philfnyc1 Author

Level 1

133 points

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

Apple Music on both macOS and tvOS skips about 2 seconds into a track. Is there a fix?

The issue only occurs with streamed tracks. If I download the track, the problem goes away.
I don't notice this on all tracks. When it happens on a track, however, it consistently happens.
It started occurring about a week ago or so.
Soundcheck is not turned on.
The issue does not occur on iOS.

I compared the waves between streaming and downloaded:

MBP M1 16" 2021

macOS 12.3.1

Apple Music 1.2.3.56

Apple TV 4k 2nd Gen

tvOS 15.4

Apple Music (latest version as of 4/10/2022)

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Apr 10, 2022 8:03 PM

Top-ranking reply

Dnilo

Level 1

34 points

Posted on Jun 6, 2022 6:58 AM

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

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.
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.

View in context

Similar questions

83 replies

Jan 30, 2024 5:12 AM in response to philfnyc1

It's also happening on my iPhone 14 Pro - it's annoying! £500 pair of Airpod Max and a >£1000 phone plus ongoing Apple music subscription all of which I specifically pay for or have brought because of the quality of Spatial audio, lossless and Dolby Atmos (on my Apple TV setup), and it has this bug which destroys the listening experience and grates everytime it happens.

I thought we left beat-skipping behind when humanity transitioned from CDs to MP3s!

Please fix this apple - it's not up to your usual standards.

May 2, 2024 3:18 PM in response to philfnyc1

Still happening in 2024. I'm using a 2021 M1 MacBook Air. I have lossless turned on at highest quality. I've noticed that it does not happen on every album, but does on some, and it depends on the album exactly when it skips and how much it skips.

DaMac78

Level 1

55 points

May 12, 2024 2:01 AM in response to philfnyc1

Just wanted to let you guys know I just reported this via feedback to Apple.

as many of you have already done this I doubt it will help or cause them to seriously look into this.. but better than just talking about it in here. For the last couple of years..

Let’s hope they can figure it out. I’m positive it’s a caching issue that could be resolved by streaming lossless from the start, even if this would mean a slight delay before the song starts.

adamwade

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2024 10:22 PM in response to philfnyc1

It's astonishing that this is still an issue. What's the point of offering Lossless audio playback with it simply doesn't work? I experience this skip @0:02 on both Streaming on an iPhone 15 and Mac Studio connected via ethernet.

philfnyc1 Author

Level 1

133 points

Apr 11, 2022 11:57 PM in response to green500

The problem still exists in Safe mode.

Please remember that:

my issue also exists in tvOS
it doesn’t exist when I download the track.

philfnyc1 Author

Level 1

133 points

Apr 12, 2022 3:52 PM in response to ACW_13

The problem persists using a different WiFi network.

g0tz00

Level 1

14 points

May 5, 2022 9:08 AM in response to philfnyc1

Hello, have you found any answer? I just noticed the same annoying skips about 2-2,5 seconds into each streamed song.

Apple Music 1.2.3.56, MacOS 12.3.1, Mac Mini M1

philfnyc1 Author

Level 1

133 points

May 7, 2022 1:29 AM in response to g0tz00

I still have the issue. Crossing my fingers that the next OS upgrade fixes it.

philfnyc1 Author

Level 1

133 points

May 18, 2022 12:29 PM in response to g0tz00

I installed macOS 15.4 and tvOS 15.5. The issue still exists in Apple Music on both MBP 16 M1 Pro and Apple TV 4K 2Gen.

May 30, 2022 6:23 PM in response to philfnyc1

I've noticed the same issue and it's really annoying. Good to know I'm not the only one, and I hope there's a fix for this soon too.

Jun 4, 2022 3:09 AM in response to drum recorder

I have the same issue, on a wired network and skips in first few seconds. This is an Apple Music streaming issue.

Jun 4, 2022 9:56 AM in response to philfnyc1

Having the same issue. I'm curious if anyone have got a way to fix this?

Dnilo

Level 1

34 points

Jun 6, 2022 6:27 AM in response to philfnyc1

I'm having the same problem, only happens when streaming Lossless. Hopefully it will be solved within this decade, since Apple usually don't give a pickle about this kind of "small" problems.

Jun 6, 2022 6:41 AM in response to Dnilo

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

Jun 10, 2022 10:41 AM in response to Dnilo

Still have to vent somewhere though 😂. I’ve dropped a tweet to Mr Cook asking if he can sort it

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

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