Apple Unveils Lossless Audio for AirPods Max

The forthcoming upgrade will render AirPods Max “the sole headphones that allow musicians to both create and mix in Personalised Spatial Audio with head tracking.”

Apple

Last year, Apple subtly refreshed its flagship AirPods Max headphones by introducing new colors and substituting the lightning connection with USB-C. However, these minor modifications served a more significant purpose: they were not merely for aesthetic reasons, nor solely a response to the European Union's new "common charger" regulation mandating the transition to USB-C. Instead, it seems that Apple's engineers have been discreetly developing a software update that will ultimately introduce a highly anticipated (albeit possibly overdue) feature to its overhead AirPods model.

Next month, the Cupertino-based firm will provide “lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio to AirPods Max,” enabling users to enjoy superior quality, uncompressed sound and to “experience music as the artist intended in the studio.” The forthcoming update will enable AirPods Max to support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless music, and Apple asserts that customers to its Apple Music streaming service will have access to over 100 million songs in lossless audio quality.

Lossless audio is neither novel nor groundbreaking, and one could contend that Apple's audio products have lagged behind those of its competitors in recent years. Apple is recognized for its deliberate approach to market entry, with CEO Tim Cook recently stating to the Wall Street Journal that the company's attitude has consistently prioritized excellence over expedience.

Apple

Apple's rendition of lossless audio is distinguished by its posture as ideal for music production, a point reiterated multiple times in its press statement. Apple is specifically targeting makers of spatial audio, asserting that its update will become AirPods Max “the sole headphones that allow musicians to create and mix in Personalised Spatial Audio with head tracking.” Apple has confirmed that Logic Pro will be compatible with the new feature and stated, without saying which, that "other music creation applications" will also be compatible.

The ultra-low latency is expected to render the headphones an excellent choice for gaming, as Apple asserts that the update would eliminate reaction delay and align their performance with the native built-in speakers of Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

It is essential to acknowledge that all of these additional features will be exclusive to AirPods Max with USB-C, leaving users of the previous AirPods Max device at a disadvantage. The original model's lightning port does not provide the same data transfer speeds as USB-C, indicating that it is a hardware limitation that cannot be rectified through software solutions.

Apple has stated that the update will be released "next month," however no specific date has been confirmed. Remain attentive.