The Core Audio Format is a container format for storing audio, developed by Apple Inc. It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher; Mac OS X 10.3 needs QuickTime 7 to be installed.
Core Audio Format is designed to overcome limitations of older digital audio formats, including AIFF and WAV. Just like the QuickTime <code>.mov</code> container, a <code>.caf</code> container can contain many different audio formats, metadata tracks, and much more data. Like the RF64, it is not limited to a 4 GB file size and a single <code>.caf</code> file can theoretically save hundreds of years of recorded audio due to its use of 64-bit file offsets.
GarageBand, Soundtrack Pro, and Logic Studio use the <code>.caf</code> format for their loop and sound effects library, particularly for surround-sound audio compressed with the Apple Lossless (ALAC) codec. It is also what is used to send Audio Messages over iMessage on iOS and macOS.