Apple's new iPhone 12 may look like an iPad Pro; smaller HomePods in 2020

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  • Reply 21 of 49
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    I have a couple Homepod's and they are nice devices. With 2 as a Sterno Pair they sound even louder, and you can really hear the separation from left to right. They sound fantastic. I guess you can link them to your AppleTV for TV Speakers, though that would only work when using the AppleTV, seems a waste when you could just get a soundbar for your TV.

    My new Samsung 75" QLED TV has built in AppleTV+ and AirPlay2. Of course going 4K, I needed a replacement Surround Sound Receiver which should show up today, a Denon AVR-X3600H. That I know supports Siri and AirPlay2. I want to get some new Speakers also and with Atmos. For Christmas I had my 2 HomePods linked to the AppleTV playing Apple Music Christmas songs throughout my house all in Sync. At first it was a bit out of sync. But once I looked up online, I found out how to sync things up which was pretty simple and then all was good.

    While a HomePod Mini may come out? I think Apple is still going to charge way to much for it. It's just not going to be anywhere near $50. I think it'll run $149-$199 knowing Apple. I think it'll be on the high end.

    Apple needs to open it up to be more of a Smart Speaker. Apple limits it. As typical of Apple, it's the same old device year after year with very little of a price drop. it's not like Apple releases a new version every year. It's been over 2 years and it's the same old HomePod and still only the 1. Google has what, 3 of them? So they cover all the price points. Amazon has to many to count. I have one of their Echo Show 8's. That is my bedside alarm clock. So I'm talking to Alexa because Apple has nothing but a Homepod in this area and I want a Display. The Low price point makes it a winner. Can you imagine using a iPad for a bedside alarm clock. Expensive and a waste. It works with Apple Music which is my default. I have a Echo Dot 3rd generation, and Alexa built into my Ecobee 4. You almost can't get away from Alexa it's all over the place.

    it was Apple who came out with Siri FIRST before Google, Before there was a Alexa. Then Apple wasted their lead. While I prefer my Apple Watch for Siri control as it's always with me. Not having anything low cost in this area is greatly hurting Apple. Sometimes I wander if Apple has any kind of goal. Am I making a mistake having a growing Homekit house, so should have I went with Alexa? It's like Apple doesn't care. They throw something out there, great, and others then follow and Apple doesn't seem to do anything past that point while everyone else is. I don't know if Google is pushing much more that Apple, but Amazon, Push, Push, Push.

    I had gotten the new Echo Show 5, it was a little small, but the 8 wouldn't be out until late in the month last year. I used the 5 for a few weeks, easily returned it and got the Echo Show 8, which is a nice size for my bedside table. I can have it wake me up in the morning playing some Apple Music. It's really nice saying "Alexa Snooze" or "Alexa Snooze 5 minutes" Don't have to reach out to hit some button. Maybe I'm more old school and people just use their phones for Alarm Clocks?
    edited April 2020 GeorgeBMaccornchip
  • Reply 22 of 49
    shevshev Posts: 84member
    Remember the HomePod, wtf were they thinking  :D  :#
    williamlondoncornchip
  • Reply 23 of 49
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,332member
    avon b7 said:
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for. 
    I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms. 
    I always thought that the HomePod was the equivalent to the iPod but for your home. The original tagline for the iPod was "1000 songs in your pocket." The tagline for the HomePod should have been "40 million songs on your countertop."

    The notion of the HomePod as a home automation hub, i.e., HomeKit hub, simply never resonated with me. At all. It's a marriage of convenience at best, only because you're probably not going to tote the hefty little beast out of your house like you would your iPad. I'm old school when it comes to "hubs" and really believe that a proper hub, or central controller, should be based on a connectivity appliance of some sort, like a router or gateway that has a web and/or local portal for management, a logic engine, battery backup, access control, user programmable automation/scripting that can involve multiple sensors and actuators, and a dedicated sensor/device (sub) network, even if the device network is based on a protocol layered on top of standard ethernet.

    Yeah, I'll admit it, what I want is a user-friendly, homeowner-centric, simplified PLC/Automation Controller style device because that's the control model I'm comfortable using. To me HomeKit is just a collection of devices with minimal device management/configuration capability and no central controller. Yes, you can do simple IFTTT scripting but the mechanisms for doing this are external and layered on top of HomeKit, not part of the automation and programming capabilities of the controller and devices. At best, it's very loosely coupled, ad hoc, cooperative, asynchronous control that may work most of the time, or not. No, I'm not looking for a full IEC 61131-3 implementation, but I think Apple would be well served by looking at existing standards like 61131 as a starting point and adapting the core concepts to fit their specific customer market, much like they've been doing in other established technology areas like LiDAR, beamforming, and presence sensing. So that explains, for better or worse, why the whole notion of a "smart speaker" being anything more than a Super iPod for your home makes me twitch. Why should automating iOS and Mac "system" be based on a real programming language, like Swift or Objective-C, but automating your home "system" be based on loosey goosey open ended workflows and half-baked languages like IFTTT or Siri Shortcuts? Yeah, just my opinion, but really?

    As far as a smaller HomePod is concerned, unless it's $25 USD and I can stick one in every room of my house, I'm not interested. Unless of course it also serves as a multi-faceted sensor (presence/motion, temperature, lighting, smoke, CO, glass breakage, etc.) in a larger home control and automation solution...

    edited April 2020 roundaboutnowcornchip
  • Reply 24 of 49
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    shev said:
    Remember the HomePod, wtf were they thinking  :D  :#
    What are you thinking?
    williamlondonroundaboutnowRayz2016BeatscornchiplolliverStrangeDays
  • Reply 25 of 49
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    dewme said:

    As far as a smaller HomePod is concerned, unless it's $25 USD and I can stick one in every room of my house, I'm not interested. Unless of course it also serves as a multi-faceted sensor (presence/motion, temperature, lighting, smoke, CO, glass breakage, etc.) in a larger home control and automation solution...


    $25 would truly qualify as junk.That's clearly your price point. Not for me, thanks. Don't want awful sounding speakers throughout my house. Personally. I'd expect a smaller HomePod to be $199 and be pleasantly surprised if it was $149.

    avon b7lolliverfastasleepStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 26 of 49
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,332member
    mike1 said:
    dewme said:

    As far as a smaller HomePod is concerned, unless it's $25 USD and I can stick one in every room of my house, I'm not interested. Unless of course it also serves as a multi-faceted sensor (presence/motion, temperature, lighting, smoke, CO, glass breakage, etc.) in a larger home control and automation solution...


    $25 would truly qualify as junk.That's clearly your price point. Not for me, thanks. Don't want awful sounding speakers throughout my house. Personally. I'd expect a smaller HomePod to be $199 and be pleasantly surprised if it was $149.

    I have a HomePod in my great room for listening to music and it sounds awesome. The $25 smart speakers that I have in every room, including my garage, serve other purposes and sound great for podcasts, radio broadcasts, intercoms, alarm clocks, audio reminders, weather queries, time queries, audio books, delivery reminders, and even background music when I'm working in different spaces. Don't need HiFi when I'm running a saw or pneumatic tools in my garage and listening to NPR or the ball game. I don't need anything more and they fit my needs perfectly at a killer price. If they were $149 bucks I wouldn't own them and would completely lose the utility and value that they now provide me.

    If you say my $25 smart devices are junk, well I guess I am the Junk King. But I love it. These cheap little devices are of great value to me because they do the job that I hired them to do, and do it very reliably, affordably, and with no fear of monumental loss if they get damaged or crap out for some unforeseen reason. It's kind of like the difference between a Casio G-Shock rubber watch and a Rolex watch. There's a certain level of freedom associated with strapping on the Casio and knowing that you don't have to worry about how you treat it - at all. You don't need to get a rider on your home owners insurance to cover the Casio for damage or theft. Not the same deal with a Rolex, or an iPhone, or just about any other of the pretty but delicate devices that Apple makes that owners have to handle like a newborn baby. But like many folks, there's a time and place where you appreciate the luxury of the Rolex, iPhone, or drinking fine champaign or cognac, but there are other times when being a Junk King and pounding down an ice cold beer puts a big unapologetic and unqualified smile on your face. Lovin' it! 
    gatorguycrowleyAI_liasmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 27 of 49
    If I could make one suggestion to Apple, especially now that Jony Ive is gone, is to create a better looking Home Pod, and one that doesn’t need to try to be a 360 degree speaker.  For a lot of people, myself included, speakers get placed on a bookshelf, counter, or the like, where you want / need a soundscape that is maybe 270 degrees, and less for lower frequencies.

    I’d love to see something more akin to a conventional speaker design, sold in pairs, that would be great for stereo sound and even television or iPad movie watching use.

    I have this feeling that Apple over-designed the current Home Pod (not surprising given Mr. Ive’s propensity for making things more complicated than they need to be), requiring too much processing power, mics, and complex speaker array.  It’s definitely overly complex for a smart speaker, which drove the price up beyond what most people wanted to spend, and it’s not quite up to par as a mid-range hi-fi speaker.
    AI_liasanantksundaram
  • Reply 28 of 49
    avon b7 said:
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for. 
    I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms. 
    I think the proper comparison of the HomePod is more to the Sonos One series, and not google home or Alexa. They were designed first as quality speakers, then as assistants. Amazon and Google speakers were designed with inverse priorities.  


    BeatsAI_liaslolliverStrangeDays
  • Reply 29 of 49
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    A smaller HomePod would be a HIT!!


    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 

    I don't think you get it. Critics are comparing Homepod to free echos and cheap Google spyware(often free) and with that considered it still snagged an estimated 6% of the market at 15x the price. Add in the fact these speakers copied the "ugly" toilet-paper design after HomePod. Remember when they were metal and plastic?

    In reality Homepod is in a different league. It should be compared to Bluetooth speakers not these cheap spy devices.
    dewmemacxpresslolliverStrangeDays
  • Reply 30 of 49
    XedXed Posts: 2,519member
    Beats said:
    A smaller HomePod would be a HIT!!
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    I don't think you get it. Critics are comparing Homepod to free echos and cheap Google spyware(often free) and with that considered it still snagged an estimated 6% of the market at 15x the price. Add in the fact these speakers copied the "ugly" toilet-paper design after HomePod. Remember when they were metal and plastic?

    In reality Homepod is in a different league. It should be compared to Bluetooth speakers not these cheap spy devices.
    Why not compare it directly for its capabilities. How is it as a digital assistant? How is it as a stand alone speaker? How is it for connecting to 3rd-party speakers?
  • Reply 31 of 49
    I think luxury items such as the HomePods might have a tough time gaining traction when things settle down. There are a lot of people currently out of work and those still with jobs are learning to be minimalist. It may be tough to get people to justify converting from the Echo to the HomePod - for the average person, there's just not enough differentiation justify that cost. The same would apply to those with nothing - Amazon is practically giving away Echo Dots and Echo Shows so with little functional differentiation why would you pay a premium cost? I'm speaking as someone who is fortunate and still has a good job - I know there's nothing that the HomePod offers that would make me think $300 is worth it.
    AI_lias
  • Reply 32 of 49
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,623member
    If I could make one suggestion to Apple, especially now that Jony Ive is gone, is to create a better looking Home Pod, and one that doesn’t need to try to be a 360 degree speaker.  For a lot of people, myself included, speakers get placed on a bookshelf, counter, or the like, where you want / need a soundscape that is maybe 270 degrees, and less for lower frequencies.

    I’d love to see something more akin to a conventional speaker design, sold in pairs, that would be great for stereo sound and even television or iPad movie watching use.

    I have this feeling that Apple over-designed the current Home Pod (not surprising given Mr. Ive’s propensity for making things more complicated than they need to be), requiring too much processing power, mics, and complex speaker array.  It’s definitely overly complex for a smart speaker, which drove the price up beyond what most people wanted to spend, and it’s not quite up to par as a mid-range hi-fi speaker.
    That was my problem with this design too. Placing the device centrally leaves you with a cable to deal with. I suppose most people have them sitting in a place where no one will be 'behind' them. 
    AI_lias
  • Reply 33 of 49
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    ITGUYINSD said:
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    It’s sold enough that Apple has about a 5% market share for smart speakers. That’s pretty good considering you can get six Alexa speakers for the price of one HomePod.

    A smaller, cheaper speaker would close the gap further. I’d be willing to bet that Apple has made their money back with the HomePod, while not a smashing success, it has its place.

    If they eventually arrive somewhere around 10% of the smart speaker market, the HomePod was worth it. 
    5% market share for an Apple device is "pretty good"?  Sounds like a FAILURE to me.
    The fact you can get 6 Alexa speakers for the price of one HomePod says something about the price of the HomePod.

    You just admitted that you can buy 6 Alexas for every HomePod. So how is 5% a failure?

    You do know a large percentage of Alexas were handed out for free also?

    lolliverStrangeDays
  • Reply 34 of 49
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    Nah. It’s for the ecosystem. Works great with my set and Apple TV. It’s not generalist or home theater equipment. 
    lolliver
  • Reply 35 of 49
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    It’s sold enough that Apple has about a 5% market share for smart speakers. That’s pretty good considering you can get six Alexa speakers for the price of one HomePod.

    A smaller, cheaper speaker would close the gap further. I’d be willing to bet that Apple has made their money back with the HomePod, while not a smashing success, it has its place.

    If they eventually arrive somewhere around 10% of the smart speaker market, the HomePod was worth it. 
    Where did you come up with 10% needed market share? Macs are less than that, but still profitable. Profit is the air corporations breath, not market share. So if it’s profitable and selling in whatever numbers threshold Apple decided it needs to, then I see no compelling argument being made. 
    lolliver
  • Reply 36 of 49
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Wish I could justify an HP, but I live in a really small place & have some old LG speakers plugged up to my Mac that still sound pretty decent. I know, I know, an HP would smash them in sound quality, but I’ve still gotta update my wife’s iPad 4 and probably get one for the kids too. Plus I need to get electric in my basement, car repairs, replace nasty old sofa etc etc. so, maybe next year. 

    Excited about updated iPhone look tho! 
    lolliver
  • Reply 37 of 49
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    ITGUYINSD said:.
    The fact you can get 6 Alexa speakers for the price of one HomePod says something about the price of the HomePod. 
    The fact that you can get 6 Alexa speakers for the price of one HomePod says something about the quality of "Alexa Speakers". And yes, you made a stupid comparison.

    I bought a HomePod when somebody had them new for $249. I'm still not enthused. I don't know that a smaller version would be any better. To may ear, the HP is a lacking as a high fidelity speaker. There are many many cheaper (not cheap) speakers that actually a better balanced sound than the HP, though they don't have the auto-equalizing or any digital assistance. (I can't speak to Sonos or Google products).

    I appreciate it's less sensitive to placement than most traditional speakers but the user has no control over frequency response. As a result, I can't correct for what Apple feels is a proper response curvy, that's lacks midrange and highs compared to many other speakers.

    Without Siri being much improved, I don't see it as  a decent HomeKit hub, unless it's just used as a hub, but voice control is left to the Watch, phone, or iPad. TBH, I don't know what's acting as the HK hub now. I had a lot of HK stuff before the HP, and no ATV. The phone?

    Right now, I use Echo Dots a lot and an Echo Show5. Alexa has its faults but overall has been a better experience than Siri. I hope anybody who gets a HP mini is happy with it. It'll be pricey. Apple's iPad mini 5 was more than the iPad, last I checked. The HPm may not go that way, but it won't be cheap. I'll be a very late adopter, if ever.
    gatorguymuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 38 of 49
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    jhart376 said:
    avon b7 said:
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for. 
    I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms. 
    I think the proper comparison of the HomePod is more to the Sonos One series, and not google home or Alexa. They were designed first as quality speakers, then as assistants. Amazon and Google speakers were designed with inverse priorities.  



    Why don't people get this?

    I think the media in general is the problem. When Apple released HomePod they called it an Echo competitor even though HomePod was in development before Echo.
    StrangeDaysRayz2016
  • Reply 39 of 49
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    Actua”y, why was t HomePod originally a full featured sound bar with atmos etc? At its price it would be a killer product.
  • Reply 40 of 49
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    dewme said:
    avon b7 said:
    Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one. 

    Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down. 
    I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for. 
    I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms. 

    As far as a smaller HomePod is concerned, unless it's $25 USD and I can stick one in every room of my house, I'm not interested. Unless of course it also serves as a multi-faceted sensor (presence/motion, temperature, lighting, smoke, CO, glass breakage, etc.) in a larger home control and automation solution...

    We found the netbook guy! Apple isn’t doing netbooks or a $25 speaker. You lost bro?
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