According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a note to investors, the next-generation AirPods Pro model might support the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), meaning you can listen to music without a drop in audio quality due to things like Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) compression.
Every AirPods model, including the RM2,399 AirPods Max, compresses its audio using AAC, which means you cannot listen to lossless audio with any of the current AirPods. If this rumour is true, then the AirPods Pro 2 will be the first model to support this feature.
This is a big deal because wireless headphones and Bluetooth have famously not supported hi-res lossless audio files. In an FAQ section on Apple’s website, they even said “Bluetooth connections don’t support lossless audio.” Qualcomm has come out with their “AptX Lossless audio technology”, but the idea of wireless lossless audio is still cutting-edge now.
Some of you might ask “Why not just use LDAC, Sony’s open-source hi-res audio codec?”. LDAC is not completely lossless and has been shown by Soundguys to be worse than AAC in most situations. Apple has also had ALAC for 17 years and getting this to work would be the ‘Apple’ thing to do.
We’re not sure how Apple will achieve this, but it’s possible that they will still use Bluetooth to transmit the audio. In an interview, Apple’s VP of acoustics Gary Geaves said “there’s a number of tricks we can play to maximize or get around some of the limits of Bluetooth,” hinting towards an increase in bandwidth to achieve ALAC in the new AirPods Pro.
Whether or not lossless audio is even distinguishable from lossy audio is debatable, but jumping this technological hurdle would be a great breakthrough in the audio tech world.
The report also mentioned that the AirPods Pro 2 will have a charging case that can make sounds, making it easier to find the case when it’s lost. We reported on this rumour in October 2021, so it seems like the idea has some credibility now. The October report also included a metal loop on the side of the charging case for a strap attachment, but this feature has not been validated yet.
In the investor’s note, Kuo says that the new AirPods Pro model will likely come in Q4 of 2022.
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