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itʻs not about the headphones. itʻs about the DAC needed to process the high res...and the fact that BT just wonʻt be compatible with the lossless high res protocol.

seriously, even now you canʻt stream ALAC, FLAC or 1 BIT versions of stuff from your mac/iphone to your airpods/max. these always require software and/or a DAC to process them and wired headphones.
 
Always buy technology for what it can give you today, not for speculative updates in the future. That way you won't be disappointed in future announcements that you had no idea were coming anyway.
Not saying it might not be disappointing, but industry and technology advances quickly sometimes and unfortunately these are disposable products. What are you gonna do....
I like my current AirPods Max and wasn't expecting this announcement so at least I get one of the two options!
 
I hope that they clarify this very soon. Today just ordered an AirPod Max after I heard the news … should have waited … at least with a cable …guess I may return them if it does not even with that.
 
This is honestly super frustrating. What about when plugged in via 3.5mm
Why is this suddenly "super frustrating"?

People have been listening to lossless audio via iPhone for many years, by:

- Using special apps that can play back FLAC files, of the user's own collection.
- Using Lightning headphones that also have an onboard DAC.

Nothing has changed here, except part 1. With Apple providing lossless tracks via Apple Music.
 
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Surely the AirPods Max should support this when wired. I'd hope a $550 pair of headphones would be capable of playing audio better quality than Apple's standard 256kbps AAC files.
 
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This was expected (although the max should be able to on wired mode) you need a proper streamer. I have the bluesound node in my hi-fi system and I hope they support this. Had to sign up for Qobuz for hi-res streaming.
 
This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who actually dabbles with the audiophile hobby. If you actually cared about lossless audio, you would already have the headphones/hardware that support it + subscribed to Tidal or Qobuz as a streaming service. Apple supporting lossless audio is a nice bonus for people who want to stay in the ecosystem. No ones AirPods are suddenly obsolete.
 
Were people really expecting lossless over bluetooth? If you were expecting that then lossless probably isn't even for you. The only way to even come close to lossless over bluetooth is by using LDAC which has horrible range and has a huge impact on battery life.
 
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Ouch, hopefully Apple changes their mind about this.
How can they change their mind? If their current headphones and earphones don’t support lossless audio that is a technical issue not a conscious decision. It will require upgraded technology and new versions of those products.
 
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I'll bet Apple releases new airpods that rely on a new protocol or perhaps rely on an ad-hoc wifi connection between the iphone and the airpods that can transfer high bitrate transfer rates to accommodate lossless.

Airpod Max owners would be SOL though unless it can be added via a firmware update.
 
No chance to hear the difference between AAC 256 and Lossless on AirPods Max, let alone AirPods (Pro), anyway. It's hilarious that people here really believe the Airpods Max play in an audiophile league or whatever. Even in a blind test with a Sennheiser HD800S, probably only 1 person out of 100 would have the "golden" ear to be able to guess correctly.
 
What's embarrassing are the amount of people pretending to care about lossless audio today, who have no idea what it is.
Self explanatory really lossless…as in no quality loss high bit rate, nothing missing…… I think the major concern is Apple pre planning to pull everyone’s pants down giving them a slap, then selling you an entire new product to support it a few months later!
 
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