Apple Music Lossless audio quality uses significantly more data than standard settings
Apple Music users should check their data caps before streaming lossless audio over cellular networks.
Estimated file sizes vary by resolution
Apple's documentation estimates a three-minute song uses about 6MB for High Quality, 36MB for Lossless, and 145MB for Hi-Res Lossless. These figures serve as planning guides rather than guaranteed file sizes because actual consumption depends on network conditions and equipment.
Hourly playback data requirements differ greatly
Continuous playback for one hour consumes roughly 120MB in High Quality, 720MB in Lossless, and up to 2.9GB in Hi-Res Lossless. The difference between standard Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless becomes quickly noticeable on a capped mobile plan.
Codec technology affects stream efficiency
The High Quality setting uses 256kbps AAC while Lossless utilizes the Apple Lossless Audio Codec, or ALAC. This codec reduces file size while preserving original audio data, which explains why lossless streams require more data than lossy AAC.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.