Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 could get lossless audio support and a new charging case

By Prakhar Khanna Updated May 10, 2024

In May 2021, Apple announced support for lossless audio in its Music app. However, the AirPods lineup doesn’t support high-quality Bluetooth codecs such as aptX HD, LDHC, or LDAC, to listen to high-quality lossless music. It seems like that will change with the next iteration of AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro 2 is said to have support for lossless audio. Moreover, it could have a new charging case trick up its sleeve.

The report came from MacRumors that popular analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed that the AirPods Pro 2 could have new selling points, which includes support for Apple Lossless Audio (ALAC). Additionally, it could have a charging case that users can trigger a sound from to highlight its location. The feature is likely to be integrated into Apple’s Find My app. It could work similarly to how users can currently emit a sound from their individual AirPods inside the case to help find them.

The second-generation AirPods Pro is touted to come equipped with a premium design and improved noise-canceling technology. It is rumored to drop the stem in favor of a more compact design. It was earlier reported that packing noise-cancellation, wireless antennas, and microphones into a smaller AirPods Pro earbud housing has so far proved challenging. The company is also reportedly looking to improve the battery life of its future offering.

Moreover, some previous reports state that the device might not launch anytime before Q3 2022, so we are assuming they might launch alongside the iPhone 14 series later this year. The upcoming earbuds could be positioned above Apple’s Beats subsidiary range.

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Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…

Audio / Video

Apple AirPlay 2: the wireless audio and video streaming tech fully explained

Apple AirPlay 2 control center.

When it comes to listening to music wirelessly, most people think of Bluetooth. It's built into just about every smartphone on the planet, and a huge number of tablets, desktops, and laptops have it too. But if you own Apple hardware, you need to know about a Bluetooth alternative that works over Wi-Fi, called Apple AirPlay 2.

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Audio / Video

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An Apple AirPlay icon hovering above an Apple HomePod speaker.

Apple's wireless platform for audio and video streaming -- AirPlay -- is one of the best ways to play music from an Apple device to a wireless speaker. When at home, on a Wi-Fi network, it outperforms Bluetooth thanks to its wider bandwidth. The conventional wisdom has always been that AirPlay sets a hard limit on audio quality: iPhones and other Apple devices can only transmit lossless CD-quality audio, at 16-bit/44.1kHz, to an AirPlay-enabled speaker, leaving the technology incapable of supporting the higher-res streams now being offered by Apple Music and others. But it seems that AirPlay can actually do 24-bit audio. Sort of.

The new second-gen HomePod, which Apple released in January, can stream lossless 24-bit/48kHz audio directly from Apple Music, using its own Wi-Fi connection to the internet. This isn't news: Apple added 24-bit lossless playback (via Apple's ALAC codec) to the first-gen HomePod and HomePod mini in 2021, along with Dolby Atmos support.