What you need to know
- Apple announced its brand new lossless audio quality for Apple Music this week.
- Unfortunately, because of Bluetooth limitations, it won't work with any of Apple's AirPods.
- A new leak from Jon Prosser says Apple is working on an update that would allow AirPods to work with AirPlay, making them the first wireless headphones that can stream lossless audio.
A new leak from Jon Prosser claims that Apple is planning a massive software update for AirPods that will allow users to wirelessly stream lossless audio via AirPlay, rather than Bluetooth.
In the latest episode of Front Page Tech, Prosser notes Apple's recent big announcement regarding changes to Apple Music, including plans to bring lossless audio to its entire Apple Music library by the end of the year. As Prosser says in the video, many people were understandably vexed at the news that lossless audio would not be available to users of Apple's AirPods including the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro. This is because of the limitations of Bluetooth in transmitting lossless audio data and isn't really something that Apple can overcome. Or can it?
Prosser states that he has been told that "with a simple update" Apple is planning on making its AirPods compatible with AirPlay. According to Prosser, you would still use Bluetooth to discover AirPods using something like an iPhone, before creating a "personal Wi-Fi connection" that would allow audio streaming between devices through AirPlay. Prosser states that "just like that" AirPods would be the first wireless headphones capable of streaming lossless audio.
So why announce lossless audio before Apple's AirPods can use it? Prosser says the move is about choice, and that Apple is mindful of the ongoing Epic Games lawsuit and presumably the optics of presenting a big Apple Music upgrade available to users of other types of headphones too, not just Beats and AirPods. He says its the same reason Apple rolled out third-party access to Apple's Find My network before the release of its AirTag:
Prosser concludes by saying what a lot of folks have probably been thinking all along with the unveiling of Apple's lossless audio:
Unfortunately, Prosser doesn't know when the update will roll out, but with lossless audio coming in June, WWDC 2021 would certainly seem like a good opportunity. Whilst Prosser doesn't mention it in the video, if Apple is really planning to make use of AirPlay to unlock lossless audio on AirPods there doesn't seem to be any reason why Apple couldn't do the same for speakers like the HomePod or even some of the best AirPlay 2 speakers from other brands like Sonos.
You can read the full story on Apple's massive music upgrades here.
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