Apple Music Lossless: How To Get It on My iPhone, iPad, Mac?

Apple Music Lossless: How To Get It on My iPhone, iPad, Mac?

How To

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Apple is trying to make waves in the music streaming space by releasing lossless audio for its Apple Music service. We heard about Apple's lossless audio earlier this year and it's no wonder the Cupertino giant is looking to compete with the likes of Tidal, Amazon Music, and Spotify.

Let's explore Apple Lossless audio, supported devices, and how you can get it.

Apple Lossless Audio Supported Devices

You can listen to Apple Music without loss on iPhone running iOS 14.6, iPad running iPad OS 14.6, Mac running macOS 11.6, and Apple TV 4K running tvOS 14.6.

Here's a list of supported mobile devices:

Lossless audio on iPhones

  • iPhone 12 series (mini/12/12 Pro/12 Pro Max)
  • iPhone 11 series (11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max)
  • iPhone X series (X/XS/XS Max/XR)
  • iPhone SE (1st & 2nd Gen)
  • Older iPhones (8/8 Plus/7/7 Plus/6S/6S Plus)

Lossless audio on iPads

  • iPad Pro 9.7/10.5
  • iPad Pro 11 (1st, 2nd, 3rd Gen)
  • iPad Pro 12.9 (1st to 5th Gen)
  • iPad Air 2
  • iPad (5th to 8th Gen)
  • iPad mini (4th & 5th Gen)

The Apple HomePod smart speaker and HomePod mini will get support for lossless audio through a future software update.

Who can’t listen to Apple Lossless audio?

If you have AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, or Beats wireless headphones, you don't have to look for ways to get Apple Lossless audio. It's hard to digest but lossless audio playback is not supported over Bluetooth. Therefore, you also can't get lossless quality on other Bluetooth headphones.

You can only play lossless audio tracks on wired headphones, receivers, and speakers. It will also work with the built-in speakers of your Apple device. If you try to select lossless quality via Bluetooth, the song will play normally in the quality supported by your headphones.

Not all wireless speakers

This limitation does not apply to all wireless speakers, and only Bluetooth speakers do not receive cookies. Apple will support lossless audio (24-bit/48kHz) via AirPlay. Some wireless speakers and TVs support AirPlay wireless streaming technology that works over WiFi.

The case of AirPods Max

If we talk about AirPods Max, it's disappointing that Apple doesn't know anything if it already has plans for lossless audio.

While you can use it in wired mode with a Lightning to 3.5mm cable, audio from iPhone/compatible devices is converted to analog and re-digitized in such a way that it loses its "lossless" essence. Apple doesn't call it purely lossless because it doesn't exactly match the source.

However, well-known leaker Jon Prosser suggested that this could be part of a larger plan where Apple could enable lossless audio on AirPods via AirPlay and stream music over WiFi. Apple has released the lossless tier beforehand so it doesn't sound anti-competitive, similar to the way it opened its Find My network to third parties before the release of AirTags.

We have to take this with a grain of salt as there is no public mention of the AirPods Max or Pro having WiFi hardware. But we can't ignore the possibility that Apple could set the stage for the launch of the next AirPods, which will include compatible technology.

Where to get Apple Lossless Audio and how much does it cost?

You can listen to Apple Lossless audio in the Music app on your Apple device. Remember you need an active Apple Music subscription to enjoy high-quality songs. Lossless songs are compressed using an Apple-made technology called the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC).

To enable lossless audio on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Music > Audio Quality > Set the quality to Lossless.

On a Mac, you can go to Apple Music > Music > Preferences > Playback tab > Choose Lossless under Audio quality.

Apple offers two resolution options: Lossless (24-bit/48kHz) and Hi-Res Lossless (24-bit/192kHz). One thing to note is that you will need an external DAC if you want to listen to songs higher than 48KHz.

Apple Lossless price

Speaking of pricing, Apple has previously confirmed that lossless audio in the Music app will be offered "at no extra cost." So if you have a subscription and a pair of HiFi headphones, you're good to go.

Which Apple Music songs are of lossless quality?

Currently, about 20 million Apple Music songs have been upgraded to lossless cd-quality music. The remaining songs will receive audio changes as well as the lossless music upgrade covers the entire Apple Music catalog of 75 million songs.

Can I download Apple Lossless songs?

Yes, you can download songs of lossless quality if you subscribe to Apple Music. However, for songs that you already own, you will need to delete the existing download and download it again.

But keep in mind the fact that a single lossless song will take up to 50MB of space on your device; data consumption and storage will be more in Hi-Res Lossless.

Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos

The iPhone maker has also rolled out Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio support for Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. However, Apple confirmed at WWDC 2021 that spatial audio will be available for many songs in the catalog.

The Dolby Atmos spatial audio feature is available on AirPods Pro and AirPods Max in addition to other audio devices.

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So, this is all about the new Apple Lossless audio. If you have anything to add, share your thoughts in the comments below.

Keywords: apple music lossless, lossless audio, iphone lossless audio, apple lossless audio

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