Hi-res lossless/24-bit music over wireless CarPlay seems to work. Could that be right?

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Hi-res lossless/24-bit music over wireless CarPlay seems to work. Could that be right?

We know Apple upgraded its music service so many albums are Hi-res/lossless, encoded at 24-bit and either a 96kHz or 192 kHz sample rate. Apple isn't completely transparent about what systems can actually play hi-res/lossless, but, from what I've read, wireless CarPlay uses WiFi for the link from the phone to the car but is limited and cannot play hi-res/lossless.

I have my phone set to stream and download hi-res. I was playing a new (Foo Fighters/BeeGees cover) album that is encoded at 24/96 through wireless CarPlay on my 2021 Ford F-150 with Sync4 and the B&O Unleashed system. I noticed the phone indicated it was playing hi-res/lossless through wireless CarPlay, which I didn't think was possible. When the phone shows the hi-res/lossless indicator during playback, it *should* actually be playing this way. I then switched the output of the phone to my HomePod Mini and the hi-res/lossless indicator disappeared, as it should, indicating the HomePod can't handle this resolution.

Could it be that Apple CarPlay wireless can actually handle hi-res/lossless if it is played over a newer audio system that can handle 24-bit?

iPhone 12 Pro

Posted on Jul 26, 2021 10:59 AM

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Answer 1

Lippy11 Author

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Jul 26, 2021 8:57 PM in response to Lippy11

Now I'm really not sure what the indicator on the iPhone music app, the one that says Lossless or Hi-res Lossless, really means. If I play a song that is encoded in Hi-res on the iPhone itself, I can see the Hi-res Lossless indicator. I can see the same indicator when playing through Wireless CarPlay on my 2021 F-150, which led me to believe it is really playing at that resolution. When I played the same song through my HomePod Mini, the indicator disappeared, leading me to believe the indicator is present only when playing at that resolution. But then, when I play through my other car's Bluetooth audio, the indicator is present, and it is also present when playing through my AirPod Pros. I understand the latter two are not capable of playing Hi-res because they use Bluetooth. So what is the story with the indicator?

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Hi-res lossless/24-bit music over wireless CarPlay seems to work. Could that be right?

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