How to enable High Quality Lossless Streaming on Apple Music

Last year Apple introduced new ways to enjoy high quality music on their streaming service Apple Music. This article goes on the ways you can enable the high quality streaming options on your phone, tablet or laptop.

Please note the following:

Dolby Audio Quality – works on devices with Dolby Atmos support. So this can only be enabled on devices – be it laptops, Android tablets & phones which support Dolby Atmos
Lossless – uses more data to stream content at up to 24bit/48kHz. This is about 36MB for a 3-minute song. Will require you be using a wired connection. Bluetooth connections won’t stream in this quality.
Hi-Res Lossless – uses up to 145MB for a 3-minute song. Will require more than a wired connection to work. You will need an external digital-to-analogue converter to experience the full quality.

So, for you to really get the quality you need, Bluetooth headphones won’t work. You need wired connections. You need special hardware. And you also need good internet.

Fret not though, if you have good Bluetooth headphones, you can enjoy good quality sounds if your phone supports Dolby Atmos. AirPods users with iPhone, Macs or iPads can enjoy spatial audio which works on top of Dolby Atmos to immerse you in the sound you’re listening to.

Enabling Dolby Atmos on Apple Music:

On Android Phones:

Open Apple Music App.
Open Settings.
Under Audio, enable Dolby Atmos.
Scroll to Download Options and Enable Dolby Atmos Downloads.

On iPhones and iPads:

Open Settings App.
Scroll down to go to Music.
Under Audio go to Dolby Atmos and choose either ‘Automatic’ or ‘Always On’.
Go back and Scroll to Downloads and enable “Download in Dolby Atmos”.

On Macs:

Open the Music App
On the top Menu bar, click on Music to reveal dropdown menu
Click on Preferences
Switch from ‘General’ to ‘Playback’
Scroll to Audio Quality
Under Dolby Atoms, select either ‘Automatic’ or ‘Always On’.

Enabling Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Quality on Apple Music

On Android Phones:

Open Apple Music App.
Open Settings.
Under Audio, go to ‘Audio Quality’
Enable Lossless Audio
Then enable the option of either “Lossless” or “Hi-Res Lossless” for Cellular, WiFi or Downloads

On iPhones and iPads:

Open Settings App.
Scroll down to go to Music.
Under Audio go to Audio Quality
Enable Lossless Audio
Then enable option for either “Lossless” or “Hi-Res Lossless” for Mobile Data Streaming, WiFi or Downloads