How good your digital music sounds often comes down to which file format it's encoded in. Be that as it may, every Mac audio setup is only as strong as it's weakest link, and if your Bluetooth connection isn't up to scratch, even the best BT headphones will fail to deliver a decent wireless listening experience.

By design, all Bluetooth devices support the low-power SBC audio compression codec as standard. Fortunately, modern Macs also support AAC (Apple's preferred iTunes codec) and aptX, which Android devices often use. These two codecs offer higher quality audio and generally lower latency than SBC, which is why most third-party wireless headphones on the market support one or the other, and sometimes both.

mac bluetooth audio codec aptx aac
Yet for whatever reason, despite their AAC/aptX support, some headphones fall back to the bog-standard SBC codec when connected to a Mac. This can lead to a particularly underwhelming audio experience, not to mention latency-related sync issues, which will be a distinct concern if you use your headphones while gaming or watching movies.

Thankfully, it's possible to force macOS to connect to your headphones using one of the two superior codecs. In this article, we'll show you how to do so using Apple's Bluetooth Explorer utility. (And if you're comfortable opening a Terminal window, we've included a couple of commands at the end that do the same thing.)

Bluetooth audio codecs
But first, it's worth checking which codecs your brand of headphones actually supports: Look for codec logos on the box, and make sure to check for references to codecs in the manual and any accompanying/online spec sheets.

Once you've established that your headphones support aptX and/or AAC, you'll want to identify which codec is being activated when you connect the headphones to your Mac. Follow these steps to find out.

How to Identify Which Bluetooth Codec is Active

  1. Establish a Bluetooth connection between your Mac and headphones in the normal manner.

  2. Play some audio on your Mac so that it's streaming to the headphones.

  3. Now hold down the Option (Alt) key and click on the Bluetooth symbol in the menu bar. (If you don't see it there, you need to check Show Bluetooth in menu bar in System Preferences -> Bluetooth.)

  4. Hover your mouse cursor over the headphones in the connection list. You should see the headphones' Active Codec shown in grey.
    active bluetooth codec macos

If your headphones are using AAC or aptX, you don't need to do anything. Without going into the technical details, both standards provide relatively stable wireless connections and – as far as Bluetooth goes – comparably decent sound quality. However, if the codec shown is SBC, you'll probably want to change it. Here's how.

How to Force-Enable aptX and AAC Codecs in macOS

  1. Open a web browser, navigate to Apple's developer downloads page, and download Additional Tools for Xcode 9 [Direct Link] which contains Apple's Bluetooth Explorer utility. Note that to access the page you'll need to register for a free Apple developer account if you don't already have one. Alternatively, use Google to find the Bluetooth Explorer utility hosted elsewhere and skip to step 5, but if you're not downloading from Apple, be sure to screen the file for malware.
    xcode developer tools

  2. Once downloaded, double-click the Additional Tools dmg file to mount it on your desktop.

  3. Open the Additional Tools drive and navigate to the Hardware folder.

  4. Open your Mac's Applications folder in another Finder window or tab.
    Bluetooth Explorer copy

  5. Drag Bluetooth Explorer into your Mac's Applications folder and launch the app from there.

  6. From the Bluetooth Explorer menu bar, select Tools -> Audio Options.

  7. In the Codecs section, tick the checkboxes alongside Enable AAC and/or Force use of aptX (depending on your issue). Make sure Disable AAC and Disable aptX are left unchecked.
    Bluetooth Utility codec enable

  8. Click Close to finish.

  9. Restart your Mac, or reset the Bluetooth module.

When your Mac reboots, you can confirm that the codec change has been applied by following the first series of steps in this article.

Terminal commands for enabling AAC and aptX Codecs

To enable aptX, input the following command, press Enter, and type your user password if prompted:
sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AptX codec" -bool true

Alternatively, to enable AAC, input the following and press Enter:
sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AAC codec" -bool true

To disable either codec via Terminal, simply replace -bool true with -bool false at the end of the command.

Top Rated Comments

jb-net Avatar
78 months ago
Sadly, Apple doesn't seem to support aptX on iOS :(
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fitbunny Avatar
78 months ago
What I always wanted to know is: when listening to iTunes music already encoded in AAC, will it pass-through or re-encode in AAC? Because you potentially loose the benefits of good compression if you recompress. This came to my mind when finding out about albums that sound bad because they are recompressed themselves.
I have read in multiple sources that all audio is reencoded to AAC whether it comes from itunes as AAC or not. However, all the sources say that this reencoding does not cause much of a quality loss because AAC as a codec is transparent even after 100 reencodings. I use beoplay e8 and the sound is the best I have ever listened to with Bluetooth headsets that I have used so far and I have used quite a few aptx headsets by Sennheiser. The only problem with the above tutorial is that the setting are lost when reconnect your beoplay e8. I used sudo and normal user to change the plist instead of using the gui and the settings seem to be saved now. here is the commands that I used:
defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AAC codec" -bool true

defaults write bluetoothaudiod "AAC Bitrate" 320

sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AAC codec" -bool true

sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "AAC Bitrate" 320
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
levitynyc Avatar
78 months ago
iPhones don’t support APTX which blows.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lasermoon Avatar
42 months ago

Anyone know if there is a way to verify which codec us being used in big sur? The option click on blueooth does not bring up the codec option like it used to in previous versions of mac OS.
Yes. I had to use bluetooth explorer > Audio Graphs
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timmyh Avatar
78 months ago
Interesting! I suspect Apple’s own audio devices, such as AirPods, and all of their newer OSs, support AAC?
Correct!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedGala Avatar
78 months ago
Great article. This is what macrumors is all about.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
apple wallet drivers license feature

Apple Said iPhone Driver's Licenses Would Expand to These 8 U.S. States… Two Years Ago

Thursday March 14, 2024 7:33 am PDT by
In just four U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports, businesses, and venues. Adoption of the feature has been slow since Apple first announced it in September 2021, with IDs in the Wallet app only available in Arizona,...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
OLED iPad Air

iPad Air Next on Apple's OLED Tablet Roadmap Following iPad Pro

Friday March 15, 2024 3:30 am PDT by
The iPad Air will be the next Apple tablet to adopt OLED display panel technology following its upcoming OLED iPad Pro models, according to an updated forecast from research firm Omdia (via The Elec). "In 2028, we expect the iPad Air to go OLED as well, with the iPad Air using single-stack and the iPad Pro using two-stack tandem OLEDs," said Omdia researcher Kang Min-soo, speaking on...
Walmart MacBook Air M1

Walmart Begins Selling MacBook Air With M1 Chip for $699 in U.S.

Friday March 15, 2024 6:57 am PDT by
Walmart today announced that it has started selling the MacBook Air with the M1 chip in the U.S., with pricing set at a very reasonable $699. The laptop can be ordered now on Walmart.com, and it will be available soon at select Walmart stores. This is the first time that customers can purchase a Mac that is sold directly by Walmart, the company said in a press release. Some other retailers...
AirPods Pro Case With Screen

AirPods Case With Touchscreen Knock-Off Copies Apple Patent

Thursday March 14, 2024 4:29 am PDT by
Apple registers many patents most of which never see the light of day as consumer products – officially, that is. One burgeoning knock-off merchant in China has apparently taken cues from an idea Apple had in 2021 for AirPods featuring a case with a built-in touchscreen display. Pictures and video shared on X (Twitter) by occasional leaker @lipilipsi show production units of counterfeit...