Apple's latest announcement about bringing lossless audio support to AirPods Max through a firmware update next month has sparked discussions about whether this upgrade is truly as revolutionary as marketed.
Greg Joswiak, Apple's marketing chief, boldly claimed on social media that lossless audio represents the "ultimate" audio upgrade for AirPods Max, promising "mind-blowing sound quality." However, this statement directly contradicts Apple's own technical documentation.
According to Apple's support documents, the current AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) format already delivers audio that is "virtually indistinguishable" from original studio recordings. The company explicitly states that listeners can barely tell the difference between AAC and lossless audio formats.
While the upcoming firmware update will enable 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio playback through a USB-C connection, the practical benefits may be minimal for most users. The update also introduces ultra-low latency capabilities, which primarily benefit specific use cases like music production and gaming but don't enhance general audio quality.
The $549 AirPods Max will require a physical USB-C connection to utilize these new features, moving away from the wireless convenience that made AirPods popular. Users will need to purchase an additional $39 USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable to take full advantage of the lossless capabilities.
Previous AirPods Max models with Lightning connectors never achieved true lossless playback due to signal conversion requirements during wired connections. While the new USB-C model addresses this limitation, the real-world improvement in audio quality may not justify the marketing excitement, especially given Apple's own statements about AAC quality.
This disconnect between marketing claims and technical reality raises questions about whether the lossless audio upgrade deserves the "ultimate" label, or if it's simply clever marketing for a feature that most users won't notice in everyday listening.