Mac OS provides various levels of support for different audio formats. While there are minor support differences for each audio format, this topic discusses the major issues affecting the Finder and iTunes/Music/TV. When referencing the Finder, we are referring to the ability to show metadata in a Get Info and possibly in a Preview panel. The Finder abilities vary from OS release to release.
Macs fully supports M4A, M4B, M4R, M4V, AIFF and MP3 files.
MP4 files can be imported into iTunes/Music. However, against all logic, even when supported, the Finder does not display metadata for MP4 files in a Get Info. Except for the filename extension MP4 files are identical to M4A files.
Mac OS provides no support for APE, DFF, DSS, OGG or WV formats. Files of these types cannot be imported into iTunes/Music and the Finder does not display metadata in a Get Info
WAV files can be imported into iTunes/Music but the applications never read or write metadata to the files. The Finder may display limited metadata possibly extracted from the LIST-INFO chunk that Yate writes. Yate forces metadata into iTunes/Music but it cannot do so for Artwork or Lyrics.
As of Mac OS 10.13, the OS contains a FLAC codec. This means that FLAC files can be played by the OS, for example in the Preview panel. However, FLAC files cannot be imported into iTunes/Music. The Finder may display metadata in a Get Info.