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Apple’s launch-era estimate is about 36 MB for a three-minute Lossless track and 145 MB for a three-minute Hi-Res Lossless track. That works out to roughly 720 MB per hour and 2.9 GB per hour, respectively—but those hourly figures are calculations from the older track estimates, not guaranteed current rates. Apple’s current guidance confirms that lossless and higher-resolution streaming use more data, without publishing a fixed hourly amount.
How much data does each Apple Music quality use?
Apple’s 2021 Lossless launch estimates, as reported by MacRumors, compared three-minute tracks. The hourly figures below are simple extrapolations from those estimates, not separate Apple measurements.
| Quality | Maximum resolution | Apple’s estimate per three-minute track | Approximate hourly equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Quality AAC | Not stated in the cited estimates | 6 MB | 120 MB/hour |
| Lossless | Up to 24-bit/48 kHz | 36 MB | 720 MB/hour |
| Hi-Res Lossless | Up to 24-bit/192 kHz | 145 MB | About 2.9 GB/hour |
MacRumors’ report of Apple’s 2021 estimates provides the track-size figures. The hourly equivalents assume continuous listening at the same average rate. Actual use can vary with track duration and resolution, network conditions, and playback behavior. Apple’s current Lossless Audio support guidance says higher resolutions use more data but does not promise a fixed amount per hour.
Why does Lossless use more data?
Apple Music uses Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) for lossless audio. Apple says its catalog includes music from 16-bit/44.1 kHz through 24-bit/192 kHz. Higher-resolution audio carries more data, which is why Hi-Res Lossless can use substantially more than standard Lossless. The available resolution varies by track; the maximum shown for a tier is a ceiling, not a guarantee that every song streams at that resolution. See Apple Music’s audio-quality information.
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Apple states that streaming lossless over cellular or Wi-Fi consumes significantly more data than standard streaming, and that higher resolutions consume more than lower ones. That qualitative guidance is current; the specific MB-per-song estimates above date to the 2021 launch.
How to limit Apple Music data use on cellular
On iPhone or iPad, you can set cellular streaming separately from Wi-Fi streaming and downloads:
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- TUNE OUT THE NOISE—Up to 1.5x more Active Noise Cancellation than the previous generation, fully immersing you in every sound.*
- HEAR THE WORLD AROUND YOU—Adaptive Audio automatically adjusts noise cancellation levels to suit your environment. Conversation Awareness lowers the volume of what’s playing to make it easy to talk to those around you.* And Transparency lets outside sounds in so you can interact with your surroundings.
- PERSONALIZED SPATIAL AUDIO—With sound tuned to your unique ear shape and dynamic head tracking, AirPods Max 2 delivers an immersive listening experience that surrounds you with theater-like sound.
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- Open Settings > Apps > Music > Audio Quality.
- Turn on Lossless Audio if you want to use it, then choose the quality for cellular streaming, Wi-Fi streaming, and downloads separately.
- To conserve a capped mobile plan, keep cellular streaming at a lower quality and use Lossless or Hi-Res Lossless over Wi-Fi or for offline downloads.
Apple’s instructions for these controls are in its Lossless Audio support article. Downloading at higher quality uses more device storage. If you change your download quality settings, delete existing downloaded tracks and download them again to get the new lossless version.
Does Hi-Res Lossless sound higher quality on every device?
Not necessarily. Streamed quality depends on the track’s available version, network conditions, and the capabilities of the connected playback equipment. On iPhone, playback above 48 kHz requires an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Bluetooth playback is not lossless, so selecting a lossless tier does not make a Bluetooth connection lossless. These equipment limits affect playback, not the basic data comparison between streaming tiers. Apple describes the playback requirements in its support guidance and Apple Music information.
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- HEAR THE WORLD AROUND YOU—Adaptive Audio automatically adjusts noise cancellation levels to suit your environment. Conversation Awareness lowers the volume of what’s playing to make it easy to talk to those around you.* And Transparency lets outside sounds in so you can interact with your surroundings.
- PERSONALIZED SPATIAL AUDIO—With sound tuned to your unique ear shape and dynamic head tracking, AirPods Max 2 delivers an immersive listening experience that surrounds you with theater-like sound.
- COMMUNICATE ACROSS LANGUAGES—Simply press and hold the listening mode button to activate Live Translation powered by Apple Intelligence,* which automatically translates the language someone is speaking into your preferred language.
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