Updated HomePod, new HomePod mini rumored for early 2023

AppleInsider

Apple may be lining up updates to the HomePod range, with a report claiming the full-size smart speaker will be returning in early 2023, while the HomePod mini will receive some form of update in the future.

Apple has seen some success with the HomePod mini, enjoying high sales in a market that has already seen the exit of the larger and premium HomePod. A report discussing Apple's future HomePod changes indicates that both may see changes over the next year.

In Sundays' "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman believes Apple is thinking about making an update to its HomePod mini. While not outlining what those changes could be, Gurman tempers expectations that the alterations won't be "super-impressive" to users.

Following the discontinuation of the larger HomePod in March 2021 and subsequent rumors a new model is on the way, Gurman joins the chorus talking about its arrival. Agreeing with comments by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Gurman offers an early 2023 launch for the model could occur

Aside from the HomePod family, Apple is also reportedly working on a number of other "Home" products, including the rumored device combining a HomePod with an Apple TV and a FaceTime camera. Gurman also muses that there could also be a kitchen-bound device resembling an iPad on a robotic arm on the way.

These all-new devices could arrive at the end of 2023 or early 2024, Gurman proposes.

Read on AppleInsider

caladanian

YES! Full sized home pod with better sound quality (less mushy) would be much appreciated.  

macxpress

I have 2 of the original HomePods and they work and sound amazing. I wonder what a new large sized HomePod would look like and do? I couldn't care less what Siri does on it, but that's just me. 

designr

I wish I could be a "fly on the wall" inside Apple to learn why they have not (and don't seem to be planning) the most obvious million unit seller: HomePod TV (HomePod w/integrated AppleTV as a TV soundbar).

I'm sure there's something about selling into that market Apple doesn't like.

dewme

The original husky-boy HomePod sounds freakishly good for its size. I have mine sitting on a shelf on one end of an open lower level (~1000 sqft) and it easily fills the entire space with wonderful sound. On the same shelf system I have the remnants of my old analog HiFi system with decent speakers, a turntable, and an Apple TV and DAC plugged into the receiver's aux port. I can stream my Apple Music through either system. The old analog receiver can obviously put out more raw sound intensity, there's a certain nostalgia about using all of my old gear, and playing my old vinyl is cool. But truth be told, the HomePod isn't really a step down when it comes to the overall listening experience within the same space.

When I want to use the component based system I have to fire up my TV, Apple TV, receiver, and DAC and then use the Apple TV remote to either stream from Apple Music or point it to one of my Macs that contains my Apple Music collection locally. That's not a big deal, but to use the HomePod all I have to do is say "Hey Siri, play my music" and there it is, filling my space with music that sounds nearly as good as what my old component system can muster. Of course if you have a better HiFi system your experience may be quite different. 

As others have probably discovered, Siri on the HomePod is o...k, and if you talk to it like you'd talk to a 3-year old and stay within a limited range of topics, like music, the weather, or requesting a podcast you'll probably get what you want. I'm okay with what Siri on HomePod does around 90% of the time, so it's no big deal. The sound quality of the HomePod more than makes up for the minor shortcomings that Siri sometimes presents. 

macxpress

I mostly use mine to listen to music and its my sound system for the AppleTV (I have 2 connected wirelessly which I love). The only thing I may have Siri do is skip a song, stop music and turn the lights on or off and maybe change the color from time to time. Other than that I couldn't care less about what else Siri does. I'm still amazed by how Siri can hear my commands with the music loud. The original HomePod was very good for what it was...it was just a little to expensive for most people IMO. I got both of mine for $199 each on sale at BestBuy. 

davidlewis54

A full sized HomePod is very good news!  The sound quality of the Mini is just nowhere near the original full-size, so I’m up for it.

elijahg

• dewme said:

The original husky-boy HomePod sounds freakishly good for its size. I have mine sitting on a shelf on one end of an open lower level (~1000 sqft) and it easily fills the entire space with wonderful sound. On the same shelf system I have the remnants of my old analog HiFi system with decent speakers, a turntable, and an Apple TV and DAC plugged into the receiver's aux port. I can stream my Apple Music through either system. The old analog receiver can obviously put out more raw sound intensity, there's a certain nostalgia about using all of my old gear, and playing my old vinyl is cool. But truth be told, the HomePod isn't really a step down when it comes to the overall listening experience within the same space.

When I want to use the component based system I have to fire up my TV, Apple TV, receiver, and DAC and then use the Apple TV remote to either stream from Apple Music or point it to one of my Macs that contains my Apple Music collection locally. That's not a big deal, but to use the HomePod all I have to do is say "Hey Siri, play my music" and there it is, filling my space with music that sounds nearly as good as what my old component system can muster. Of course if you have a better HiFi system your experience may be quite different. 

As others have probably discovered, Siri on the HomePod is o...k, and if you talk to it like you'd talk to a 3-year old and stay within a limited range of topics, like music, the weather, or requesting a podcast you'll probably get what you want. I'm okay with what Siri on HomePod does around 90% of the time, so it's no big deal. The sound quality of the HomePod more than makes up for the minor shortcomings that Siri sometimes presents. 

I think we can comfortably say Siri will be no better on any newer HP, as it's not improved for the last 8 years. My full-size HP had another Siri issue yesterday, asking it "What's the news" resulted in "I have found some web results, I've sent them to your iPhone". Repeating the question wouldn't work, only asking it to play the <source> news podcast worked. Seems to be working again today.

9secondkox2

Honestly? If apple does only what is mentioned here? Genius. Insta hit. 

The kitchen thing and Apple TV built in… boom. 

macgui

Apple would be doing me a huge favor by allowing two or three options to the 'Siri' trigger, like Amazon does for their Echo ('Alexa', 'Computer').

Siri on the HomePod, is adequate if barely, for controlling music, but pretty much dismal for anything else it's supposed to do.

Those remaining few things need to be done on the phone. But I have to wake the phone for that. If just using the voice command, HomePod Siri muscles in and takes control, and fails to respond properly. So Siri, and Siri's hot sister, Sara, would be appreciated.

ericthehalfbee

I love my original HomePods. I want Apple to enter the home theatre space and allow me to have surround sound with some arrangement of HomePods.

I hope whatever processor they use in the new HomePod has enough performance to allow real time audio tuning/processing. That’s one thing that sets the original HomePod apart from other generic speakers.

Dolby Atmos with beamforming would be great.

AppleZulu

ericthehalfbee said:

I love my original HomePods. I want Apple to enter the home theatre space and allow me to have surround sound with some arrangement of HomePods.

I hope whatever processor they use in the new HomePod has enough performance to allow real time audio tuning/processing. That’s one thing that sets the original HomePod apart from other generic speakers.

Dolby Atmos with beamforming would be great.

I still think the original HomePods are great and will be glad if Apple reverses on the discontinuation. 

Still, the idea of a home theater application combining four or more of the things just isn’t practical. That’s at least $1,200 for the four-way setup, more if you use more, and it’s probably a significant waste of computing power. Perhaps if they created add-on devices for the additional units that have the speakers and microphones, but that communicate with a single master device to handle most of the computational work, such a setup could be made more affordable and practical. 

bobolicious

ericthehalfbee said:

I love my original HomePods. I want Apple to enter the home theatre space and allow me to have surround sound with some arrangement of HomePods.

I hope whatever processor they use in the new HomePod has enough performance to allow real time audio tuning/processing. That’s one thing that sets the original HomePod apart from other generic speakers.

Dolby Atmos with beamforming would be great.

I ask if a (somewhat) less proprietary home theatre decoding within the Apple TV+ hardware license or app (offer ATMOS?) for distribution via airport express would be compelling with output to a revival of Airport Express hardware as a potential new paradigm of home theatre...?

One could then skip the wires and choose both speakers and amps linked via airport express wifi vs the proprietary and sonically questionable limitations and sunsetting of the competing corporate offerings to date...?

StrangeDays

AppleZulu said:

ericthehalfbee said:

I love my original HomePods. I want Apple to enter the home theatre space and allow me to have surround sound with some arrangement of HomePods.

I hope whatever processor they use in the new HomePod has enough performance to allow real time audio tuning/processing. That’s one thing that sets the original HomePod apart from other generic speakers.

Dolby Atmos with beamforming would be great.

I still think the original HomePods are great and will be glad if Apple reverses on the discontinuation. 

Still, the idea of a home theater application combining four or more of the things just isn’t practical. That’s at least $1,200 for the four-way setup, more if you use more, and it’s probably a significant waste of computing power. Perhaps if they created add-on devices for the additional units that have the speakers and microphones, but that communicate with a single master device to handle most of the computational work, such a setup could be made more affordable and practical. 

I don’t think anyone is expecting the rears to be the same price as the original HPs, so that number isn’t accurate or likely. 

mpantone

Well, one thing for sure, Apple isn't going to take a massive cut on gross margins.

Anyhow, let's not forget that even Gurman -- whose prediction accuracy is better than most of this peers -- still bats way below .500. That means the majority of the things he predicts end up being inaccurate.

It is highly unlikely that the full-sized HomePod will return.

I could see another model maybe twice the cubic volume as the HomePod Mini arrive, but nothing nearing the size of discontinued model.

It is highly likely that Apple had prototyped a wide variety of sizes (which a wide range of components and functionality) before it released the original HomePod. I'm willing to believe that hundreds of prototype configurations existed in their labs but we only say one.

As we have seen for previous products, there are tons and tons of unreleased designs that end up on the scrap heap or in some warehouse that never see the light of day as a shipping product that will end up on a store shelf.

AppleZulu

mpantone said:

Well, one thing for sure, Apple isn't going to take a massive cut on gross margins.

Anyhow, let's not forget that even Gurman -- whose prediction accuracy is better than most of this peers -- still bats way below .500. That means the majority of the things he predicts end up being inaccurate.

It is highly unlikely that the full-sized HomePod will return.

I could see another model maybe twice the cubic volume as the HomePod Mini arrive, but nothing nearing the size of discontinued model.

It is highly likely that Apple had prototyped a wide variety of sizes (which a wide range of components and functionality) before it released the original HomePod. I'm willing to believe that hundreds of prototype configurations existed in their labs but we only say one.

As we have seen for previous products, there are tons and tons of unreleased designs that end up on the scrap heap or in some warehouse that never see the light of day as a shipping product that will end up on a store shelf.

Given the drama of dropping the original HomePod, it seems unlikely they’d just release the same device with an updated processor. 

Still, its discontinuation with just the mini left behind leaves an obvious hole. My guess is this was a temporary move to boost the mini in order to get more of the low-cost Siri speakers out there in service of HomeKit. 

Now that they finally have lots of minis in the wild, Apple can return with a high-end device that’s focused on delivering premium audio in service to the lossless and Atmos content in Apple Music. Perhaps a HomePod Pro. 

There hasn’t been much mention of it lately, but let’s not forget that Apple Music is going to launch a separate classical music app soon, catering to a user base that’s all about the audiophile experience. So while I agree Gurman and Kuo both swing at a lot of air, it seems likely this particular prediction will eventually make contact. 

danox

The HomePod is worthless without wired connections at any price it flunk’s the basic function of operating as SPEAKER in any system without Apple holding it’s hand thru software. Siri is or should be a secondary function at that price the sound quality of music playback should be first and foremost.

Two steps forward one step back…..

AppleZulu

danox said:

The HomePod is worthless without wired connections at any price it flunk’s the basic function of operating as SPEAKER in any system without Apple holding it’s hand thru software. Siri is or should be a secondary function at that price the sound quality of music playback should be first and foremost.

Two steps forward one step back…..

Sonos, Amazon and Google smart speakers also don’t use wired connections. 

Interestingly, some things are designed for specific purposes, but not others. The fact that many car stereos don’t include cassette players doesn’t mean they “flunk” basic operations. 

You might look into JBL, Harman/Kardon, Kipsch, Sony, Bose or some other brand for what you want. 

mpantone

AppleZulu said:

You might look into JBL, Harman/Kardon, Kipsch, Sony, Bose or some other brand for what you want. 

... knowing that those fine speaker brands might not make listening to NPR Radio much better...

They might make Sir Georg Solti's landmark recording of Wagner's Ring Cycle more enjoyable. An AM radio broadcast of the ballgame? Perhaps not as impactful.

The biggest problem here is that there are some people on the Internet who don't understand that there are many usage cases and that different people will do different things for different reasons. And that some people will do lots of different things with one device. They only accept their own sole usage case as the sole valid one.

Some of the discussion in this thread seems to be indicative of this extreme myopia, pretty commonplace online and seems to be happening with more regularity these days.

Pity.

danox

AppleZulu said:

danox said:

The HomePod is worthless without wired connections at any price it flunk’s the basic function of operating as SPEAKER in any system without Apple holding it’s hand thru software. Siri is or should be a secondary function at that price the sound quality of music playback should be first and foremost.

Two steps forward one step back…..

Sonos, Amazon and Google smart speakers also don’t use wired connections. 

Interestingly, some things are designed for specific purposes, but not others. The fact that many car stereos don’t include cassette players doesn’t mean they “flunk” basic operations. 

You might look into JBL, Harman/Kardon, Kipsch, Sony, Bose or some other brand for what you want. 

The shortsighted always say the thing but at the price Apple sold the HomePod speakers, no wired connection means you are screwed if they (Apple) decide not to make those speakers and discontinue software support thru upgrades, middle to upper end speakers last for decades with care (Apple HI Fi coincidentally) not the Apple two year
upgrade cycle.

Still usable dependence on Apple nil just works.  https://www.soundandvision.com/content/apple-ipod-hi-fi

And if you were a long term thinker and had matched the price at the time with a equivalent purchase of Apple shares at same time and held on to them, you would have 32,000 dollars on a mere 349.00 dollar investment, shortsighted thinking doesn’t always pay.

mike1

danox said:

AppleZulu said:

danox said:

The HomePod is worthless without wired connections at any price it flunk’s the basic function of operating as SPEAKER in any system without Apple holding it’s hand thru software. Siri is or should be a secondary function at that price the sound quality of music playback should be first and foremost.

Two steps forward one step back…..

Sonos, Amazon and Google smart speakers also don’t use wired connections. 

Interestingly, some things are designed for specific purposes, but not others. The fact that many car stereos don’t include cassette players doesn’t mean they “flunk” basic operations. 

You might look into JBL, Harman/Kardon, Kipsch, Sony, Bose or some other brand for what you want. 

The shortsighted always say the thing but at the price Apple sold the HomePod speakers, no wired connection means you are screwed if they (Apple) decide not to make those speakers and discontinue software support thru upgrades, middle to upper end speakers last for decades with care (Apple HI Fi coincidentally) not the Apple two year
upgrade cycle.

Still usable dependence on Apple nil just works.  https://www.soundandvision.com/content/apple-ipod-hi-fi

And if you were a long term thinker and had matched the price at the time with a equivalent purchase of Apple shares at same time and held on to them, you would have 32,000 dollars on a mere 349.00 dollar investment, shortsighted thinking doesn’t always pay.

Oh Please. What would I connect with a wire anyway?! Wait, I found a Discman in a drawer with a headphone jack. Maybe I can use that.

You might make an argument that leaving out Bluetooth was wrong, but a wired input? Nope.