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Apple Music Sing karaoke feature won’t be compatible with all devices running iOS 16.2

Apple this week announced a new feature called Apple Music Sing, which brings a karaoke experience to most songs available on the streaming platform. However, although Apple has said that the feature will be released soon for iPhone and iPad users with iOS 16.2, not every model will support it. Read on as we detail which devices are compatible with Apple Music Sing.

Apple Music Sing requires newer devices

As described by the company, Apple Music Sing is a new way to “hum, rap, jam, or sing along with millions of your favorite songs.” Once the feature is enabled, Apple Music lets the user control the level of the vocals in the song, so they can be slightly reduced or even almost completely removed for a full playback experience.

But there’s a catch. Apple is not releasing playback versions of the songs currently available on Apple Music. Instead, the feature is based on algorithms that isolate the vocals from the rest of the song in real time using on-device processing.

For users, this means that Apple Music Sing will be available for the vast majority of their favorite songs. But unfortunately, due to the on-device processing, Apple has chosen to restrict the feature to only a few devices. The company had already mentioned that Apple Music Sing requires the new 2022 Apple TV 4K. But what about iPhones and iPads?

Apple told TechCrunch that the feature works with iPhone 11 and later. On the iPad side, it requires a model powered by the A13 chip (the same as the iPhone 11) or later. You can check out the full list below:

iPhone

  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 mini
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 mini
  • iPhone 13
  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 14
  • iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (third-generation, 2022)

Top comment by JP

Liked by 6 people

Wow. The short list of Apple TV devices is the real story here. We had zero reason to upgrade from our 2021 model. And... we still won't. The 2022 "upgrade" was the most disappointing bump of just about any Apple product in history.

View all comments

iPad

  • iPad 9
  • iPad 10
  • iPad mini 6
  • iPad Air 4
  • iPad Air 5
  • M1 iPad Pro
  • M2 iPad Pro

Apple TV

  • Apple TV 4K (2022)

Interestingly, the second-generation iPhone SE is not compatible with Apple Music Sing even though it has the same A13 chip as the iPhone 11. It’s uncertain whether the lack of the feature is a bug or a decision by Apple not to include support for the 2020 iPhone SE for some other reason.

More about iOS 16.2

Apple Music Sing is part of iOS 16.2, which also adds the new Freeform app, improvements to the Home app, new Always-on options for iPhone 14 Pro users, and more. The update will be released this month for all users, but Apple has yet to confirm a date.

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.