Apple Music Lossless: Everything You Need to Know

by Roni · August 17, 2021

sIf you're someone who likes to listen to music in the highest quality, you've certainly heard about the lossless format. Recently, it has become possible to listen to your favorite Apple Music songs in such a lossless format!

Even if you don't know him, know that he will enhance your experience when listening to music. In this article, we're going to talk about what it really is, how it works, and what devices you can listen to like this on. Check out!

What is Apple Music's lossless?

The first part of the article will be dedicated to an explanation of this format so that you can identify if it is for you or if you have no real interest.

The lossless offered by this music streaming service is developed by Apple itself, resulting in an audio experience that is almost identical to if you were in the studio when the recording was made!

The best part, actually, is that if you're already a subscriber to Apple Music, you'll be able to experience lossless without having to pay anything extra. But of course, if you prefer, you can continue using the audio quality you already heard!

How does it work?

You might be wondering how Apple's lossless works, especially if you're someone with a lot of interest and curiosity about technology. Here, your doubt will be resolved!

Any file, whether text, image, or audio, when in digital format, will be compressed in some way. Compression, or compression, will usually lead to the loss of at least some of the data.

There were already other lossless compressions, but Apple developed its own, called Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). With this, compressed audios won't lose their quality!

The entire Apple Music catalog is now available in lossless, with resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1kHz to 24-bit/192kHz. However, and it's worth mentioning, listening to songs in lossless will use more data (and take up more space if you download them).

Also, if you use wireless headphones like AirPods Pro, it's good to know that when using Bluetooth devices, there will always be some data loss, resulting in slightly inferior quality. And if you use cheap bluetooth headphones, the loss will be greater.

How to use Apple Music lossless?

Right. With all that said, let's now teach you how you can use this new feature. After all, it's no use knowing this new quality if you can't experience it!

Minimum requirements

There are a few minimum requirements for you to use Apple Music's lossless:

If using an iPhone or iPad, it needs to be updated to iOS or iPadOS 14.6. If it isn't, check out this link on how to upgrade;
If it's on the Mac, it needs to be on macOS 11.4 or later;
If it's on Apple TV 4K, it needs to be at tvOS version 14.6 or later;
If you're on Android, you need to be using the latest version of Apple Music to listen in lossless;
Also, you need to use wired headphones, receivers, or amplified speakers, or use your iPhone's speakers;
Finally, if you want to listen at the highest quality, above 48 kHz, you'll need an external digital-to-analog converter.

I have the requirements. How can I enable lossless on iPhone?

The process is really simple and only requires a few steps. But keep in mind that you can only use lossless if you have an Apple Music subscription.

First, open your app from Settings;
Then navigate to Song (the Apple Music app);
Now tap Audio Quality, in the submenu audio;
Finally, just enable the Lossless Audio;

Navigate to Apple Music's lossless ios option

You can still change if the Streaming via mobile, O Streaming via Wi-Fi, and the Downloads will be in lossless, high quality, or in high efficiency. The higher the quality, the more data!

configure on Apple Music's lossless ios

Also, if you already have songs downloaded from Apple Music and you want to have them lossless downloaded on your smartphone, just delete them and download them again.

How to use Apple Music lossless on Mac?

Again, it's a pretty simple process:

First, open Apple Music;
In menus, tap Song and then in Preferences;
Now click on reproduction;
Finally, you'll see the same options as on the iPhone, being able to enable or disable lossless audio.

And on Apple TV 4K?

To use Apple Music lossless on Apple TV, just:

open the Settings and navigate to Apps;
Go to Song;
Select the Audio Quality;
And now, just enable the option lossless. Apple TV 4K only supports lossless up to 48kHz, so you won't have any more options.

I use Android. How do I use Apple Music lossless?

Again, it's pretty easy. Follow the steps:

First, open the app da Apple Music;
Now tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen;
tap Settings;

go to audio quality on android

just below audio touch Audio Quality;
Finally, enable the Lossless Audio Apple Music and configure it whenever you want it to be used, just like on the iPhone.

enable and configure on Apple Music's lossless android

Did you like our article on Apple Music lossless?

So, what did you think of our complete guide? Leave a comment saying if you managed to learn how to use this new tool or if there are any questions left!