About lossless audio in Apple Music

Most audio compression techniques lose some amount of data contained in the original source file. Lossless compression is a form of compression ... GlobalNavOpenMenuGlobalNavCloseMenuAppleShoppingBag+SearchSupportCancelAppleStoreMaciPadiPhoneWatchTVMusicSupportShoppingBag+Cancel AboutlosslessaudioinAppleMusic    Ourcommitmenttoyourlisteningexperience AppleMusicdeliversanunparalleledlisteningexperiencethat’sdefinedbythehigheststandardsofaudioquality.WedevelopedourownimplementationofAAC(AdvancedAudioCodec)thatdeliversaudiothat’svirtuallyindistinguishablefromtheoriginalstudiorecording.WealsointroducedAppleDigitalMasterstodeliverthehighest-qualityrecordings.Andnow, we’reofferingAppleMusicsubscriberstheadditionaloptionto accessourentirecatalogencodedusinglosslessaudiocompressionatnoextracost.   Whatislosslessaudiocompression? Mostaudiocompressiontechniqueslosesomeamountofdatacontainedintheoriginalsourcefile.Losslesscompressionisaformofcompressionthatpreservesalloftheoriginaldata. ApplehasdevelopeditsownlosslessaudiocompressiontechnologycalledAppleLosslessAudioCodec(ALAC).InadditiontoAAC,theentireAppleMusiccatalogisnowalsoencodedusingALACinresolutionsrangingfrom16-bit/44.1kHz(CDQuality)upto24-bit/192kHz. Whilethedifferencebetween AACandlosslessaudiois virtuallyindistinguishable, we’reofferingAppleMusicsubscriberstheoptiontoaccessmusicinlosslessaudiocompression.   WhatyouneedtoknowaboutlosslessinAppleMusic StreaminglosslessaudiooveracellularorWi-Finetworkconsumessignificantlymoredata.Anddownloadinglosslessaudiousessignificantlymorespaceonyourdevice.Higherresolutionsusemoredatathanlowerones. AirPods,AirPodsPro,AirPodsMax,AirPods(3rdgeneration),andBeatswirelessheadphonesuseAppleAACBluetoothCodectoensureexcellentaudioquality.However,Bluetoothconnectionsaren'tlossless. TogetalosslessversionofmusicthatyoualreadydownloadedfromAppleMusic,justdeletethemusicandredownloaditfromtheAppleMusiccatalog.   HowtolistentolosslessonyouriPhoneoriPad    Whatyouneed YoucanlistentolosslessonaniPhoneoriPadupdatedtothelatestversionofiOSoriPadOS using: Awiredconnectiontoheadphones,receivers,orpoweredspeakers Thebuilt-inspeakers Tolistentosongsatsamplerateshigherthan48kHz,youneedanexternaldigital-to-analogconverter. Howtoturnlosslessonoroff GotoSettings>Music. TapAudioQuality. TapLosslessAudiototurnitonoroff. Fromhere,youcanchoosetheaudioqualityforstreaminganddownloadingaudio. Losslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/48kHz Hi-ResLosslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/192kHz   HowtolistentolosslessonyourMac    Whatyouneed Youcanlistentolosslessona MacupdatedtothelatestversionofmacOS using: Awiredconnectiontoheadphones,receivers,orpoweredspeakers Thebuilt-inspeakers 14-inchMacBookPro and16-inchMacBookPro supportnativeplaybackofsongsatsampleratesupto96kHz. Tolistentosongsatsamplerateshigherthan48kHzonotherMaccomputers,youneedanexternaldigital-to-analogconverter. Howtoturnlosslessonoroff OpentheAppleMusicapp. Inthemenubar,choose Music>Preferences. ClickthePlaybacktab. UnderAudioQuality,selectorunselect"Losslessaudio"toturnitonoroff.Fromhere,youcanalsochangethesettingsforstreaminganddownloadinglossless. Losslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/48kHz Hi-ResLosslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/192kHz   HowtolistentolosslessonyourHomePod    Whatyouneed AHomePodorHomePodminiupdatedtothelatestsoftwareversion TheHomeappontheiPhoneoriPadthatwasusedtosetupyourHomePod Howtoturnlosslessonoroff OnyouriPhoneoriPad,opentheHomeapp. TaptheHomebutton . TapHomeSettings. UnderPeople,tapyourname. TapAppleMusic. TurnLosslessAudioonoroff.   HowtolistentolosslessonyourAppleTV4K    Whatyouneed UpdateyourAppleTV4KtothelatestversionoftvOS. ConnectyourAppleTV4KtoanAVreceiverusinganHDMIcable. Howtoturnlosslessonoroff GotoSettings>Apps. SelectMusic. SelectAudioQuality. SelectorunselectLossless. AppleTV4Kcurrentlydoesn’tsupportHi-ResLossless(sampleratesgreaterthan48kHz).   HowtolistentolosslessonyourAndroiddevice    Whatyouneed YoucanlistentolosslessonanAndroiddevicewiththelatestversionoftheAppleMusicappusing: Awiredconnectiontoheadphones,receivers,orpoweredspeakers Tolistentosongsatsamplerateshigherthan48kHz,youmightneedanexternaldigital-to-analogconverter.* *ToseeifyourAndroiddevicerequires anexternaldigital-to-analogconverter,checkwithyourdevice'smanufacturer. Howtoturnlosslessonoroff OpentheAppleMusicapp. TaptheMorebutton . TapSettings. TapAudioQuality. TapLosslesstoturnitonoroff. Fromhere,youcanchoosetheaudioqualityforstreaminganddownloadingaudio. Losslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/48kHz Hi-ResLosslessforamaximumresolutionof24-bit/192kHz   Frequentlyaskedquestionsaboutlossless    CanIlistentolosslessaudiousingAirPods,AirPodsPro,AirPodsMax,orAirPods(3rdgeneration)? AirPods,AirPodsPro,AirPodsMax,AirPods(3rdgeneration),andBeatswirelessheadphonesuseApple’sAACBluetoothCodectoensureexcellentaudioquality. Bluetoothconnectionsdon’tsupportlosslessaudio. CanIlistentolosslessaudiooverBluetooth? WewilldelivermusicusinglosslessaudiocompressiontoyouriPhone,iPad,Mac,andAppleTV.LosslesswillplaybacknormallyonBluetoothspeakersandheadphones.However, Bluetoothconnectionsdon’tsupportlosslessaudio. CanIlistentolosslessaudiousingApple’sLightningto3.5mmHeadphoneJackAdapter? Yes.TheLightningto3.5mmHeadphoneJackAdapter isdesignedtotransmitaudiofromtheiPhone’sLightningconnector.Itcontainsadigital-to-analogconverterthatsupportsupto24-bit/48kHzlosslessaudio. CanIlistentolosslessaudiousingtheAirPodsMaxLightningto3.5mmAudioCable? The Lightningto3.5mmAudioCable wasdesignedtoallowAirPodsMaxtoconnecttoanalogsourcesforlisteningtomoviesandmusic.AirPodsMaxcanbeconnectedtodevicesplayingLosslessandHi-ResLosslessrecordingswithexceptionalaudioquality.However,giventheanalog-to-digitalconversioninthecable,theplaybackwillnotbecompletelylossless. Whatcontentisn’tavailableinlosslessaudio? Broadcastradio Liveradioandon-demandcontentfromAppleMusic1,AppleMusicHits,andAppleMusicCountry Musicvideos CanIredownloadmyiTunespurchasesinlossless? IfyousubscribetoAppleMusic,youcanredownloadmusicinlosslessonlyfromtheAppleMusiccatalog. CanIlistentolosslessaudiousingCarPlay? YoucanlistentolosslessaudiowithCarPlayusingaUSBconnection. Streaminglosslessaudioinacaroveracellularnetworkwillconsumesignificantlymoredata. AppleMusicavailabilitymightvarybycountryorregion.Learnwhat'savailableinyourcountryorregion. InformationaboutproductsnotmanufacturedbyApple,orindependentwebsitesnotcontrolledortestedbyApple,isprovidedwithoutrecommendationorendorsement.Appleassumesnoresponsibilitywithregardtotheselection,performance,oruseofthird-partywebsitesorproducts.Applemakesnorepresentationsregardingthird-partywebsiteaccuracyorreliability.Contactthevendorforadditionalinformation. PublishedDate: October25,2021 Helpful? Yes No Characterlimit: 250 Pleasedon’tincludeanypersonalinformationinyourcomment. Maximumcharacterlimitis250. Submit Thanksforyourfeedback.