ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is Apple's lossless format, functionally equivalent to FLAC in compression and quality, and the native choice across iOS and macOS pipelines. Apple open-sourced it in 2011, but its real advantage is ecosystem: it is what the Apple Music lossless tier and the Apple device chain expect, packaged in MP4/M4A. Choosing between ALAC and FLAC is almost entirely about tooling rather than sound — Apple-centric workflows reach for ALAC, the broader open-source world for FLAC. Both halve a WAV losslessly; both are wrong for low-bitrate streaming, where a lossy codec belongs.
The book · Volume 4 of 7
Audio for Video: A Complete Guide to Sound in Video Products: From PCM and Codecs to Loudness, Accessibility, and Real-Time Voice Processing
ALAC is the lossless format of the Apple ecosystem, so supporting Apple devices well often means handling it alongside FLAC. Volume 4 covers ALAC in detail within lossless formats: PCM, WAV, AIFF, FLAC and ALAC, sample rates and bit depth, and choosing codecs for delivery across devices. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
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