Apple launches iTunes Match in US - and upgrades low quality rips to 256kbps

iTunes Match works in tandem with iCloud to give you access to your entire iTunes music library on up to 10 other iOS devices.

All you need is a wireless connection in order to play Apple's versions of your music library. The iTunes Match service costs $24.99 a year in the US.

All of Apple's content will be offered as 256kbps AAC files, which means you can instantly upgrade any old, lower quality music files..

Once it has scanned your library to find out what music you have, iTunes Match will give you access to a 256kbps AAC version of the track - regardless of whether your original was, say, a 128kbps MP3 file.

What's more, users will be able to download these files back to their computers, giving there library an instant quality boost, a trick spotted by The Next Web.

There's no word on a UK release date but Apple has promised to extend the service to other countries as soon as it can, so fingers crossed for an early 2012 release.

You can read more about iTunes Match in our report from the original Apple launch.

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).