AirPods Max Won't Directly Support Lossless Apple Music Over Lightning

Earlier today, we confirmed that AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max will not support lossless audio over Bluetooth because of Bluetooth limitations, and it turns out there's no direct wired lossless option for the ‌AirPods Max‌ either.

airpods max ear cushions finished
Apple's ‌AirPods Max‌ headphones are equipped with a Lightning port, but it is limited to analog sources and will not natively support digital audio formats in wired mode.

Apple told The Verge that when a 24-bit/48 kHz Apple Music lossless track is played to an iPhone into the ‌AirPods Max‌ using a Lightning cable and a Lightning-to-3.5mm dongle, the audio is converted to analog and then re-digitized to 24-bit/48 kHz. The re-digitization is not an identical match to the source and Apple is not able to say that it's lossless audio.

Apple has confirmed that lossless audio can be listened to on an ‌iPhone‌, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, but the higher quality audio is not available on AirPods, ‌AirPods Pro‌, or ‌AirPods Max‌. Apple lossless is also not available on the HomePod.

Listening to lossless audio on an iOS device will require wired headphones compatible with the ALAC format, and possibly a digital to analog converter. That the $549 ‌AirPods Max‌ do not work with Apple lossless is sure to upset some fans, but there is debate about whether most people can even tell the difference between standard and lossless audio formats.

Though the ‌AirPods Max‌ headphones do not support lossless audio, they are compatible with Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, another new feature that Apple is bringing to ‌Apple Music‌. Spatial Audio will allow artists to create multidimensional music that sounds like it's coming from all around you, and this feature is available on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip.

Related Roundup: AirPods Max
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Max (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...

Top Rated Comments

dumoore Avatar
48 months ago
AirPods Max Pro. Now with lossless enabled. $999.99
Score: 115 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WhoDaKat Avatar
48 months ago
Apple has confirmed that lossless audio can be listened to on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, but the higher quality audio is not available on AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max.

You have to be ****ing kidding me. My $600 headphones don’t support, even wired? They just freaking released them! Who on gods earth are they bringing lossless to Apple Music for? For all the people that don’t buy their products? They sell speakers and headphone, and none of them support lossless? That makes zero sense. This surely has to be a mistake.
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheMode Avatar
48 months ago

I can't hear the difference anyway.
I agree, but it is just weird for a company known for its hardware to release something that none of their audio products support
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DEMinSoCAL Avatar
48 months ago
What a screw up that Apple's best headphones can't play lossless.

Gotta love though, that since they won't playback lossless, the article goes on to say, basically, not a big deal as you probably can't hear a difference anyways! So which is it, is the new Lossless service useless or not?
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spainask27 Avatar
48 months ago
I'm so disappointed. Was extremely excited about this news and can't believe that now AirPods Max won't be able to support it wired. I understand that is not possible by BT, but not even wired is such a disappointment after expending 600€ just 6 months ago on them.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
48 months ago
I’d love to know who was in the product meetings when the HomePod and AirPods Max were being discussed. I still don’t know who these products were/are for. An audiophile is going to want a wired connection and if you’re not an audiophile these products cost more than most would be willing to spend.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)