AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro Don't Support Apple Music Lossless Audio

[hagar]

Wow, Apple. I'm not usually one for the "planned obsolescence" talk but AirPods Max seem just like that.

You’ll have to wait for the AirPods Max Pro.

While I hate the Max monicker (it sounds so cheap), I also think Apple overuses and waters down the Pro label, which should be reserved for speakers and headphones with lossless audio support.

Just because they didn’t mention it doesn’t mean they won’t support it at time of launch, or that they don’t have another announcement for WWDC.

After pushing wireless for so long it would be incredibly surprising and a poor launch strategy not to release new lines of AirPods/Beats headphones with Apple Hi-Fi support.

It would likely require a new solution instead of relying on Bluetooth codecs.

Obviously they won’t support it magically in 4 weeks, or they would have announced it today. I can imagine they realise it doesn’t make a difference for most users, and that if you do care you‘re willing to invest in an external DAC and high-end speakers.

 

[topdrawer]

There is no reason to assume that absolutely everything apple does works with each and every one of its products.

except for their own marketing.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Not if there are enough people that will stump up another $500 for a "New" version of them

Audiophiles are highly amused that people think $500 is a lot for headphones. I’ve seen them compared to $700 to $1000 planars by audiophiles favorably. Google it.

 

[JamieLannister]

So I buy an expensive car and I can't use 92 octane gas or higher? Where do I sign up for this bulldung!?

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Wow, Apple. I'm not usually one for the "planned obsolescence" talk but AirPods Max seem just like that.

Which part of this is planned obsolescence? Nothing degraded its audio quality, battery life, or other functionality from what was promised at launch. The article mentions that lossless is available through wired mode. It's not technically feasible at the moment to stream lossless over BT.

 

[Maconplasma]

All the complainers need to go to a site that lets you do listening tests to see if your ears will even hear the difference.

I think it's safe to understand this whole article is a setup simply because Apple upgraded Apple Music to include lossless audio. IMO people who setup this article certainly looks like they sent paid people here to post one-liners attacking Apple to start the firestorm. Notice that anyone who replies them gets no response back? Yeah, there ya go. It happens quite often here. Don't feed em.

 

[DarwinOSX]

If this is true then it is one of the biggest blunders in human history. How can you offer something and it does not work with any of your products? Jesus H Christ...

You live a very sheltered life.

 

[kithytom]

truth is Apple is going to use LC3 soon

 

[tgwaste]

Blame Bluetooth, Not Apple.

I blame Apple for still relying on bluetooth. I blame Apple for continuing to purposefully stifle innovation in the name of profits. They clearly want people to buy more hardware to support their free software. This isn't some oversight. This is all planned to gain as much money from customers as possible.

 

[iOS Geek]

Personally, I'm ok with that. I don't think I'm "tuned" enough that I'd be able to notice the difference (the fact that that was most likely NOT the correct choice of word...should prove my point 😂 )

I'm more interested in the spatial audio aspect. I really enjoy that with the movies, so am very interested in how that goes with music!

 

[JamieLannister]

Which part of this is planned obsolescence? Nothing degraded its audio quality, battery life, or other functionality from what was promised at launch. The article mentions that lossless is available through wired mode. It's not technically feasible at the moment to stream lossless over BT.

Uhm, LDAC/AptX LL seems to support lossless over BT. Perhaps it is apple here who is really behind the technical curve. But the point is can one even hear the difference that is the most important question of all.

 

[mattopotamus]

I'm not an audiophile, so I won't know the difference between the best codec that bluetooth allows and a wired connection. Maybe I'll notice it via wired CarPlay.

This is honestly the truth for most people, unless they are actually listening on a high end system. I feel pretty confident most people cannot notice.

Somewhat related, it reminded me when I was buying speakers for my home theater. The person letting me demo equipment just let me listen and wanted me to choose what sounded best to my ears in a blind test. Shocker, it wasn't the highest end.

 

[ppj845]

iPhone 13 with a proprietary lossless earphone jack that’s just a recessed 3.5 like original iPhone

it’s called courage 😌

 

[citysnaps]

Bucket-o-chum in the water!

 

[krebphone]

The $10 apple headphone dongle has a perfectly serviceable 24bit/192khz DAC in it. That's all you need to enjoy lossless on a decent pair of headphones or on your high end stereo system.

 

[skitidetdu]

A bluetooth limitation since it will work with a wired connection?

 

[JOLoughlin]

Neil Young was right all along?

 

[spaxxedout]

I am guessing AirPods Max will support Lossless via Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable, and Hi-Res Lossless when further complemented by external 24-bit 192kHz DAC.

Unfortunately it will not. Even with a 24bit/192khz DAC, the analog signal is reconverted to 16bit/48khz on the lightning input. Even if you could get a pure 24bit/192khz signal into the AirPods Max over lightning, it would be downsampled to 16bit/48khz by the DAC (DAC's?) inside the headphones.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

What about AirPods max being used in wired mode?

“APPLE MUSIC WON’T WORK WITH APPLE PRODUCTS!”
is a far catchier (clickier) headline than
“Based on what we know, this is how Apple Music will work with Apple devices.”

See:
“NEW IPAD PRO WON’T WORK WITH OLD IPAD PRO KEYBOARD!”
or
“SECURITY RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT IF YOU’RE HOLDING APPLE AIRTAGS (and as long as you’re in a lit area, someone is looking in your general direction and you’re in their line of sight) PEOPLE CAN TRACK YOUR LOCATION TO A FRIGHTENINGLY HIGH DEGREE OF ACCURACY!

 

[nylon]

Will you be able to Airplay lossless to Sonos systems?

 

[Jemani]

Low-end will too 😂

Unfortunately that isn't the point. To get good resolution, you will want way more than a cheap low end pair of wired headphones. This has been the problem of digital audio from the start. 16 bit audio CD quality was never that great, just good enough and there were far too many apologists who ranted that the average person can't hear the difference. Audio CD's were never meant to be played on car stereos and Walkmans in the first place, but we all know what happened with the music industry and digital remastering. Apple should have done this years ago. I am glad they are doing it, but when it costs about $1000 an album to remaster old analog masters over to high resolution digital, I am not surprised the music industry has been so slow. I hope Apple doesn't muck this up.

 

[SpringKid]

This gotta be the silliest thread on Macrumors in a long time. 😂

 

[BigDO]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Airpods Max and Airpods *Pro* will not support it???

What a joke. This is Samsung-level ridiculousness.

 

[axantas]

... as of May 17 a significant increase of AirPods Max availabilty was remarked by researchers.
... as of May 18 on Amazon price of AirPods Max huge price drop.

Ok, I might not be able to really hear the difference, but if the market goes that way, I finally might consider to get the Max.

 

[Xak444]

I am guessing AirPods Max will support Lossless via Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable, and Hi-Res Lossless when further complemented by external 24-bit 192kHz DAC.

They could but don’t currently offer this