Apple Music skips about 2 seconds into track on macOS and tvOS

Well I removed lossless from everything and guess what the skipping has stopped. I also submitted another feedback notice to Apple. I think this problem deserves proper attention from Apple. People are paying for this service and it’s not being delivered.

This is a real problem. Happens on every track when streaming on lossless. You can’t call it lossless if you lose a whole beat! The beginning of the song is the most important part. The skipping just takes you out of it and ruins the magic. Please fix this, and thank you for the in depth analysis done by @philfnyc1

I'm making tests, my results are as follows:

1. It only happens with Lossless AND streaming. I tried downloading some songs and I never get skipping with downloaded songs. I also tried disabling Lossless and it doesn't skip with regular AAC when streaming.
2. I tried reproducing the problem (using Lossless with Streaming) with a playlist in both normal and random order, in both cases I advanced to the end of a song (about 10 secs before ending) and when the next one is played the skipping doesn't happen.

This only points to caching, the Music app must be loading a lower (or different) bitrate song before loading the Lossless stream version (just like any streaming video) when a song is requested on demand and this is causing the skip, hence when playing it on an ordered manner it doesn't skip. A list wether random or normal is still an ordered list, the random list is generated when the first chosen song is played, and we can go forward or backwards through the songs in that "random" list.

I FOUND THE PROBLEM and a work around.

As soon as the song starts playing it detects whether its a Dolby track or regular. If its dolby it will skip a beat and turn on Dolby on the song, hence the skip beat.

If you want to work around the issue is easy, remember those hidef - highly boasted speakers your MBP has? we'll just turn off DOLBY sound. It doesn't solve it, just work around it, so you just have to settle for mediocre sound on you $3K computer. And let's hope it gets fixed sometime in the next 30 yearly updates.

This. I can absolutely confirm this has been a problem for YEARS and was the reason I went to Spotify long ago. Within the 3-Month free testing period of Apple Music I had this exact problem all the time. And this was before lossless was even available! I am only back with Apple again due to their Apple-ONE pricing model. It’s the better offer for me and my family compared to Spotify. However, this skipping within the first 2-5 seconds of almost every song on every platform is VERY annoying to say the least. Apple has to fix this and it is unacceptable. It happens less when lossless is disabled but I can confirm it sometimes happens even with normal quality settings. On cellular, on wifi, on any network even with very fast bandwidth. This problem is 100% on Apple’s end and it needs to be fixed. It’s a complete joke having to deal with this kind of issue in 2022 while every other streaming provider runs smoothly without any problems at all. Why this issue has jot been addressed yet is beyond me.

I absolutely agree with that diagnosis. It looks like Apple Music is changing bit rates or codec and as it does so, a buffer is lost. This needs fixing please Apple

Given that I’ve had opportunity, I can confirm the following

• It occurs on latest macOS (M1 MBP) and tvOS (4k 2G and 4k 1G)
• It occurs over wired or Wi-Fi connections
• It occurs over any WAN connection I tested (50Mb, 150Mb, 2Gb, 10Gb from multiple ISPs)
• It only occurs when using the lossless codec
• It is agnostic to output type — including a brand new set of HomePod 2’s
• I also tested bufferbloat as a *just-in-case* — results were between 40-50ms where I had opportunity to test

I would find it hard not to characterize this as a problem in software (music app, macOS/tvOS) or protocol (apple’s servers and how they are handling streaming the lossless codec).

This also continues to happen on iOS iPhones including my iPhone 13. Happens on WiFi or cellular.

It is just Lossless, I just checked. Happens with streaming and downloaded Lossless on my Mac. Pretty consistent and annoying.

Happened on every iPhone I’ve ever had and I’m currently on the 15PM. Beta builds, stable releases. Doesn’t matter.

Hello philfnyc1,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. 

We’d like you to try some isolation troubleshooting steps to isolate the cause. Please try the steps here: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support We also recommend trying the steps in the section titled “Add a user” here: Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac - Apple Support

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

Thanks for testing that and getting back to us, philfnyc1. We appreciate you clarifying that it does also occur with your Apple TV from your first message. The goal is the narrow down the underlying cause to determine why this is occurring.

Are both your Mac and Apple TV devices using the same Wi-Fi network? Have you restarted your router to see if that helps?

We also noticed you mention your OS versions. Your macOS is fully updated, but there is a tvOS 15.4.1 update out now. We'd recommend making sure your Apple TV is fully updated, let it restart, then see how those streamed tracks do again. We look forward to hearing back from you.

About Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD software updates

Best regards.

I think this is only a forum to help each other, I don't think Apple reads this...

They clearly state at the bottom of this page:

"Welcome to Apple Support Community

• A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products."

"Their products".... instead of 'Our products' or 'Apple products', almost meaning "their problems, not ours" hehe..

Hey philfnyc1,

It sounds like you're having a specific issue with Apple Music on both macOS and tvOS where tracks skip about 2 seconds into playback, but only with streamed tracks, not with downloaded ones. This problem started occurring approximately a week ago and doesn't happen on iOS devices. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially fix this issue:

1. Check Network Connection: Since the issue only occurs with streamed tracks, it's worth ensuring that your network connection is stable and not experiencing any interruptions. Try restarting your router or switching to a different network to see if the problem persists.
2. Restart Devices: Sometimes, a simple restart can resolve temporary software glitches. Try restarting your Mac and Apple TV to see if that helps.
3. Update Software: Make sure that both your macOS and tvOS are updated to the latest versions available. Apple often releases software updates that include bug fixes and performance improvements.
4. Reset Apple Music: On your macOS device, try signing out of Apple Music and then signing back in. This can sometimes resolve issues related to your Apple Music account.
5. Check for Known Issues: Visit Apple's support website or community forums to see if other users are experiencing similar issues with Apple Music on macOS and tvOS. There may be ongoing issues or solutions provided by Apple or other users.
6. Contact Apple Support: If the problem persists after trying the above steps, consider reaching out to Apple Support for further assistance. They may be able to provide additional troubleshooting steps or escalate the issue if it's a known bug.

By following these steps, you should hopefully be able to resolve the issue with Apple Music skipping tracks on macOS and tvOS. If you have any further questions or need assistance, feel free to ask!

Best regards, Anas Amr Galal