I’m not contesting there is a difference between lossless and lossy audio in specific instances. It’s small but sure, I’m sure some people could tell. My contention is with the “Hi-Res” audio (which, for Apple, means 24-bit and 192 kHz sampling rate).

Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, will be able to hear a difference, assuming there aren’t mastering differences in the tracks. If you take a 24/192k track and downsample it to 16/48k, nobody will be able to tell. Ever.