HomePod Will Support Spatial Audio for Apple Music, But Not Lossless Audio - MacRumors
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HomePod Will Support Spatial Audio for Apple Music, But Not Lossless Audio

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Apple Music will be gaining support for two new audio formats in June, including Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, but MacRumors has received confirmation that the HomePod and HomePod mini will not support Lossless Audio.

Apple's website does indicate that the HomePod will support Spatial Audio, but it's unclear if this includes the HomePod mini.

homepod feature purple
Spatial Audio, based on Dolby Atmos, is an immersive three-dimensional audio format that enables musicians to mix music so it sounds like the instruments are all around you in space. On the other hand, Lossless Audio refers to audio recordings that have been compressed without any reduction in the overall quality of the audio, which can result in an improved listening experience, although the difference is not always obvious.

Apple Music will have two tiers of lossless audio, including standard "Lossless" audio up to 48kHz and "Hi-Res Lossless" audio that ranges from 48kHz to 192kHz. Apple said "Hi-Res Lossless" will require external equipment like a USB digital-to-analog converter.

Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio will be available in June for all Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost on devices running iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, macOS 11.4, and tvOS 14.6 or later, according to Apple. Presumably, there will also be a companion HomePod software update that enables Spatial Audio support in time for the feature's launch.

Spatial Audio will be available for thousands of tracks at launch, with more to be added regularly. Lossless audio will be available for 20 million tracks at launch, and this will rise to 75 million by the end of the year.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Tag: Apple Music Guide
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Top Rated Comments

M
mnsportsgeek
69 months ago
Ok then what’s the point of offering it if none of your speaker products support it in any way?
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Seoras Avatar
Seoras
69 months ago
I get why the AirPod's won't get loss less audio. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for that.
These device however not getting it doesn't make any sense at all.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
contacos
69 months ago
Seems very un-Apple to release a service update that’s not even supported by any of their own devices. Weird.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L
Lemon Olive
69 months ago

I've already seen a few videos uploaded to youtube talking about the whole lossless debacle and there's already so much misinformation.
Because most people don't even know what lossless audio is, and today are under the impression they're supposed to start caring about it.

If you didn't care about it before, you don't need to start today.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
dannyyankou
69 months ago
OK, now that’s lame. I understand not supporting lossless over Bluetooth, but there’s no reason the HomePod shouldn’t be able to play lossless music.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
jimothyGator
69 months ago
So what does support lossless? Perhaps Macs and iPhones on the built in speakers, but what good is that? I suppose wired headphones with an iPhone. It'd be great if both lossless and Dolby Atmos work with an Airplay 2 receiver with an Atmos speaker setup, but my guess is it won't. What about wired CarPlay?

This is shaping up to be rather underwhelming so far.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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