How to adjust the audio quality in Apple Music

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Apple Music has shockingly robust cross-platform support for an Apple service. Native apps are available for iOS and macOS, of course, but there are also very well-designed version for Android, Windows and other devices — including smart TVs and game consoles. Thankfully, there's very little feature discrepancy between the Apple and non-Apple versions. Android users miss out on the nifty karaoke feature available on iOS, but still get all the marquee features, including lossless quality streaming. There are additional audio quality features, including an equalizer, which can help you fine-tune the sound further. All of this makes Apple Music a great Spotify alternative, especially once you activate its high quality audio.

Apple Music actually features two lossless tiers, with the basic lossless setting streaming in CD quality — 24-bits at 48kHz. If you listen to music through most pairs of consumer headphones or earbuds, and especially if you use Bluetooth, this is the highest quality such products can deliver. You don't need to waste data with Apple Music by turning on the even more extreme Hi-Res Lossless setting which delivers audio at 24-bits of depth and 192kHz. However, if you have dedicated hi-fi equipment, the latter option is recommended.

However, lossless audio isn't enabled by default. Because it uses considerably more data, you'll need to enable lossless playback from settings on each of your devices. If you're looking to turn lossless audio off, either because it's eating into your data plan or you don't have the proper playback equipment to hear it properly, you can do so using the same process. It's a straightforward process, but it's easy to miss some of the necessary steps. So, here's how to adjust the audio quality in Apple Music.