Apple's Siri home speaker now in manufacturing, may not ship until later in 2017

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in Future Apple Hardware
Apple's rumored Amazon Echo competitor, based on Siri, has already entered manufacturing -- but may not ship until "later in the year," sometime after the company's WWDC 2017 keynote on June 5, according to a report.




The product could still be announced during the keynote, sources told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Aside from Siri, other features of the speaker are expected to include use as a HomeKit hub, and higher-quality audio -- specifically, virtual surround technology, and louder and crisper output.

The device may also include sensors that detect room acoustics and adjust levels automatically, akin to a more convenient version of Sonos's Trueplay system.

The speaker will reportedly lack a screen however, giving an edge in that department to Amazon's Echo Show, and the upcoming Essential Home.

Bloomberg's sources added that as rumored, Taiwanese manufacturer Inventec will handle assembly, and that Apple has several other possible hardware announcements for WWDC. These include new iPads, and refreshed MacBooks, possibly even faster Pro and Air models.

Apple hasn't used WWDC to introduce new hardware since 2013. That may now be necessary for timing issues however, as well as an increasingly full product slate. Aside from new devices, Apple is also expected to show off new versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 57
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    If they're really NOW in manufacturing, they're shipping real soon (unless they are prototypes which would be unlikely).
    Apple doesn't stop up products 4 months in advance for sales, would make no sense at all to do that.
    mike1longpathjbdragondoozydozen
  • Reply 2 of 57
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    "Sometime" after the WWDC keynote could mean June 6th or December. If it's really "in manufacturing" (is that even a thing) now, I would expect shipments to begin over the Summer.
    longpathireland
  • Reply 3 of 57
    longpathlongpath Posts: 393member
    I'm hoping this proves true. It always seemed less than idea for a HomeKit control center to be on a portable device, and since Apple declined to make the Mac the control center, this seems like a much better option.
    jahbladeno2arealike
  • Reply 4 of 57
    williejobswilliejobs Posts: 6member
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.


    leavingthebiggdoozydozenwatto_cobrapeterhart
  • Reply 5 of 57
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    longpath said:
    I'm hoping this proves true. It always seemed less than idea for a HomeKit control center to be on a portable device, and since Apple declined to make the Mac the control center, this seems like a much better option.
    Genuine question, because to be honest I'm confused by all of this. I thought the AppleTV was suppose to be the bridge/control center for HomeKit. Are you saying there would now be 2 devices? One portable and one not?
    cornchip
  • Reply 6 of 57
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    longpath said:
    I'm hoping this proves true. It always seemed less than idea for a HomeKit control center to be on a portable device, and since Apple declined to make the Mac the control center, this seems like a much better option.
    I think it makes far more sense to be on a portable device's.  In this case, the Apple Watch which works great.  Works in every room in my house, in my front and back yard and away from home.  Son I can ask Siri to open and close my garage door, my main way to get in/out of my house. Try opening the garage door using a Siri speaker or a echo or hone.  Put them near a open window and yell really loud?  I think it's so old school to have to rely on some box plugged into a power source.

    The Apple Watch works so well.  I can do so much with it.  I saw no point in one of these limited boxes.  Maybe it works for a family to control things.
  • Reply 7 of 57
    irevoltirevolt Posts: 19member
    Great, I might actually get one before I get my ordered AirPods ship.
  • Reply 8 of 57
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,294member
    Some of us knew this wasn't going to happen at WWDC (could be announced, but wouldn't ship). Such a device has to clear FCC approval, and that hasn't happened yet. So I also don't think it is "in manufacturing" except for (as mentioned) a short prototype run for the purposes of testing (FCC and Apple QC).
  • Reply 9 of 57
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    williejobs said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.


    Perhaps your other Apple device is the display 
    equality72521no2arealike
  • Reply 10 of 57
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    williejobs said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    jony0
  • Reply 11 of 57
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    irevolt said:
    Great, I might actually get one before I get my ordered AirPods ship.

    When did you order your AirPods? 
  • Reply 12 of 57
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    razorpit said:
    longpath said:
    I'm hoping this proves true. It always seemed less than idea for a HomeKit control center to be on a portable device, and since Apple declined to make the Mac the control center, this seems like a much better option.
    Genuine question, because to be honest I'm confused by all of this. I thought the AppleTV was suppose to be the bridge/control center for HomeKit. Are you saying there would now be 2 devices? One portable and one not?
    Why can only device be the hub? Why can't either be the hub, or, in a mesh network, all work together? Are you expecting only one device to have access to the internet?
  • Reply 13 of 57
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member

    ireland said:
    williejobs said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
  • Reply 14 of 57
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    chasm said:
    Some of us knew this wasn't going to happen at WWDC (could be announced, but wouldn't ship). Such a device has to clear FCC approval, and that hasn't happened yet. So I also don't think it is "in manufacturing" except for (as mentioned) a short prototype run for the purposes of testing (FCC and Apple QC).
    And what about the rumored AI chip that Apple is going to make.   Wouldn't it go in the SIRI speaker for voice recognition processing.    If the chip isn't ready for the SIRI speaker will they contract with Amazon AWS for voice processing?
  • Reply 15 of 57
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    k2kw said:
    chasm said:
    Some of us knew this wasn't going to happen at WWDC (could be announced, but wouldn't ship). Such a device has to clear FCC approval, and that hasn't happened yet. So I also don't think it is "in manufacturing" except for (as mentioned) a short prototype run for the purposes of testing (FCC and Apple QC).
    And what about the rumored AI chip that Apple is going to make.   Wouldn't it go in the SIRI speaker for voice recognition processing.    If the chip isn't ready for the SIRI speaker will they contract with Amazon AWS for voice processing?
    1) It's Siri.

    2) Apple has already moved some of the work onto the local device as of iOS 10, but everything else will go through what Apple has been using for years.
  • Reply 16 of 57
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Soli said:

    ireland said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
    But maybe not everyone who would want Alexa would be using those apps.  So Amazon needs a built-in display for the rest, the more casual users.  Makes sense for Amazon.  But pretty much everyone who Apple will sell a Siri Home/Office Assistant to will already have an iPhone.  IPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem these days.  
    edited May 2017 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 57
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Soli said:

    ireland said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
    But maybe not everyone who would want Alexa would be using those apps.  So Amazon needs a built-in display for the rest, the more casual users.  Makes sense for Amazon.  But pretty much everyone who Apple will sell a Siri Home/Office Assistant to will already have an iPhone.  IPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem these days.  
    No, Amazon doesn't need a built-in display. They've gone 2.5 years without a display on their Echo devices and even now with Echo Show it's not the primary I/O, but an auxiliary for some tasks.
    edited May 2017
  • Reply 18 of 57
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    radarthekat said:
    Soli said:

    ireland said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
    But maybe not everyone who would want Alexa would be using those apps.  So Amazon needs a built-in display for the rest, the more casual users.  Makes sense for Amazon.  But pretty much everyone who Apple will sell a Siri Home/Office Assistant to will already have an iPhone.  IPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem these days.  
    Yeah it makes sense with Apple to get people deeper into the ecosystem. If it's anything like AirPods excellent wireless tech, it would be amazing. I envision it to be like a new AppleTV instead of a totally new device though. Apple can include mic and speakers into their AppleTV (not the remote) with improved Siri and send the visuals to TV or any of iDevices or any of the Macs if required.
    radarthekat
  • Reply 19 of 57
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    kevin kee said:
    radarthekat said:
    Soli said:

    ireland said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
    But maybe not everyone who would want Alexa would be using those apps.  So Amazon needs a built-in display for the rest, the more casual users.  Makes sense for Amazon.  But pretty much everyone who Apple will sell a Siri Home/Office Assistant to will already have an iPhone.  IPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem these days.  
    Yeah it makes sense with Apple to get people deeper into the ecosystem. If it's anything like AirPods excellent wireless tech, it would be amazing. I envision it to be like a new AppleTV instead of a totally new device though. Apple can include mic and speakers into their AppleTV (not the remote) with improved Siri and send the visuals to TV or any of iDevices or any of the Macs if required.
    A mic and speakers in the Apple TV? The device that sits near the TV and often in a cabinet? :sigh: There's a reason the remote has the mic for Siri and not the Apple TV itself.
    doozydozenaaronj
  • Reply 20 of 57
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    Soli said:
    kevin kee said:
    Soli said:

    ireland said:
    Wait a second, something does not sound correct.

    Why would Phil come out and say these speakers need a display to be truly functional?  I don't believe the report about no display.
    Because with Apple's solution if it wants to show you anything visual it sends it to your iPhone or iPad. With Amazon's original solution it has nowhere to send it. Hence the comment... perhaps.
    From day one Amazon showed you both your queries and your answers, including attractive cover art and controls for music, on their mobile and web apps.
    But maybe not everyone who would want Alexa would be using those apps.  So Amazon needs a built-in display for the rest, the more casual users.  Makes sense for Amazon.  But pretty much everyone who Apple will sell a Siri Home/Office Assistant to will already have an iPhone.  IPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem these days.  
    Yeah it makes sense with Apple to get people deeper into the ecosystem. If it's anything like AirPods excellent wireless tech, it would be amazing. I envision it to be like a new AppleTV instead of a totally new device though. Apple can include mic and speakers into their AppleTV (not the remote) with improved Siri and send the visuals to TV or any of iDevices or any of the Macs if required.
    A mic and speakers in the Apple TV? The device that sits near the TV and often in a cabinet? :sigh: There's a reason the remote has the mic for Siri and not the Apple TV itself.
    I surprise you wouldn't think Apple would use far-field mic like Echo. Alexa can respond to voice commands from almost anywhere within earshot. And there’s no activation button to press. There is no reason AppleTV couldn't.
    edited May 2017
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