Does Apple Music have lossless? Yes! Recently, Apple Music announced that its plan to bring all Apple Music users the lossless listening experience for the whole library of Apple Music, which contains more than 75 million tracks. Now, Apple Music has made 20 million songs supporting lossless. Another feature of Apple Music is the Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, which enables artists to record multi-dimensional audio for listeners. These features seem to bring a more charming listening experience for Apple Music users. Now let us find more details about Apple Music Lossless and, most importantly, how to get Apple Music Lossless on your device.
What is Apple Music Lossless
Most audio compression techniques lose some data in the original file such as AAC(Advanced Audio Codec), that Apple Music used to use to providing audios. But now Apple Music has created Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), the lossless compression technology. Thanks to Apple Music Lossless, Apple Music users are able to listen to the music the same as what the artists made in the studio.
But the lossless audio will cost you more data when you stream music, and occupy more space when you download them to your device for offline listening. And not all the content of Apple Music supports Apple Music Lossless. The Broadcast radio, live radio, and on-demand content from Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country, music videos cannot be played in Apple Music Lossless.
What Device Support Apple Music Lossless
Not all devices support Apple Music Lossless. Bluetooth connections for Apple Music aren't lossless. So, those devices that use Apple AAC Bluetooth Codec, do not support Apple Music Lossless.
Here is the list of devices that do not support Apple Music Lossless: Apple's headphones including AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, HomePod, and HomePod mini.
These devices support Apple Music Lossless: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and more.
Besides, you can also use CarPlay with a USB connection to enjoy Apple Music Lossless. Thus, you can play Apple Music Lossless in your car when driving. But if you stream Apple Music Lossless with the mobile network, you will lose more data.
- See also: How to Play Apple Music in a Car
How to Listen to Apple Music Lossless
If your device supports Apple Music Lossless, then you can follow the different guides below to start to listen to Apple Music Lossless on your device. You will need some preparations before you can listen to Apple Music Lossless such as the wired connection to headphones or speaker. If you listen to songs whose sample rates are higher than 48 kHz, you also need an external digital-to-analog converter.
How to Listen to Apple Lossless Music on iPhone/iPad
If your iPhone or iPad is updated to iOS 14.6 or later, you can use Apple lossless music on your iPhone or iPad. Now follow the steps below to use lossless audio.
Step 1. Go to Settings > Music > Audio Quality.
Step 2. Tap Lossless Audio. Choose the audio quality for streaming and downloading music. You can choose from Lossless which is up to 24-bit/48 kHz, or Hi-Res Lossless which is up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
How to Listen to Apple Lossless Music on Android Device
Android devices also support Apple Music Lossless. To turn on this feature, you need to finish the operations inside the Apple Music app.
Step 1. Open Apple Music app > More > Settings > Audio Quality.
Step 2. Choose the Lossless button to turn on or turn off this feature.
How to Listen to Apple Lossless Music on Mac
Make sure your Mac computer is updated to macOS 11.4 or later. Then check the operations below.
Step 1. Launch the Apple Music app. At the menu bar, go to Music > Preferences > Playback tab.
Step 2. Find the Audio Quality section. Choose the Lossless audio button.
How to Listen to Apple Lossless Music on Apple TV 4K
Before you set the setting for Apple Music Lossless on your Apple TV, you must update your Apple TV to tvOS 14.6 or later. Besides, you need to connect the Apple TV to an AV receiver with an HDMI cable. Go to Settings > Apps > Music > Audio Quality and choose Lossless. You have to know that currently, Apple TV does not support Hi-Res Lossless.
Additional Tip: How to Listen to Apple Music in MP3
What if your device does not support Apple Music Lossless? When you waiting for the updating of Apple Music Lossless on your device, you can listen to Apple Music in MP3 which is also great for listening.
Actually, Apple Music MP3 audio includes many benefits such as accessibility for various devices and apps. Since MP3 is the most popular audio format and is used most widely, you will not be limited within the Apple Music-supported devices and the Apple Music app for the playback of Apple Music.
But Apple Music does not deliver MP3 audio directly. You need to use an external converter to convert Apple Music to MP3. ViWizard Apple Music Converter is a powerful converter that can convert Apple Music to MP3, M4A, FLAC, and more formats. If you get interested in Apple Music MP3 audio, you can check this guide to convert Apple Music to MP3.
Adam Gorden is an experienced writer of ViWizard who is obsessed about tech, movie and software.