The Dream of Lossless Audio with Apple Music

That's the dream all of us have had since Apple music was announced earlier, even but there's just no sign of it yet. And if Apple were to do some sort of lossless service, I mean, it's arguable how high a bit rate they need to go. How high a bit rate a human can even determine, but at least having a higher quality option up to and including a lossless option. I mean, studios willing to license all of that to them would be fantastic. Especially now that Apple is making such a big deal about not just the quality of their audio but the computational quality of their audio. I mean, those algorithms can fix a lot but the better the source, the better the result.

Computational Audio and High Fidelity

I think if, and when I fix it or someone else tears it down and doesn't find a U1 chip in it, we'll have absolute confirmation there isn't one. And it seems like U1 isn't a technology Apple is propagating everywhere yet. It's a technology they're using specifically in what I would consider main category devices, which are sort of the computational, the computer end of Apple's product line. And they're not in, what I would call the accessory end at all yet.

The Explanation on How They Managed to Get High Fidelity Audio via Bluetooth

Seriously in need of an explanation on how they managed to get high fidelity audio via Bluetooth. And with 256 kilobit per second AAC which is what 99% of Apple apps use. Apple is using the computational audio to make up for the small amount of data contained in those files. And it's not exactly like, but it is analogousto computational photography. Where they don't have a big glass or big sensor the way a Canon or Sony camera does. They have these little tiny smartphone sensors with very little Z index and very little information compared to those mirror-less or DSLR cameras, but because of the computational aspect because of the big compute, they can take that information that data and make the absolutemost out of it possible.

Just apply every algorithm imaginable from a smart HDR 3 to deep fusion, to night mode, all of those things, and what the image signal processor does for pixels. The audio signal processor is doing for the bits in these music files, song files, audio files and that is take the small amount of data they have and just make it be everything it can possibly be including that data for a stereo and surround sound up to and including Atmos. But again, better data in is gonna always be better data out.

The Difference Between AirPods Max and AirPods Pro

What's the difference between AirPods Max and AirPods Pro, except for that one is over-the-ear and one is in the ear. I have an entire video where I go over in detail in depth, all of the differences. So if you're having trouble deciding between them I'll just link that in the description and you can check it out, and hopefully just every part of this question gets answered.

Community Involvement

And if anyone has any more questions or just wants to chat in general, check out our members only discord where we talk about airpods and iPads and watches and iPhones, Apple Silicon, and gear and workflows, just everything, basically 24/7. And you can find it on Patreon. Because I have Patreon now patreon.com/reneritchie. And I set it up right after I quit my big media job in March, right before all of 2020 happened. Right when I started this new indie channel because I needed a way and I needed a community to help make these videos better.

Accessing the Content

And there are even ways to get your name in the description of every video, even the credits. So to be more involved in this community and to contribute directly to the creation of these videos and future projects, like my podcast, AppleTalk with Georgia Dow. Check out patreon.com/reneritchie or just click the link in the description clicking that link just really helps out the channel.

The Playlist Above

For a ton more on the AirPods, just all of them, click on the playlist above. I've got videos upon all the new features, reviews, comparisons and a lot more Click on that link. And I'll see you in the next video.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- What's the chance that theywill be a sport's versionat $350 perhaps in March of next year.Oh, what if these are the sports versionand the higher endversion, the rumored steeland leather version are justmore expensive than this.You had questions, so manyquestions about Apple's new $549AirPods max, and you wanted answers.You wanted the truth.Well I'm here to give you justall the truth you can handle.As always members over atpatreon.com/reneritchiehave Q&A priority.And yeah, I have Patreonbecause I went Indie in 2020.And if your question didn't get answeredor you just have more questions,hit that subscribe button and bell,and I'll hang out when newvideos go live in the chatand answer all thequestions you might have.Now let's do this.George Rubin on Patreon,Are the pads replaceable?Bose and Beats wear outin a couple of years.And will they automaticallyturn off when I fall asleep?So first part, the pads are replaceable.They're magnetic and Appledoes sell replacements.I think they're 70 bucks, $69.Will they automatically turnoff when you fall asleep?Kind of, but not really.Like they have no way ofdetecting that you're asleep.They do have sensors inside the cupsthat know if they'rephysically on your headand positioned properly over your ears.So if you fall asleepand, you know, slide downand they get pushed off yourears or turned or rotated,a sensor will probablytrip and turn them off.But I think that's moreincidental than intentional.Patrick Christiansen on Patreon.Given the size of the AirPodsMax, do you see a potentialfor them to one day have LTE or 5G,so you could just use these on a run.No watch, no phone?Yeah, absolutely.Apple has been continuouslypushing technology into smallermore convenient forms.It's like that old parallel where we usedto have clock towers in the town square.And then we had grandfather clocksin our living room andthen we had pocket watchesand eventually we had wristwatches.We used to have mainframecomputers in, you knowbig companies and universities.And then we got personalcomputers for our desks.And then we got pocketcomputers with our phonesand now we have wristcomputers with our watchesand even ear computers.10 audio core ear computers in air pods,and the functionalityjust keeps getting pushedinto these smaller, moreconvenient form factors.So, absolutely I thinkfrom the moment they introduced AirPods,the idea, the thought,the potential was justthat they would do thingslike stream Apple musicor podcasts or audiobooks, maps, directionseverything straight tothe AirPods eventually.And obviously it's easierto take the power demandof those and somethingas big as the AirPods Maxbut I think eventually we'll have themin something as small as theAirPods pro even smaller maybe.Jonas Lomp on Patreon.Why lightning? Why notUSB C or even MagSafe 2?So if by MagSafe 2, you mean the versionthat just shipped with the new iPhone 12,I mean, that would be great.It probably just wasn't ready in time.This product has been in development.The AirPods Max have been in developmentfor four or five years andMagSafe probably in a parallelbut different trajectory.And they just did not line up for this.I don't know how feasible itwould have been to include allof the magnetic inductive technologyin the first-generation AirPods anyway.But certainly over time, Ithink that's the directionthat Apple wants to move, but I thinkuntil they get to that MagSafepoint, they're just stickingwith lightning on everything that they canon everything that doesn't requireeither the higher power deliveryor higher data throughputof USB-C things like,you know, the iPads nowand the Macs for the last few years.Catatonic on Twitter.Is there a jack for an audiocable on the AirPods Max?And no, but kind of.There is only a lightning porton the actual physicalheadphones themselvesbut Apple and otherpeople sell a lighteningto 3.5 millimeter headphone cable.So you'd plug the lighteningpart into the AirPods Pro Maxand then the 3.5 millimeterpart into any aux port.And then you just play theaudio out from that devicethrough the DAC, in the cableand right into the AirPods Pro Max.Nitesh on Twitter.I wonder if the digital crownand left right sides were downgradesfrom what Apple planned,as they were rumoredto detect which ear they were onand have a gesture touch zone.And yeah, so we livein this really weird timewhere there are just a lotof leaks about Apple products.If you go back to like whenthe iPhone was coming out,there were stories about it,rumors about it, for sure.But no one was tracking thedevelopment process at all,like they're doing it today.Like, can you imagine a worldwhere we kept seeing headlineafter headline of Appleshelves tablet projectgoes all in on phone.Apple has competing iPodand OS10 phone vyingfor Steve Jobs'attention.Steve jobs cancels iPod phonegoes all in on OS10 phone.Apple engineers holed up inbuilding that smells like pizza.Steve jobs, cancels plastic screenat the last minutedemands glass for iPhone.And then still having the iPhone shipwithout MMS or copy paste or apps.It's just a natural part ofthe product development cycle.You always have sort of anideal that you strive towardsbut then you have aminimal viable product.or in Apple's case, aminimal delightful product.The set of features they believe necessaryto sell the product intothe market at its debut.And that is the pragmatic solution.So anything that's not ready,you just leave that asidebecause you have to ship, you knowit's that whole great artist ship thing.And then those featureseither get rolled straightinto a second or thirdversion or become adaptedor replaced with the features that do gointo that second or third version.And this is totally normal.Again, we just livein an age where all thisstuff gets reported.So absolutely all of thosefeatures could have been plannedfor the AirPods Max, butspecifically did not make itinto the first version, but are probablyor at least may probably still be plannedfor AirPods Max writ large.And we could see them in version twoor version three in the future.Alex Meehan on Twitter wantsto know who are these aimed at?And yeah. Excellent question.And I think the simple answer,at least from Apple's perspective,is people who have a really high affinityfor the Apple brand and Apple technologyand want the kind ofcomputational audio experiencethat really only Appleis delivering right now,which is probably not audiophiles,who love their even more expensivebut very hard wiredheadphone experience straightinto the vinyl.But people who have enough incometo afford a $550 pair of headphones.And again, because they'resold out for 12 weeks already,Apple managed to meet that at leastfor the amount of supply theycould manufacture for now.And it remains to be seenwhat the demand is likewhen they increase supply.Whether it really is a hit inspite of the initial reactionwhich was very much the casewith the original AirPodsor if they are sort ofjust sustainable levelslike the original HomePod was.And then of course, howthat builds out over time,whether Apple does go intoeven higher-end, leatherand steel versions, atthe top of the marketor I think, you know, whatmost of us would want,and that is a lessexpensive sportier versionsort of the HomePod Minior aluminum Apple watchthat just really takes offthrough the mainstream.Simon on Twitter.The press release andsome, but not all materialon the site seem to suggestthat these only work withApple devices, is that true?So they only have the full feature setthings like the supereasy pairing experienceand device propagation on Apple devicesbut they are Bluetooth headphones.So you'll be able to pair themlike any other set of Bluetooth headphonesto Android or windows or any other deviceand even use the basicnoise cancellation featurethe same way you can with AirPods Proon any other device,Bob Backlund on Twitter.Can I use these while working outwithout needing to worryabout damaging them?And no, you cannot.While the AirPods Pro,the in-year versions are rated IPX4which means very lightwater and sweat resistance.There is no IP rating atall on the AirPods Pro Maxand Apple has made no suggestionthat they have any kind of wateror sweat resistance at all, either.So you don't want to get them wet.And if you are sweatinga lot you probably wantto wipe them down a lotand otherwise just takereally good care of them.Aiden Strovink on Twitter.What would make customers pay the twoto $300 premium comparedto the Beats or the Bose?So stainless steel andaluminum and magnetic cupsand the rest of the materialand general build qualityall of the sensors,including the motion sensorsand then you have the eightor nine microphone arrayand the 10 core audio processor in the H1which delivers some extracomputational featuresincluding the adaptiveEQ and the spatial audiowith dynamic head tracking and whetheror not that's worth an extra200 or 250 bucks for youyou have to decide.Hiro on Twitter, is thebattery user serviceable?And no it is not.Apple is prioritizing withall of their audio productsthe compactness of the deviceover the serviceability of the device.And in this case, if youwant the battery serviced,you have to take it to Apple.I forget what the cost is,I think it's under $100and they will just takecare of that for you.FLDPLN on Twitter.Do the AirPods Max workpassively with the lightningto 3.5 millimeter cable?And no alas, they do not.They're required to be on.There is just no passivestate for them at all.At least not yet.Brian White on Twitter, highres Apple music incoming?And I mean, that's the beautiful dream.That's the dream all of us have hadsince Apple music wasannounced earlier, evenbut there's just no sign of it yet.And if Apple were to do somesort of lossless serviceI mean, it's arguable, how higha bit rate they need to go.How high a bit rate ahuman can even determinebut at least having ahigher quality optionupto and including a lossless option.I mean, studios willing to license allof that to them would be fantastic.Especially now that Appleis making such a big dealabout not just the quality of their audiobut the computationalquality of their audio.I mean, those algorithms can fix a lotbut the better the source,the better the result.Charlie Fish on Twitter.Does it have a U1 chip in it?And Apple does not list a U1 chip.People have said, there's no U1 chip.And I think if, and when I fix itor someone else tears it downand doesn't find a U1 chip in it,we'll have absoluteconfirmation there isn't one.And it seems like U1 isn'ta technology Apple ispropagating everywhere yet.It's a technology they'reusing specificallyin what I would considermain category devices,which are sort of the computational,the computer end of Apple's product line.And they're not in,what I would call theaccessory end at all yet.20 Cafes por Dia on Twitter asks,Seriously in need of anexplanation on how they managedto get High Fidelity Audio via Bluetooth.And with 256 kilobit per second AACwhich is what 99% of Apple apps use.Apple is using thecomputational audio to make upfor the small amount of datacontained in those files.And it's not exactlylike, but it is analogousto computational photography.Where they don't have a big glassor big sensor the way aCanon or Sony camera does.They have these littletiny smartphone sensorswith very little Z indexand very little informationcompared to those mirror-lessor DSLR cameras, but becauseof the computational aspectbecause of the big compute,they can take that informationthat data and make the absolutemost out of it possible.Just apply every algorithmimaginable from a smart HDR 3to deep fusion, to nightmode, all of those things,and what the image signalprocessor does for pixels.The audio signal processor is doingfor the bits in these musicfiles, song files, audio filesand that is take the smallamount of data they haveand just make it beeverything it can possibly beincluding that data for a stereoand surround sound upto and including Atmos.But again, better data in is gonnaalways be better data out.So at some point I hope Apple does moveto that higher quality source.Noel on Twitter.What's the difference betweenAirPods Max and AirPods Pro,except for that one is overthe ear and one is in the ear.I have an entire video where I goover in detail in depth,all of the differences.So if you're having troubledeciding between themI'll just link that in the descriptionand you can check it out,and hopefully just every partof this question gets answered.And if anyone has any more questionsor just wants to chat in general,check out our members only discordwhere we talk about airpods and iPads and watchesand iPhones, Apple Silicon,and gear and workflows,just everything, basically 24/7.And you can find it on Patreon.Because I have Patreon nowpatreon.com/reneritchie.And I set it up right afterI quit my big media jobin March, right beforeall of 2020 happened.And right when I startedthis new indie channelbecause I needed a wayand I needed a community tohelp make these videos better.And it's just so greatbecause there's a whole previewsection where I share ideasand outlines and questions.And for all of these videossometimes before they're even shotsometimes even earlyversions of the draftsor longer versions of interviewswhen they're availablelike with iJustine or WaltMossberg or Jonathan Morrisonor anyone else I talkedto in these videos.And there are even ways to get your namein the description of everyvideo, even the credits.So to be more involved in this communityand to contribute directly to the creationof these videos and future projects,like my podcast, AppleTalk with Georgia Dow.Check out patreon.com/reneritchieor just click the link in the descriptionand clicking that link justreally helps out the channel.For a ton more on theAirPods, just all of them ,click on the playlist above.I've got videos upon all the new features, reviews,comparisons and a lot moreClick on that link.And I'll see you in the next video.\n"