With the release of iPhone 8, iPhone X and Apple TV 4K, Apple has decided to offer support for FLAC lossless audio. Though, there hasn’t been much of buzz created around it, but it’s there.
Product pages related to all these new products from Apple now show this new support feature. Besides, the previous iPhone models – iPhone 7 as well as iPhone 7 Plus – will also support the format if they have iOS 11 running on them.
One interesting fact, however, is that the stock Music application from Apple doesn’t offer support for FLAC files yet, even on iOS 11 devices. So, it means that people willing to enjoy music encoded in this format will be in need of either in-built Files application or they will have to install some third-party solution using App Store. Plex and VLC are the examples of such apps which can be used for running FLAC files.
While the switch hasn’t yet been flicked by Apple, the new iPad Pro versions might be expected to support FLAC files with their A10X chips. Product pages for these devices haven’t been updated by Apple, and devices having A10 chips – like iPhone 6s and iPhone SE – seem to be missing out on such support. And if it is actually about hardware power, iPad Pro line can be expected to have support for FLAC format pretty soon.
When it comes to the portable devices from Apple, it’s important to note down that anyone who wants to enjoy FLAC support to the fullest will have to ensure that they have headphones with Lightning wires. Bluetooth connections, unfortunately, don’t have the capability to move enough amounts of data to give ultimate joy while listening to any music in lossless format.