No, of course they are not going to transmit 24/192 PCM. That is not even something that most tech people would try with a desktop computer unless it was setup specifically for that purpose.
The iPhone, iPad, and all Android systems are using Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) which is at the system level. These are NOT devices on which anyone should expect to listen to 24/192 perfect sound files, which are NOT what you get from CD level quality which is 16/44.1, which 99% of most music listeners are perfectly satisfied with.
Wikipedia says that AAC is part of the MPEG-4 Audio standard and is capable of carrying 48 full-bandwidth (up to 96 kHz) audio channels in one stream. The quality for stereo is satisfactory to modest requirements at 96 kbit/s in joint stereo mode; however, hi-fi transparency demands data rates of at least 128 kbit/s (VBR). The MPEG-2 audio tests showed that AAC meets the requirements referred to as "transparent" for the ITU at 128 kbit/s for stereo, and 320 kbit/s for 5.1 audio. . . and this is MPEG-4, the higher standard. Apple has designed a new processor dependent wireless system where each of the earbuds has an independent Apple W1 System on a Chip computer IN the earbud.
The new wireless system that Apple has created will be a huge increase in sound quality over what people have been used to before, yet everyone, without even hearing what the new FREE earbuds are capable of doing, much less the $159 Airbuds, which are 20% LESS EXPENSIVE than the lowest priced competitors' earbuds, can do are piling on with bad mouthing something the know nothing about based on hearing from other people who know nothing about it as well!
They would be better off integrating MQA into their audio system. That would provide a real improvement at bit rates that will fit onto their devices.
What I can’t figure out is how the Airbuds figure out which is the right ear and which is the left, with no user input and placed in the ears randomly.