HomePod and HomePod mini to Gain Support For Apple Music Lossless Audio in Future Software Update
The HomePod and HomePod mini will gain support for playing back Apple Music Lossless audio in a future software update, according to a newly published Apple Support document.
/article-new/2020/10/homepod_mini_homepod.jpg?lossy)
At launch, the HomePod and HomePod mini will not support Apple Music Lossless but will instead feature support for Dolby Atmos for Apple Music. Dolby Atmos, otherwise known as Spatial Audio, creates an immersive three-dimensional experience that simulates music all around the listener. Apple Music Lossless provides listeners with higher quality audio.
In June, Apple will offer Apple Music subscribers a "Standard" Apple Music Lossless tier with audio up to 48kHz, and "Hi-Res Lossless" with audio between 48kHz and 192kHz. Hi-Res Lossless requires external equipment like a USB digital-to-analog converter.
Despite support for Apple Music Lossless in a future software update for HomePod and HomePod mini, the AirPods and AirPods Pro will not be gaining support. In the support document, Apple explains that current Bluetooth doesn't support the higher quality format that Apple Music Lossless provides. AirPods Max will also not support Lossless wirelessly, but Apple says that when used with a cable, the $550 over-ear headphones will play back Lossless audio, although not completely:
The Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable was designed to allow AirPods Max to connect to analog sources for listening to movies and music. AirPods Max can be connected to devices playing Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless recordings with exceptional audio quality. However, given the analog to digital conversion in the cable, the playback will not be completely lossless.
Apple Music Lossless and Dolby Atmos will be available in June with more than 20 million tracks supporting Lossless audio and thousands of tracks supporting Dolby Atmos.
Top Stories
Spatial Audio, powered by Dolby Atmos for Apple Music is officially launching today, Apple announced during its WWDC keynote. Announced earlier last month, Spatial Audio provides a more immersive music experience for Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost.
Spatial Audio will initially be available to thousands of songs on Apple Music, with the selection growing more in the future. The ...
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.
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 ...
Apple today announced that Apple Music will be gaining support for Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos at no additional cost starting in June.
At launch, Apple Music subscribers will have access to thousands of songs in Spatial Audio from artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and many others. Apple says this feature will provide a...
The Browse tab in the Music app across Apple's platforms has started displaying a prominent teaser hinting at an upcoming major announcement for Apple Music. Under the heading "Coming soon," the headline says "Get ready – music is about to change forever." An accompanying "Tune-In Video" simply shows an animated Apple Music logo.
Rumors have indicated that Apple is preparing to launch a...
Amid several rumors about the launch of a new HiFi Apple Music tier, a brand new graphic found within Apple Music on the web has solidified speculation that Apple is planning to announce a new Lossless audio streaming feature for Apple Music subscribers. Discovered by designer Stijn de Vries, a new Lossless logo has been found within Apple Music on the web. There is also a second logo that...
Apple Music on Android devices will not include Dolby Atmos support when Apple launches Spatial Audio on the streaming service in June. That's the claim from MySmartPrice, which says it received confirmation from Apple India that the sound technology would not be crossing the divide between Apple and Android ecosystems.
For anyone confused by all the audio nomenclature that's been bandied...
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.
Spatial Audio, based on Dolby Atmos, is an ...
Following a report that Apple could announce a brand new HiFi Apple Music tier as soon as Tuesday, May 18, new warnings within the music streaming services app on Android have confirmed that lossless audio is in the works. As reported by 9to5Google, the Apple Music beta for Android has multiple warnings within the app that inform users that streaming audio at lossless, another term often...
Earlier today, Apple Music began teasing a special announcement with the tagline "Get Ready – Music is About to Change Forever." This teaser comes amid a rumor that Apple is preparing to announce the third-generation AirPods alongside a HiFi, or lossless audio streaming tier for Apple Music on Tuesday, May 18. Now, references to "Apple Lossless," "Free Lossless," "Hi-Res Lossless," and...
Apple today announced that starting in June, Apple Music songs will be available to stream in Lossless and Hi-Resolution Lossless formats, but lossless audio won't be supported on the AirPods, AirPods Max, or AirPods Pro.
Apple's Lossless Audio is encoded as Apple Lossless Audio Codec files, with lossless quality ranging from 16-bit 44.1 kHz playback to 24-bit 48 kHz playback and Hi-Res...
Top Rated Comments
Dolby Atmos is an audio format from Dolby that allows sound to be positioned around the listener. The producer needs only to define where in space a particular sound should be, and the listener’s compatible hardware works out how to recreate that intent either through multiple surround speakers, a sound bar, or earphones.
Spatial Audio is different: it uses sensors (gyroscope, accelerometer, and U1 chip) in the earphones to track the listener’s head movements. The position of the listener’s head when the audio starts to play is fixed as the ‘forward’ point. If the listener then turns their head to the right, the audio ‘pans’ to the left earphone to make it seem as though the sound is still coming from the same place.
A piece of audio can be both Dolby Atmos AND Spatial Audio. But Dolby Atmos is NOT Spatial Audio.
But for Apple to not support it on its on Music playing hardware, which it touted at launch a few years ago as being best in class, made no sense at all.
But, it’s a freakishly incredible sounding device and adding this functionality pushes ir closer to soundbar/home audio space.
there’s no way a HomePod successor isn’t inbound. While discontinued, new features are still inbound.