M4R to ALAC Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Convert ALAC to FLAC for non-Apple players, or MP3 for sharing. If your files are still in M4R format, this page is the shortcut: M4R is Apple’s ringtone format — technically an AAC file capped at 40 seconds that iTunes and iPhones recognise as a ringtone.
iLoveConverter processes everything locally on your computer, which makes it private and fast: no upload wait, no server storage, no limits. Add as many files as you like — batch conversion is built in.
How M4R compares to ALAC
| M4R | ALAC | |
|---|---|---|
| Compatibility | iPhone only | iOS, macOS, iTunes, ffmpeg |
| Best for | iPhone ringtones | Apple-ecosystem lossless libraries |
How to convert M4R to ALAC
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your M4R files onto the area above, or click to browse. You can add multiple files at once for batch conversion.
- 2
Convert instantly
Click "Convert to ALAC". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted ALAC file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
About the M4R format
M4R is simply iPhone ringtone packaging: an AAC audio file (same as M4A) capped at 40 seconds, named .m4r so iOS treats it as a ringtone instead of a song. GarageBand and Finder sync are the supported paths to install one; the audio itself is ordinary AAC.
Practical workflow: pick the 30–40 second chorus you want, convert to M4R, sync it to the phone, and set it in Sounds & Haptics. Nothing about the audio changes — the extension and the length limit are the entire format.
+ Strengths
- ✓The native iPhone ringtone format
- ✓Simple — it is AAC with a new name
! Limitations
- −Hard 40-second length cap
- −Installation requires sync or GarageBand
About the ALAC format
ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is Apple's FLAC equivalent: bit-exact lossless compression inside an MP4 container, opened-source in 2011 and now native on every Apple device and most server-side pipelines. It is what iTunes Store sells as "lossless" and what iPhone recordings encode to by default.
For non-Apple players FLAC is the safer target, and conversion is sample-exact in both directions — the decode is handled by ffmpeg's native ALAC decoder without any Apple runtime.
+ Strengths
- ✓Native on every Apple device
- ✓Open source since 2011
- ✓Reasonable sizes inside MP4
! Limitations
- −Outside Apple ecosystems FLAC wins
- −Slightly worse ratios than FLAC
- −Confusing .m4a extension doubles as lossy
Why convert M4R to ALAC?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: Hard 40-second length cap ALAC sidesteps that — Native on every Apple device If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this M4R to ALAC converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for M4R to ALAC?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Will converting M4R to ALAC reduce audio quality?
If ALAC is lossless, the output contains everything the M4R file contains — no further loss is added. If ALAC is lossy, one recompression pass is unavoidable; the quality slider controls how much. Loss that already happened in the source file can never be undone by converting.
Can I convert a whole folder of M4R files?
You can select many files at once and they are processed in a single batch. Output files land in one ZIP download when there is more than one result.