AirPods Max and AirPods Pro won’t support new Apple Music Lossless
Apple’s newly announced Lossless Audio feature isn’t compatible with AirPods Max, according to T3, who report that because the models only use the Bluetooth AAC codec when connected to an iPhone, they can’t receive the full quality of the Apple Music ‘Lossless’ files.
Spatial Audio allows musicians to create immersive audio experiences, with Lossless Audio letting listeners hear songs “the way the artists created them in the studio,” available for Apple Music subscribers starting next month at no additional cost.
Apple has confirmed to T3 that this equipment, sadly, does not include AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. Both of Apple’s elite headphone models only use the Bluetooth AAC codec when connected to an iPhone, which means they can’t receive the full quality of the Apple Music ‘Lossless’ files, which will be encoded as ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) files.
Available at no extra cost to Apple Music subscribers, Apple Music will have more than 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio from day one.
Apple uses ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) to preserve every single bit of the original audio file. This means Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear the exact same thing that the artists created in the studio.
Apple says: “You can listen to lossless audio using the latest Apple Music app on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. Turn on lossless audio in Settings > Music > Audio Quality. You can choose between Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless for cellular or Wi-Fi connections. Note that Hi-Res Lossless requires external equipment such as a USB digital to analog converter.”