Apple AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, HomePod, and HomePod mini Can’t Play Lossless Audio via Apple Music: Report

Apple Music Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio features will be available from June 2021 for subscribers at no extra cost.

Advertisement
By Satvik Khare | Updated: 18 May 2021 13:45 IST
Highlights
  • Lossless Audio, Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio comes to Apple Music
  • Apple’s audio devices will support Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio
  • It will be available with iOS 14.6, iPad OS 14.6, macOS 11.4, tvOS 14.6

Apple Music starts at Rs. 99 per month for general users and Rs. 49 per month for students

Photo Credit: Apple

Apple AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, AirPods, HomePod, and HomePod mini won't support ‘Lossless Audio' that arrives on Apple Music in June, as per multiple reports. Apple recently announced Hi-Fi streaming support and 'Spatial Audio' with Dolby Atmos for its music player. The new audio features for Apple Music will be available to subscribers from June 2021. The reports say that Apple is using Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) to provide lossless audio via Apple Music, but its truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones, premium headphones, and smart speakers use the Bluetooth AAC codec for audio playback.

Apple on Monday, May 17 announced that ‘Lossless Audio' streaming and ‘Spatial Audio' with Dolby Atmos support will be available to Apple Music subscribers from June 2021 at no extra cost.

Multiple publications, including T3, have cited Apple to confirm that Apple Music's new audio features won't be supported on AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, AirPods, Beats Solo Pro, Beats Solo 3 Wireless, Beats Studio 3, Beats Flex, BeatsX, Powerbeats Pro, and Powerbeats 3 Wireless. A report from MacRumors also says that lossless audio streaming via Apple Music will also not supported on HomePod and HomePod mini smart speakers.

Advertisement

However, all these audio devices, along with the built-in speakers of iPhone, iPad, and Mac models, will be able to stream music using ‘Spatial Audio' with Dolby Atmos support. It's unclear if these devices will gain native support for lossless audio streaming in the future.

Advertisement

Apple Music subscribers using the latest iOS 14.6, iPad OS 14.6, macOS 11.4, and tvOS 14.6 or later can head to Settings > Music > Audio Quality to activate ‘Lossless Audio'. Apple says the quality of its ‘Lossless Audio' tier is akin to CD-quality, which is 16bit at 44.1kHz, and goes up to 24bit at 48kHz. Its ‘Hi-Res Lossless' tier offers up to 24bit at 192kHz.

Apple says subscribers will be able to listen to thousands of songs using the 'Spatial Audio' on Dolby Atmos with more being added regularly and ‘Lossless Audio' will be available for 20 million songs at launch in June, which will expand to 75 million songs by the end of the year.

Advertisement


We dive into all things Apple — iPad Pro, iMac, Apple TV 4K, and AirTag — this week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
 
REVIEW
  • Design / Comfort
  • Audio Quality
  • Battery Life
  • Value For Money
  • Good
  • Beautiful, comfortable, and luxurious

  • Best-in-class controls

  • Seamless connectivity with Apple devices

  • Very good ANC and Transparency modes

  • Wide, spacious soundstage

  • Excellent, flexible sound
  • Bad
  • No power button, unpredictable power consumption 

  • Below-par battery life

  • Smart Case is a bit silly

  • Lightning charging port

  • No ANC level adjustment
 
KEY SPECS
Headphone Type Over-Ear
Microphone Yes
Connectivity Wireless
Type Headphones
NEWS
REVIEW
  • Design / Comfort
  • Audio Quality
  • Battery Life
  • Value For Money
  • Good
  • Improved design and fit
  • Superb sound quality
  • Very good battery life
  • Good active noise cancellation and Transparency mode
  • Bad
  • Expensive
  • No volume controls on the earphones
  • Lightning port for charging
 
KEY SPECS
Headphone Type In-Ear
Microphone Yes
Connectivity True Wireless Stereo (TWS)
Type Earphones
NEWS
KEY SPECS
Model HomePod
Color Space Gray, White
Power Requirement 100V to 240V AC
Touchpad Yes
Network connectivity Bluetooth v5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Display included No
 
REVIEW
  • Design
  • Smart Features
  • Audio Quality
  • Value For Money
  • Good
  • Looks great

  • Clean, detailed sound

  • Excellent soundstage

  • Works very well within the Apple ecosystem
  • Bad
  • Some connectivity issues with stereo pairing

  • Limited smart capabilities
 
KEY SPECS
Model HomePod mini
Touchpad Yes

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Deal Revealed Ahead of Amazon GIF Sale
  2. Amazon Sale 2025: OnePlus 13s, OnePlus Nord 5 Deals Revealed
  3. DJI Mini 5 Pro With 1-Inch Camera Sensor Launched at This Price
  4. OnePlus 13 Gets Big Price Cut at Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale
  5. Smart Glasses to Quest 3 Features: Everything Announced at Meta Connect 2025
  6. CMF Headphone Pro India Launch Set for This Date
  7. iQOO 15 Design Leak Reveals Colour-Changing Panel: See Benchmark Scores
  8. Nothing Ear 3 Design Renders, Key Features Leaked Ahead of Launch
  9. Instamart Sale: iPhone 16, OnePlus 13R at Jaw-Dropping Prices
  10. Meta's Ray-Ban Display Smart Glasses Get a Screen, Brings New Features
  1. Google Discover Update Makes It Easier Than Ever to Keep Up With Gadgets 360
  2. Crypto Market Rallies After US Fed Rate Cut, Bitcoin Rises to $117,300
  3. Apple Reportedly Aims for Double-Digit Growth in iPhone Shipments in 2026; iPhone Fold to Be Produced in India
  4. OpenAI Updates ChatGPT With Controls to Adjust GPT-5 Thinking Duration
  5. Redmi K90 Listed on 3C Website With 100W Fast Charging Support; Tipped to Feature Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC
  6. iQOO 15 Spotted in Leaked Hands-On Video With Colour-Changing Rear Panel; Geekbench Scores Hint at Performance
  7. Nothing Ear 3 Design Renders, Key Features Leaked Ahead of Launch
  8. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Next Yakuza Game Reportedly Leaks on Its Website Ahead of RGG Summit
  9. DJI Mini 5 Pro With a 50-Megapixel 1-Inch CMOS Sensor Launched: Price, Specifications
  10. Honor Magic 8 Series, Honor Magic V6 Tipped to Feature 200-Megapixel Camera Sensors
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.