Zensō
Major Contributor
Apple most likely didn't offer lossless sooner because there is expense involved and the market didn't demand it. Now that Amazon and Spotify are on the lossless bandwagon, Apple has to respond to stay on par with their primary competitors (Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, et al are irrelevant to these behemoths).OK. So offering 'lossless' is not that big of a deal for them - indeed, why didn't they do it sooner...? I'm not complaining (tho' I doubt I can hear the difference). Just, why the fuss?
As for why the fuss, the CD standard has been the benchmark for a long time, so getting that now in a streaming service at no extra charge provides some welcome peace of mind for us obsessive audiophile types, even if there is no audible upgrade over 256 AAC. The average person is more likely to be interested in Spatial Audio and Atmos, both of which will provide something people can actually hear.