Users will get to enjoy their classical tunes in high-quality audio of up to 192 kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless, with thousands of recordings additionally available in spatial audio.
The app features a stripped-down design based on its parent Music app complimented with Apple-commissioned digital portraits of history’s most renowned composers. The app will also offer expansive editorial notes highlighting composers and their respective key works.
The new app is based on the now-discontinued Primephonic platform which Apple acquired back in August 2021. Apple had promised to release a dedicated classical music app in 2022, but the company missed its self-imposed deadline.
Apple also said that it is planning an Android app “soon”, with no word on when to expect an iPadOS offering.