Today Apple announced the arrival of Dolby Atmos and lossless audio for Apple Music. You can listen to music in higher sound quality at no extra cost, while enjoying spatial audio thanks to Dolby Atmos. But to play lossless audio and experience full quality, you unfortunately need a little more. The AirPods are not suitable for lossless audio.
AirPods not suitable for lossless audio
In the press release and on Apple's website, the company was already remarkably quiet about whether or not to support lossless audio in combination with the AirPods (Pro) and AirPods Max. Apple only says it works with iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Apple now says to the T3 website that all AirPods models are not compatible with lossless audio.
For lossless audio, Apple uses the ALAC format. The fact that the AirPods are not suitable is probably due to the limitation of Bluetooth. The AirPods work with Bluetooth AAC codec, which means that the sound file cannot be played in the ALAC format on the AirPods.
Apple uses two varieties of lossless audio: the standard version (also referred to as CD quality) and the Hi-Res Lossless. For the Hi-Res version, Apple already revealed that you need external equipment, such as a USB adapter that converts the signal from digital to analog. However, it is still unclear what exactly you need to enjoy regular lossless audio from your iPhone or iPad. You may need wired headphones. You may also need a special adapter.
All AirPods and recent Beats models will work with Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio. This means that you can still benefit from better sound if you listen to Apple Music via the AirPods, although you do not use all the new functions. Also read our FAQ about lossless audio with Apple Music for more answers to questions.