New HomePod model coming as soon as late 2022, according to Ming-Chi Kuo

AppleInsider

A new tweet from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests Apple may release a new version of the HomePod, but perhaps without a radical redesign.

A new HomePod may be released later in 2022

After Apple discontinued the full-sized HomePod, speculation has been rampant about Apple reviving the overpriced product. Now, Ming-Chi Kuo has offered new information suggesting Apple could release a new version of HomePod in late 2022 or early 2023.

Kuo doesn't specify what kind of HomePod it would be or how it would differ from the existing HomePod mini. He only shares that Apple is still figuring out how to succeed in the smart speaker market.

The HomePod mini hasn't been updated since it debuted in November 2020 except to add new colors. The new rumor suggests that whatever Apple releases, it will at least be a new variation on the product and not a new color way.

Apple would release a new version of HomePod in 4Q22-1Q23, and there may not be much innovation in hardware design. Smart speakers are undoubtedly one of the essential elements of the home ecosystem, but I think Apple is still figuring out how to succeed in this market.

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)

May 20, 2022

Ming-Chi Kuo has been active on Twitter and it isn't always clear where data analysis ends and speculation begins. His information as an analyst has proven accurate in the past, but he tends to miss on specific details surrounding a device's feature set.

For example, Kuo's recent tweets claim Apple could move the "iPhone 15" to USB-C in 2023 and other Apple products will follow suit. This is in direct opposition to his previous rumors of Apple avoiding USB-C in favor of a portless device.

Rumors surrounding Apple's smart speaker include a cheaper large HomePod, a HomePod sound bar that doubles as an Apple TV, and a HomePod with a screen. Judging by Kuo's innovation comment, the rumored device may be a simple large HomePod rerelease.

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ionicle

Cant wait, love my two homepods and my one mini

lordjohnwhorfin

I was so bummed out when they cancelled the original HomePod, I was hoping they’d introduce a larger model but I suspect a lot of it has to do with finding a sweet spot to establish the viability of the platform first before trying variations. I’m hoping that as it is becoming very successful it is making the case for reintroducing higher performance, more expensive speakers.

thrang

I have several HomePods, and do love the sound - I think Siri however is sometimes wonky, so perhaps an improved onboard processor is needed...

mike1

After Apple discontinued the full-sized HomePod, speculation has been rampant about Apple reviving the overpriced product. Now, Ming-Chi Kuo has offered new information suggesting Apple could release a new version of HomePod in late 2022 or early 2023.

I hardly think $299 for the original HomePod was overpriced. It was actually pretty good value. Sound quality was awesome and it was a very well-engineered little speaker and even used a one generation-old 'A" processor when launched.

I picked up my second HomePod from Best Buy when they ran one of their oft-repeated sales for $199. That made it an incredible value.

rasimo

With the (beta) eARC function on the Apple TV, Apple needs a big sound HomePod like the original ones. It’s nice to have my other video sources outputting sound to my paired HomePods/Apple TV.

williamh

mike1 said:

I hardly think $299 for the original HomePod was overpriced. It was actually pretty good value. Sound quality was awesome and it was a very well-engineered little speaker and even used a one generation-old 'A" processor when launched.

I picked up my second HomePod from Best Buy when they ran one of their oft-repeated sales for $199. That made it an incredible value.

The sound quality was great, but for those of us who would want need a pair of speakers, it was a $598 purchase and not $299.  That was a bit too much for me, and now I'm pretty happy with my pair of Minis.

AniMill

What is like to see is a HomePod subwoofer adapter that syncs via Bluetooth/W2 to an external Sub.

newisneverenough

Not sure why the article author decided to include “overpriced” in the description. That’s pretty subjective for an informational story. And a big distraction when reading. 

jamnap

I bought seven HomePods are they are great but I like all my Sonos stuff better (some later model Sonos are compatible with Airplay). So my four large HomePods are stored away in a box and I only use the three minis for HomeKit thread

mike1

williamh said:

mike1 said:

I hardly think $299 for the original HomePod was overpriced. It was actually pretty good value. Sound quality was awesome and it was a very well-engineered little speaker and even used a one generation-old 'A" processor when launched.

I picked up my second HomePod from Best Buy when they ran one of their oft-repeated sales for $199. That made it an incredible value.

The sound quality was great, but for those of us who would want need a pair of speakers, it was a $598 purchase and not $299.  That was a bit too much for me, and now I'm pretty happy with my pair of Minis.

Absolutely. But in part of the audio world, $598 for a pair of speakers is entry to mid level. Everyone has their own personal budget and makes their own value decisions.

I may think an S Class Mercedes is out of my budget or more car than I want, but I would never say that it is overpriced.

Stabitha_Christie

newisneverenough said:

Not sure why the article author decided to include “overpriced” in the description. That’s pretty subjective for an informational story. And a big distraction when reading. 

You are applying journalistic standards to a blog. That said, there was a reason Steve Jobs said he didn’t want the U.S. to become a “nation of bloggers”. 

tjwolf

Of all the Apple products I own (iPhones, an iPad, an Apple TV, various AirPods and Apple Watches, a couple MacBook Pros, and two HomePods), the HomePods are the most useless ones.  Other than an occasional command to Siri to set a timer or turn on some HomeKit enabled light, they see no use whatsoever.  When I first bought them, I also used them as a "sound bar" so my TV could have better sound, but since I've gotten a new TV, even that use case has disappeared.  It's the only Apple product I've ever owned where I felt I didn't get my money's worth.

Having said so, I always hoped that Apple would salvage its HomePod line by adding one simple feature: wifi routing!    Think about it: in today's homes, single wifi routers have moved aside for multi-node mesh routers.  It would be a natural to incorporate mesh routing into HomePods.  Just as in mesh routing, the more the merrier!  I'd stick a HomePod Mini in every room if it gave me voice commands AND a better wifi network to boot!  HomePods are already HomeKit hubs and, as such, it would also make sense to have them control the home's network access.  Lastly, Apple with its prior excellent Airport Extreme products has expertise in that domain - even if it is probably a little stale.

mike1

tjwolf said:

Other than an occasional command to Siri to set a timer or turn on some HomeKit enabled light, they see no use whatsoever.  When I first bought them, I also used them as a "sound bar" so my TV could have better sound, but since I've gotten a new TV, even that use case has disappeared.  It's the only Apple product I've ever owned where I felt I didn't get my money's worth.

I would love to know which TV you bought that has better built-in sound than a pair of (or even one) HomePods! Please share.

I guess if you don't also listen to music, you probably have no use for speakers.

tjwolf

mike1 said:

tjwolf said:

Other than an occasional command to Siri to set a timer or turn on some HomeKit enabled light, they see no use whatsoever.  When I first bought them, I also used them as a "sound bar" so my TV could have better sound, but since I've gotten a new TV, even that use case has disappeared.  It's the only Apple product I've ever owned where I felt I didn't get my money's worth.

I would love to know which TV you bought that has better built-in sound than a pair of (or even one) HomePods! Please share.

I guess if you don't also listen to music, you probably have no use for speakers.

I want clear voice output in a TV.  With my previous TV, a Samsung UN55B8500, dialog was too muffled.  The HomePods did a great job improving on it.   My current TV, an LG GX, produces much clearer dialog, so the HomePods lost their primary use.  I think if Siri were smarter, I wouldn't have considered the HomePods a waste.  But its limited knowledge base combined with the annoyances that come when both your HomePod and your iPhone start responding to Siri queries - or, worse yet, when you're in the bedroom asking your phone Siri a question only to find the feint response from Siri on the HomePod in the living room - made me use Siri less than I would otherwise.  Had the original HomePods been $99 instead of $349, I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed.  Lesson learned.

mikeinca

Apple can’t figure out how to succeed? This is a totally different product than their other offerings, but they don’t realize that. 

 Make them affordable to 80% of us, instead of target the richest 5%.  

competition is at a *much* lower price point, and the audio qualities at those low points is pretty darn good.  You also might not want or need a fancy speaker in each room.  With Amazon’s Alexa, you can have nice speakers in a room where you play music a lot, and cheap speakers in the kids room, the shed, or anywhere else where quality isn’t important.   

mike1

mikeinca said:

Apple can’t figure out how to succeed? This is a totally different product than their other offerings, but they don’t realize that. 

 Make them affordable to 80% of us, instead of target the richest 5%.  

competition is at a *much* lower price point, and the audio qualities at those low points is pretty darn good.  You also might not want or need a fancy speaker in each room.  With Amazon’s Alexa, you can have nice speakers in a room where you play music a lot, and cheap speakers in the kids room, the shed, or anywhere else where quality isn’t important.   

Stop with the richest 5% noise. HomePod Minis are $99 for crying out loud. Apple does not need to be in the race to the bottom.

dewme

I'd like to see Apple acquire Pandora because I've always enjoyed Pandora's discovery/music-genealogy based model. As much as I hate to say it, Siri on HomePod is rather pathetic. Rather than trying to make Siri on HomePod functionally equivalent to Alexa on Echo, Apple should create a Siri-like persona for HomePod (with a new name) that is a music savant powered by the discovery logic that Pandora possesses. I'd like to be able to say "Hey Tunes, I really liked that last track, can you find me more music like that."

fastasleep

dewme said:

I'd like to see Apple acquire Pandora because I've always enjoyed Pandora's discovery/music-genealogy based model. As much as I hate to say it, Siri on HomePod is rather pathetic. Rather than trying to make Siri on HomePod functionally equivalent to Alexa on Echo, Apple should create a Siri-like persona for HomePod (with a new name) that is a music savant powered by the discovery logic that Pandora possesses. I'd like to be able to say "Hey Tunes, I really liked that last track, can you find me more music like that."

These features already exist:

In Music:

Via Siri:

Both from Apple’s documentation. But sure, they need to buy Pandora. 🙄

crowley

fastasleep said:

dewme said:

I'd like to see Apple acquire Pandora because I've always enjoyed Pandora's discovery/music-genealogy based model. As much as I hate to say it, Siri on HomePod is rather pathetic. Rather than trying to make Siri on HomePod functionally equivalent to Alexa on Echo, Apple should create a Siri-like persona for HomePod (with a new name) that is a music savant powered by the discovery logic that Pandora possesses. I'd like to be able to say "Hey Tunes, I really liked that last track, can you find me more music like that."

These features already exist:

In Music:

Via Siri:

Both from Apple’s documentation. But sure, they need to buy Pandora. 🙄

I just wish they'd bring Genius back.

dewme

fastasleep said:

dewme said:

I'd like to see Apple acquire Pandora because I've always enjoyed Pandora's discovery/music-genealogy based model. As much as I hate to say it, Siri on HomePod is rather pathetic. Rather than trying to make Siri on HomePod functionally equivalent to Alexa on Echo, Apple should create a Siri-like persona for HomePod (with a new name) that is a music savant powered by the discovery logic that Pandora possesses. I'd like to be able to say "Hey Tunes, I really liked that last track, can you find me more music like that."

These features already exist:

In Music:

Via Siri:

Both from Apple’s documentation. But sure, they need to buy Pandora. 🙄

Cool. I'll try this and compare the results to Pandora, which has has been life changing.