I really feel surprisingly numb. For years now – and I imply years – I’ve been advocating for Apple Music to have some type of auto DJ function that may beat-match your songs in a playlist. This was my most recent excuse to harp on about it.
I first heard of this type of function in DJ apps an extended, very long time in the past (I feel Algoriddim’s Djay was the primary one I used to be conscious of, however issues go foggy again then), and I heard concerning the potential for machine-learning algorithms (you recognize, the issues we now universally name ‘AI’ for advertising causes) to make them work super-seamlessly.
At the moment, Apple was getting closely into machine studying, promising to make use of it to counsel issues in your Lock display and handle your battery utilization. So I made the case that this may be a extremely cool function to have in Apple Music – significantly better than a boring previous crossfade between tracks in your playlist.
Now, on the time, Apple did not even provide a crossfade… it solely added that in iOS 17 two years in the past, and last year we got a ‘smart crossfade’ in iOS 18. However in iOS 26 (Apple has switched to naming by 12 months, somewhat than the model), I lastly have my breakthrough.
As one among a number of new options of Apple Music in iOS 26, Apple has introduced ‘AutoMix’, which is precisely what I at all times wished. Apple says, “AutoMix makes use of intelligence to transition from one music to the subsequent like a DJ, utilizing time stretching and beat matching to seamlessly transfer from one music to the subsequent.”
I’ve at all times curated my playlists to stream moderately properly from one music to the subsequent, attempting to maintain each selection and cohesion. What I’ve at all times wished is the telephone to take that to the subsequent degree (as a result of I’m no DJ), and now it is like a long-stuck splinter has been eliminated. I am lastly getting what I would like; I do not know find out how to really feel.
Oh, wait, sure, I do: pissed off that AirPods nonetheless in some way haven’t got a higher-quality Bluetooth connection.
@techradar
♬ original sound – TechRadar
Feeling Bluetooth
The one scab I’ve picked at as constantly because the AI DJ – excuse me, AutoMix – is the truth that AirPods solely assist AAC-quality Bluetooth audio, regardless that it’s the 12 months of our Hello-Res Audio Lord 2025. Here I am complaining about it back in 2022, and that is solely after I first began speaking about it on TechRadar.
Apple Music helps stunning lossless audio, however AirPods nonetheless do not assist something past basically the minimal of sound high quality (okay, SBC is actually the minimal, however that is really one step up).
Really, that is not fairly true – the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C are able to higher-res audio when used with the Apple Vision Pro, in order that’s good for these few thousand individuals. The new AirPods Max with USB-C also support wired Hi-Res Audio, however so does something with a 3.5mm jack, so I am speaking wi-fi right here.
Enjoyable truth: I purchased my first Apple product in 2006, and it was a MacBook Professional that supported aptX! I do not count on Apple to assist aptX, after all – that system is owned by Qualcomm, and I am not a maniac – however the world has moved on when it comes to what wi-fi audio codecs can be found to us.
Take, for instance, Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec that powers it. This can be a new wi-fi music encoder that is adaptive, so when you may have a robust connection to your telephone, it will possibly provide actually high-resolution music streaming – however when you’re far-off or there’s a number of interference, it will possibly decrease the standard and nonetheless preserve constant audio. And it will possibly do that doubtlessly utilizing decrease power than older codecs, so it may prolong battery life.
It is accessible as a part of the spec for Bluetooth 5.2, which is supported by many fashions of the best AirPods, in addition to the best iPhones, for years.
Apple has chosen to not assist it, and it is driving me to distraction at this level. It looks like there have to be an excellent cause, although Apple hasn’t revealed it. It appears that the company experimented with using it on the AirPods Max all the way back in 2022, nevertheless it hasn’t gone wherever since then.
Given how proficient the AirPods Professional 2 and AirPods Max are at music replica anyway, possibly Apple simply feels that it is pointless, however given that there is an open normal Apple can use, and the tech to run it’s constructed into Apple’s merchandise already, possibly we may very well be the judges of that with an choice to show higher-res Bluetooth on or off?
Both manner, with one other WWDC occasion gone with out point out of it, I count on which means no less than one other 12 months with out it – until Apple surprises us on the anticipated launch of AirPods Pro 3 later this 12 months.
I will reside – I am presently utilizing a Fiio BTR17 and Sennheiser HD600 for my hi-res thrills, and having a stunning time, thanks very a lot. It is simply not a really pocketable answer.
