AirPods Max won't support Apple Music lossless over Lightning, HomePod also left out
Apple's top-of-the-line AirPods Max won't support Apple Music lossless audio over wireless or wired connections, while the company's HomePod and HomePod mini won't support the new audio format at all.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
The Cupertino tech giant on Monday announced new audio formats for Apple Music, including Spatial Audio powered by Dolby Atmos and higher-resolution lossless audio streaming. However, there are a number of Apple products that won't be able to take advantage of the latter feature.
While AirPods Max and HomePod will both be able to support Spatial Audio, they won't be compatible with lossless streaming in certain circumstances.
For example, AirPods Max won't support lossless streaming qualities over a Lightning cable, Apple confirmed to Billboard. An AirPods Max in wired mode is limited to analog output sources and isn't natively compatible with digital audio formats, Apple says. Lossless over Bluetooth is an obvious no-go due to bandwidth limitations.
Additionally, MacRumors on Monday received confirmation that neither the HomePod nor the HomePod mini will support lossless streaming.
Apple Music's lossless streaming options will be available in two tiers. The normal lossless will provide audio up to 48kHz, while the "Hi-Res Lossless" format will offer audio ranging from 48kHz to 192kHz. The latter option will require an accessory like a USB digital-to-analog converter.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
The Cupertino tech giant on Monday announced new audio formats for Apple Music, including Spatial Audio powered by Dolby Atmos and higher-resolution lossless audio streaming. However, there are a number of Apple products that won't be able to take advantage of the latter feature.
While AirPods Max and HomePod will both be able to support Spatial Audio, they won't be compatible with lossless streaming in certain circumstances.
For example, AirPods Max won't support lossless streaming qualities over a Lightning cable, Apple confirmed to Billboard. An AirPods Max in wired mode is limited to analog output sources and isn't natively compatible with digital audio formats, Apple says. Lossless over Bluetooth is an obvious no-go due to bandwidth limitations.
Additionally, MacRumors on Monday received confirmation that neither the HomePod nor the HomePod mini will support lossless streaming.
Apple Music's lossless streaming options will be available in two tiers. The normal lossless will provide audio up to 48kHz, while the "Hi-Res Lossless" format will offer audio ranging from 48kHz to 192kHz. The latter option will require an accessory like a USB digital-to-analog converter.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
96k 24bit is 4.6mbits/sec
96k 16bit is ~3mbits
i dunno, most people I know these days have at least 5 down if not 10. Rural areas not withstanding.
I agree though the whole loss of the HP and then introduction of the supposedly top-end APM without lossless, only to announce a lossless service a few months later is pretty disjointed and un-Apple. There was an article somewhere that said the APM were supposed to have some kind of touch surface on the large flat sides which never materialised for some reason, perhaps cost or development time. Maybe the APM hit some R&D deadline that required its release or axing, since lossless support and the APM would almost certainly both been in development at the same time, unless as you say the APM finished development a fair while ago. I am kind of glad Ive isn't in the picture anymore, since as you say without Jobs to rein him in there have definitely been more questionable design choices.
"So the natural question becomes... well, what are you hearing in that scenario? Apple tells The Verge that when you play a 24-bit / 48 kHz Apple Music lossless track from an iPhone into the AirPods Max using both the cable and Lightning dongle, the audio is converted to analog and then re-digitized to 24-bit / 48 kHz. That re-digitization step is the reason that Apple can’t say you’re hearing pure lossless audio; it’s not an identical match to the source."
"Is it still going to sound very good? Almost certainly. The AirPods Max sound exceptional — even with AAC over Bluetooth, and plugging in can make the experience richer. But if you’re a stickler for the technical details, this is why the AirPods Max can’t pull off lossless audio in the truest sense. It also leaves Apple in an awkward spot where other high-end headphones that do support digital audio when hard wired — over USB-C, for example — could deliver the full lossless audio that the AirPods Max can’t."
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/17/22440788/apple-airpods-max-lossless-music-explainer-spatial-audio
1. A select group of audiophiles with both the equipment and the ears to hear the difference and who actually care about the difference.
2. People who like to think they are more discriminating than they are and want 'pro quality audio' so they can feel like they're listening to the best quality.
3. People who compare Apple's streaming service to Amazon, Spotify, etc.
I have a suspicion that group 1 is dwarfed by groups 2 and 3.
AI has a post describing how to take tell if you can actually tell the difference: How to find out if Apple Music Lossless streaming will make a difference for you 0 of 5 writers who took the comparison test could tell a difference.
Most people just want to listen to music and enjoy it while they work, write, bike, or do other activities. If you're happy with the quality of your music that's all that matters.
With normal headphones the audio follows this path:
- source instrument/voice > ADC > DAC > ears.
With Airpods Max in wireless mode you'd go- source > ADC > BT compression > DAC > ears.
With the wired 3.5" connection you'd go- source > ADC > DAC > ADC (in 3.5mm to lightning cable) > DAC??
That's absurd, no wonder they don't claim lossless support over a cable. The doubling of quantisation steps would almost certainly incur a loss worse than the AAC Bluetooth compression. In signal theory you need twice the sample rate that the signal is played at to avoid quantisation error (known as the Nyquist frequency), so the ADC in the 3.5mm jack would have to sample at 96khz to avoid sampling errors. And apparently it does not.