As announced earlier this year, Apple has rolled out Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio support to Apple Music subscribers. The Cupertino giant is kicking things off with over 20 million lossless tracks, with the ambition to feature a library of 75 million lossless tracks by the end of 2021. However, the best part has to be that you get Lossless Audio support at no extra charge over your existing Apple Music subscription. So if you are eager to experience high-fidelity audio on your Apple device, here’s how to play lossless audio in Apple Music on iPhone and iPad.

For those uninitiated, Lossless Audio is a file format that compresses the original song without any loss of quality. With the help of advanced compression algorithms, ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) preserves all the attributes, including depth and texture, to ensure the originality of the music remains intact. That means you will hear music the way it was intended to be heard by the artist. With that out of the way, let’s dive in!

  • What Do You Need to Stream Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless Audio?
  • AirPods and HomePod Don’t Support Apple Lossless Audio
  • Enable Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless Audio on iPhone and iPad
  • Best Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs) for Apple Music Lossless Audio
  • Is Apple Music the Only Service That Supports Lossless Audio?

What Do You Need to Stream Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless Audio?

Before diving straight into the step-by-step process, it would be better to check off the basic requirements.

Ironically, none of Apple’s headphones/ earphones, including AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, have Lossless Audio support. The story isn’t any different for HomePod and HomePod mini either. The limitations of Bluetooth, analog-to-digital conversion, and the Apple Lossless Audio Codec have held Apple’s headphones back. Though HomePod uses AirPlay to connect to devices, they are incapable of taking advantage of Apple Music’s higher bitrate.

Unfortunately, there is no clarity regarding when Apple will add the ALAC support to its headphones. As Bluetooth 5.0 supports higher bitrates, it shouldn’t be a huge deal for the Cupertino giant to make its popular headphones compatible with the lossless audio.

To get started with Hi-Res lossless audio streaming, you will first need to enable it on a compatible iPhone or iPad. To do that, follow the steps below:

Moreover, you can also head into the Settings on your Apple TV and Mac to customize the lossless audio listening experience on the respective device.

As mentioned above, you will need a capable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to listen to lossless audio in Apple Music on your iPhone or iPad. If you are hunting for one, check out these notable picks.

If you are looking for an all-in-one digital-to-analog converter to stream lossless audio in Apple Music, Chord Mojo could be the perfect pick. This DAC features a lightweight and compact design. Thus, you can comfortably carry it even in a tiny pocket.

3. XtremPro

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