Apple HomePod Devices Also Won't Play Lossless Audio

Apple’s addition of lossless music support that starts next month won’t work on its own HomePod devices. 

On Monday, Apple announced that it is adding a lossless audio catalog to Apple Music in June. MacRumors confirmed that the HomePod and HomePod mini devices wouldn’t support the new lossless audio features. 

Lossless audio is the original audio that the artist created in the studio, without any edits or additions, which many music lovers say provides an improved listening experience. Apple said in its announcement that Apple Music subscribers would be able to listen to 20 million tracks at launch, eventually adding a total of more than 75 million lossless audio songs. 

Lossless audio formats are not as compatible with all devices compared to formats like MP3, and lossless audio is known not to be as well supported on hardware devices such as smartphones and tablets. Lossless audio files also typically require much more storage space than other audio formats. 

However, Apple’s HomePod devices aren’t the only Apple-made devices that won’t support this new audio on Apple Music. T3 first reported on Monday that the new AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones and the AidPods Pro headphones also wouldn’t be able to play lossless music.

Apple users were complaining on social media that for the high price of the AirPods Max headphones (starting at $549), they should be able to play any type of audio on them. 

Apple said that Apple Music’s new Lossless tier starts at CD quality, which is 16 bit at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz), goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz, and is playable natively on Apple devices. The streaming service also offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.