Question re Apple Music

[CoolRich59]

When I got my last iPhone (the 8), I paid an add'l $200 (IIRC) to go from the standard 64GB device to 256GB. This allowed me to load my iTunes library (over 100GB) and several Spotify playlists onto the device.

I recently switched from Spotify to Apple Music, and I will be getting an iPhone 12 later this month after they are released.

I've been trying to get a handle on whether I will need 256GB again with Apple Music. From what I'm reading, it sounds like Apple Music operates similar to iTunes Match - in that your music files reside on Apple's servers and not on your device.

Is that correct? If so, I presume that means you use data when playing music away from wifi (e.g., in your car).

Thanks in advance for any input. I'm going to keep looking on Apple's site, but nothing I've seen so far gives a straight answer to my question.

[audreyh1]

Right - Apple Music is streamed. It doesn’t reside locally. I don’t have fast internet currently and there is sometimes a delay when I switch to a different song, even if I’d played it before recently. So it’s not caching music locally.

Yes, streaming means you’ll use cell data to listen to music when away from WiFi.

I also have a large iTunes library plus a large photo collection I prefer to keep local. Plus I often pre-download podcasts. I made sure to get 128G when I upgraded. You might still want to get >64G. It’s a real pain when memory gets tight on an iPhone.

[mattwallace24]

I’ve been using Apple Music since it’s inception. You have the options to stream and/or download your music. I primarily stream from home/away (over wifi or our unlimited wireless plans), but I do keep a selection of music downloaded to my phone in case I’m away from wifi or wireless coverage.

[Ronstar]

I have Apple Music, all downloaded. I don’t have a big library, and I’m out of WiFi and cell coverage a lot, so download made sense to me.

[audreyh1]

Well, I’ll have to check out the download options. I didn’t notice.

[copyright1997reloaded]

You can definitely download. I've "instilled" into my child that "thou must download music over wifi" to keep data usage down.

(Note: data usage for music is much less than video, but can still be substantial over time. Apple Music does use variable bit-rate streaming, but a decent guess would be in the range of 1.2GB per month assuming 1 hour per day -- according to an internet article I read (so it must be true)).

My own calcs suggest it would be higher. Assume 250Kb/s (kilo bits per second). That would yield 250,000 Kb/s*60 s/m*60 m/h *30 hours/month * 1/8 bits/byte = 3375000000 bytes/month = 3.14 Gigabytes/month.

[CoolRich59]

Thanks everyone, this is very helpful.

I recently moved to a new shared data plan (10GB/mo) to save $$. The DW and I tend not to use much data and it irked me to pay each month for a data plan that we hardly put a dent in. So, I will download my most frequently-played playlists so as not to start gobbling up data.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I also have a large iTunes library plus a large photo collection I prefer to keep local. Plus I often pre-download podcasts. I made sure to get 128G when I upgraded. You might still want to get >64G. It’s a real pain when memory gets tight on an iPhone.

Great point. I am going to do that.

[H2ODude]

Losing my tech savvy over 10 years of retirement. I was absolutely furious when I realized that Apple music sucked all my stored music to the cloud from my phone, probably 5 years ago. Discovered there was no music stored on the phone as I settled in for 30 hours of flights; noise cancelling headphones and music is my only survival method for those kinds of trips. IIRC the removal to cloud included all the stuff that I had ripped from my own CD's to my computers (and phone). Maybe it was I who had done something wrong, wrong switch on the phone setting or something, but it completely soured me on Apple Music. And, I stream a lot when biking/hiking and then rely on what's stored. I'm sure I'll get "you dummy, you should have _________" but that's OK. Pandora for $5 a month is fine, sometimes Amazon Prime for nothing added. Leave my stored music alone; when I want it I want it there!

[chicamuxen]

I have the Apple Music family plan. It works out great for us. And it works so well with car play!