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Does Apple Bluetooth deliver lossless audio or not?

This support webpage (About lossless audio in Apple Music - Apple Support )is confusing, in my opinion. It says:


Can I listen to lossless audio over Bluetooth?

We will deliver music using lossless audio compression to your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Lossless will play back normally on Bluetooth speakers and headphones. However, Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio.


The support page says "We will deliver music using lossless audio compression to your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Lossless will play back normally on Bluetooth speakers and headphones." But then the next sentence seems to directly contradict it: "Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio."


What am I missing here?


Thx


iPhone 12 mini, iOS 15

Posted on Mar 21, 2022 5:13 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 22, 2022 5:57 AM

Apple should have simply answered:


No, Apple Music doesn't deliver lossless audio via Bluetooth. 🙂

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8 replies

Mar 22, 2022 12:32 AM in response to Arandel

Current Bluetooth protocol doesn't have sufficient bandwidth for lossless audio. When you listen Apple Music via Bluetooth you don't get lossless audio.


The document you mentioned states only that the lossless stream reaching an Apple device is possible to further be delivered to a Bluetooth audio device. In this case the lossless audio is lost during the Bluetooth transmission.


Apple Music (Lossless) -> Apple iPhone/iPad/Mac/Apple TV -> Bluetooth (Lossy) -> Receiver/Speaker/Headphones

Mar 22, 2022 9:29 AM in response to Marco Klobas

I'm not complaining, and I really appreciate your answer. I have my answer now: Bluetooth does not transmit lossless audio. I'm guessing that when I send music by bluetooth from my iphone to my earbuds, that my iphone will compress (with losses, perhaps as .mp3 or similar) the lossless files located on my iphone so as to make it possible to send them by bluetooth. If that's the case, then I understand now. And if I want to listen to lossless files, I'll need a wired connection. No problem. I think Apple should make that more clear, but sometimes they try to simplify things instead of explaining them properly. The fear of confusing customers can actually lead to more confusion. A good tech writer, however, can explain without leaving out important information.

Does Apple Bluetooth deliver lossless audio or not?

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