New AirPods Pro Do Not Support Lossless Apple Music

[symphony]

Apple developing their own Bluetooth system called AirWave that will support lossless ALAC+

 

[Worlrl]

So how I do take advantage of the lossless ?

 

[appleguy123]

Well, I’m somewhat glad there’s no compelling reasons to upgrade from my current set. Same with the iPhones.

The compelling reason for me is that my launch day Gen 1s have basically unusable battery life and the noise canceling no longer does anything.

 

[CWallace]

Does that mean it will come to the AirPods Max first? When will they likely see the update? October event? January 2023?

I would expect a near-term AirPods Max refresh to use the same H2 SoC with Bluetooth 5.3 and therefore not support lossless audio via wireless.

 

[darngooddesign]

Your UE Boom speaker 1. doesn't support lossless audio and 2. even if it did, wouldn't be even able to play back the sound lost during compression anyway - it probably high paseses audio at 16khz 😂

Relax. I didn't say that I was getting lossless quality, what I said was that lossless songs sound better on it.

 

[djtech42]

So how I do take advantage of the lossless ?

For now, not using Apple's audio devices since none of them support it yet

EDIT: HomePod (big and mini) do support lossless, but not the AirPods family of products

 

[SpeedBird1]

There are no new AirPods Max rumors. We’ve even heard from Gurman and Kuo that Apple has not even started work on AP Max 2 but are considering new colors for Spring 2023.

So would you recommend buying now, or waiting!?

 

[RickDEGH]

The compelling reason for me is that my launch day Gen 1s have basically unusable battery life and the noise canceling no longer does anything.

Which is good enough reason. I got my Pros less than a year ago, so I stick with it a bit longer.

 

[SactoGuy18]

If H2 does support the new Bluetooth LE standard with the new codex, at least sound quality will be better. But I think true Lossless support may require the use of a higher bandwidth wirelss format like UWB--something an update to the AirPods Max could get.

 

[No5tromo]

As someone who can't hear any difference at all between 128Kps and anything above that the lack of this feature is absolutely fine with me

 

[appleguy123]

So would you recommend buying now, or waiting!?

That’s up to you. AirPods Max definitely don’t support lossless. But there also definitely isn’t a new pair on the horizon. Now is probably as good a time as any to buy AirPods Max if you think the current product is worth it to you.

 

[ethanwa79]

Lossless = Pointless

ESPECIALLY with earbuds. So who cares if it doesn't support it?

 

[dannys1]

For now, not using Apple's audio devices since none of them support it yet

For what it's worth (and it's worth nothing) - Homepod big and mini does.

Plus every Apple device supports play back with whatever speakers and setup you want to us - which considering you won't hear it doesn't matter if you're using a pair of £1500 Sennheiser HD800s and a £3000 Violetic headphone amp.

 

[Friscochris]

I watched the event with intentions to upgrade my pro1’s…. Left event with plans to buy 14 and possibly Watch Ultra.

Apple missed on this one; it should have been a much better update. Very disappointing.

 

[djtech42]

For what it's worth (and it's worth nothing) - Homepod big and mini does.

Plus every Apple device supports play back with whatever speakers and setup you want to us - which considering you won't hear it doesn't matter if you're using a pair of £1500 Sennheiser HD800s and a £3000 Violetic headphone amp.

Ah yes, forgot about the Homepod (which is surprising since I have two big ones and one mini). I do use lossless AirPlay with those.

 

[Jerry Fritschle]

You don't need lossless audio in £170 in ear buds - you can't hear the difference. You can't hear the difference on a £10,000 mastering studio setup with golden ears, it's been proven time and time again by the worlds best ears. No one here has the worlds best ears, despite what placebo they think - the upgrades to the drivers and processing are much much much more important and impactful.

If they tell you otherwise, they're wrong.

Edit - click disagree all you want, you're wrong - scientifically proven to be wrong, no ifs, no buts, no opinions, you're wrong, end of.

Many years ago, I was at the Genius Bar with my first-generation MBP. Somehow the subject of audio quality came up. I said I was pleased, and that I didn't expect the same quality, from such little speakers, as my "real" stereo system. He thanked me for understanding that, and implied that I was in the minority.

 

[Hmm]

some nutty audiophile who were buying devices that shaved the edges of CDs back in the 90's

Shaving the edges of a CD is crazy. The edge is where you put the green felt marker!

 

[rme]

So looks like Apple will be developing their own system for Lossless audio rather than license Qualcomm's technology and until it is ready...

I know it's overkill but... wi-fi audio please!

 

[dannys1]

Shaving the edges of a CD is crazy. The edge is where you put the green felt marker!

Haha the very same - absolute insanity (yet hilarious) from the audiophiles.

 

[SoldOnApple]

I'd have liked lossless. We finally have phones that can process it easily, 5G that can stream it easily, data plans with enough data to handle it, and Apple Music finally has lossless. It'd just be nice to have, I don't care if you can't hear the difference I still want it.

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

In Germany/most of EU:

200€ - airpods pro
300€ - airpods pro 2

50% (!!!) price increase for no lossless, no new features except "better sound because of new chip". Lol, time for mr Cook to say goodbye and someone competent to step in.

Nope. This is why Cook is so successful as CEO. Apple wants to keep him. Can blame them, ey. 💰

 

[djtech42]

I'd have liked lossless. We finally have phones that can process it easily, 5G that can stream it easily, data plans with enough data to handle it, and Apple Music finally has lossless. It'd just be nice to have, I don't care if you can't hear the difference I still want it.

Exactly. I appreciate the input audio not being a quality bottleneck in the audio chain, regardless of the playback system.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

In Germany/most of EU:

200€ - airpods pro
300€ - airpods pro 2

50% (!!!) price increase for no lossless, no new features except "better sound because of new chip". Lol, time for mr Cook to say goodbye and someone competent to step in.

Same price as the gen 1 launched at here in the UK, although they put the price of pretty much everything else up here.

I honestly think this is such a minor upgrade the 1st gen are a better buy if you can get a good deal on them

 

[mashdots]

of course they don't, considering bluetooth itself doesn't have data transfer rates to support lossless audio

 

[Bacasable]

BT 5.3 is a good news, But does iPhone support more than BT 5.0 ?
Because if not, we have to wait iphone 15 or later