Audio Testing Confirms iPhone 6 Not Yet Capable of Direct HD Audio Playback

Earlier this year, Apple was rumored to be adding support for high-definition audio playback in iOS 8 and shipping new EarPods with the iPhone 6 in order to support this 24bit/96kHz standard. Apple ultimately made no such announcements for iOS 8 or the iPhone 6, and Mashable has now confirmed with some testing that Apple's latest iPhone 6 does not currently support high definition audio playback.

iphone6-stock-photo
With the help of audio testing expert David Ranada, Mashable tested several sample .wav files encoded at a 96kHz sampling rate with 24 bits per sample. The tracks were played using third-party apps such as Onkyo's HF music player and recordings were made through the headphone jack to determine the quality of the audio output.

The results show that iPhone 6 does not yet support HD audio playback, even though the audio hardware inside the phone may be capable of 24bit/96kHz output. According to teardown analyses, Apple's iPhone 6 includes the custom made Cirrus Logic 338S1201 chip, which is likely the successor to the Cirrus Logic CS42L61 chip used in previous iPhone models. Though also a custom build, the older CS42L61 chip is part of Cirrus Logic's CS42L51 family, which supports 24bit/96kHz HD audio.

It's hard to conceive of Apple either creating a custom chip that's less capable than the equivalent off-the-shelf component, let alone downgrading the audio capabilities of the iPhone's DAC in subsequent generations. So it stands to reason the DAC on board the iPhone 6 is capable of sampling 24-bit/96kHz audio.

It's possible, however, that Apple could later update iOS 8 with support for HD audio and enable the playback of hi-res music through the iPhone's headphone jack. Apple is accepting 24bit/96kHz uploads from musicians and is allegedly preparing to enable high-definition 24-bit downloads from iTunes.

Customers who want HD audio sooner will have to look at Lightning-equipped audio devices such as the recently announced Fidelio M2L headphones from Philips. The Fidelio M2Ls will connect to an iPhone or iPad via the Lightning port and will support 24-bit audio using an internal DAC and amplifier built into the headphone unit.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

arbogast777 Avatar
146 months ago
So... you're telling us the iPhone doesn't have a feature that they never claimed it to have?
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Medic311 Avatar
146 months ago
The S version is usually when the real iPhone comes out
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
normang Avatar
146 months ago
A whole article, based on a rumor, that Apple never announced, and most people's ears in most any ear buds or Beats are not going to notice any significant difference in quality, even if it were enabled.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BB1970 Avatar
146 months ago
Basically iPhone 6 is a flop.

Most companies would love to have an Apple "flop"
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ouimetnick Avatar
146 months ago
Basically iPhone 6 is a flop.

Nah, Just the rumor mill creates unrealistic rumors, and other wishes that don't always become true, hence the term rumor.

noun
a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth: they were investigating rumors of a massacre | rumor has it that he will take a year off.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lictor Avatar
146 months ago
There is no noticeable difference between the 44.1kHz (we mostly listen to now) and 96kHz.
The human ear can't even hear above 20kHz, and the rest is just for filter purposes.

That's not what Shannon's theorem says. It doesn't state that sampling at twice the frequency is enough to be able to reproduce a perfect signal. What it states is that if you sample under twice the frequency, there is no way you will be able to reproduce a signal at that frequency... It's a minimum, not a maximum.

For instance, a young person will hear a signal at 20kHz. To capture that signal, you need to sample at at least 40kHz. Then, that young person will be able to hear something, but you will have lost a lot of characteristics of the signal - for instance, you will not be able to know if the original signal was a sawtooth, a square or a sinusoid. So, significant information will have been lost.

That's why CD recordings sounded metallic at first. The solution, which is applied on all CDs, was to cut the frequency around 16kHz to avoid the destruction of the characteristics of the signal around Shannon frequencies.

That's why 96kHz is interesting, because it keeps quality in the upper part of the spectrum.

Moreover, 24-96 is not only about 96kHz, it's also 24 bit. And there, you gain a lot. The problem with CD and digital capture in general is that the scale is linear while most of our senses use a logarithmic scale.
The result is that when you go at the bottom of your intensity, you have a very very low resolution in your sample, while the human ear (or eye) still have a good resolution. This is especially visible in photography: if you brighten the shadows, you will see a lot of banding, because the sample resolution is very low in the shadows. It's the same problem with audio: CD killed the dynamic range (hence the loudness war), because it's not that good when you have a lot of dynamic during the low volume ports.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)