Catlane/Getty Images Apple Music is one of the leading music streaming providers, competing with companies like Spotify, Amazon Music and Google’s YouTube Music. There are differences between the giants, which is why some users highlight their ease of use as one of the advantages of moving from Spotify to Apple Music. Some listeners also like Apple’s lossless audio, which arguably makes it better than YouTube music in terms of sound quality. One popular feature they all offer is the ability to stream music to your TV, playing hit tunes while you complete household chores, work, or just hang out with friends. Still, Apple TV hopes to stand out with a new feature for its second- and third-generation Apple TV 4K devices running tvOS 27. In September 2026, the tech company said it would transition music streaming to lossless high-resolution audio support for Apple TV’s Apple Music app, providing even more frequencies and data in the stream. According to Apple’s support page, lossless audio allows listeners to experience tracks without compromises and without frequency loss. “With an Apple Music subscription, you can activate lossless audio on all your devices and hear every preserved detail of the original recording,” he says. So, if you own a newer Apple TV 4K model, but haven’t switched to Apple Music yet, it may be worth trying to experience the sound quality, assuming your speakers are up to par. Apple said tvOS will only be compatible with Apple TV 4K devices released after 2021. Any older Apple TVs will be left behind in this update. Lossless audio gives Apple Music clear, nostalgic sound indraprojects/Shutterstock Apple TV’s transition to high-resolution lossless audio for Apple Music came just five years after the service rolled it out for its entire catalog, which contains more than 100 million songs by 2026. Although some listeners may have difficulty differentiating between high-resolution and lossless audio, mastering engineer Piper Payne said the former produces an untouched listening sensation. and high quality. “The soul and life of the mix lies in the additional bits of data that are stored in the lossless file,” he said in an Apple press release from June 2021. When Apple transitioned to high-resolution lossless, it also added spatial audio with Dolby Atmos support for the service to generate a more immersive atmosphere. “Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity,” the company wrote. Lossless audio is designed to provide 100% of an original recording despite compression, which some listeners find easier on the ear. Some Reddit users compared its sound quality to CDs, and for others, even vinyl records. “[Lossless audio is] literally CD quality audio,” one user wrote. “Like the same sample rate every CD has, the same dumb CDs you played in your Chevy Cavalier in high school.”
