Hem...
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/
The capacity of a DAC to be compatible with high res files doesn't make it "better".
It's probably rather that Apple's engineers rightfully don't really see the point of bothering.
I wish to open up that whole unwritten discussion about who actually started the 24/48 limit in the first place. I hated that limit (now I don't since basically every dongle goes up to 32/384 PCM or DoP DSD128). Apple iPhones, aptX HD, and Realtek PC codecs etc put in the 24/48 limit around 2016 or thereabouts. I checked every DAC in every PC in a store once in late 2019, while waiting for my aunt, and each one was limited to 24/48 playback with some only able to record 16/48. It's just like basically forcing consumers to buy DACs (in addition to the removal of the jack). I remember PCs with 24/192 as their limit starting from 2005 and lasting to about 2014 or later. Not that format support matters, but it's convenient or preferable not to downsample 24/96 to 24/48 anyway. Of course, most of those 24/192 laptops would likely perform worse than the great Apple 24/48 dongle, so 'doesn't make it "better"' is correct.
Somebody in a senior position at Apple years ago must have put forward the idea that Sony's push for HiRes audio is rubbish, and any format above 24/48 is unnecessary. After Archimago's post on such matters, I can easily agree. But so many people think their DACs perform better calculations on the data or cause less errors, if you upsample the data before playback. Filters and so on affect less of the audible spectrum.
The matter I just can't comprehend is why so many companies followed suit. And without any explanation put forward.
Nearly every non-audio specific device you have is probably 24/48 only, except most Android phones.
In any event, Hidizs S8, with its wide format compatibility, is overall better than Apple dongle. Perhaps it is around the right time now to no longer consider the Apple dongle as a standard by which to dismiss other products. Yet its price, performance and availability is just too powerful. That dongle is equivalent to the audio output of iPhones. It measures and sounds better than the Mac mini M1 3.5mm output. Despite what may be inferred from the recent announcement, I submit that Apple should consider the direct contender of 2019 (Meizu Hifi using CS43131) and create another dongle now in response. I will be there lining up at the door on the day of its release.
Apple's 24/48 is the sole reason why an urge arose in me to DIY and try to understand some of the engineering concepts. Before exposure to that 24/48 limit, I was so brainwashed by marketing from Sony's HiRes push and prior VAIO DSD effort led by Mr Ayataka Nishio that I just couldn't get past it. A similar way of thinking appeared when I tried to push for Made in Japan plug adaptors/sockets for its materials, quality and craftsmanship compared to cheaply made Chinese variants. Again with the clear superiority of Chinese Medicine philosophy over what I have experienced as a generally fundamentally flawed way of treating illnesses by the American or global medical or hospital system. But then, sometimes cheap stuff is necessary, and MRI or physiotherapy is very useful and has no negative effect at all. So Apple's 24/48 will continue for some time I'm sure.