Sigh. I am waiting to get the HomePod 2, as I know there are some flaws in the original.
You can stop waiting, there won't be one.
There's no "flaws" in the original, other than a somewhat under-developed Siri implementation. It does what I want Siri to do just fine, but my main use for my HomePod is music and (Apple TV) sound, so on that front it is flaw-less.
It was positioned badly price wise from the start and that mistake permanently killed it. No recovery from that gross mistake. And Apple has repeated it on steroids with Airpods Max. It too will fail in the market, for the very same reason.
This is really disappointing. It’s the only apple product that is not in my household but has been on my wishlist for years to upgrade the Apple TV sound Output and replace the good old stereo-amp-receiver-dvd—loudspeaker Setup wir all those cables and old fashioned remotes.
I am afraid the Apple TV will be discontinued next and the Apple TV+ Service relegated to the built in Smart TV apps.
I am very disappointed. I own 5 HomePods and was waiting for the HomePod update to by more. I also own two minis. They are fine for a $99 device, but do not compare to HomePod.
Apple disappoints. A story how to drive the car into the wall. Apple is giving up way too early here, leaving the first buyers alone with no possibility to update, again, long term support is of utmost importance.
Declaring defeat and going cheap is no good strategy.
I don’t believe the HP is overpriced for what it is. It’s £279 today in the U.K. the sound is excellent. Not audiophile quality, I’m sure many will point out - but pretty damn good none the less. Certainly worth £279 when you add in the ease of use with Apple’s ecosystem on top.
sonos one’s are no way close to the quality. I have both and it’s worlds apart for my taste. They work with Airplay2 and all that, but the experience within the Apple ecosystem isn’t quite the same.
As a few others have pointed out, the issue will be that there just isn’t a big enough market of people who will pay that much for one speaker. It’s too much to them and therefore they won’t buy it.
Everyone who thought the price was acceptable probably already has one (or more) and probably for some time too.
the masses are not fussed about sound quality, so why spend that much now when £99 gets them the same thing (to them anyway).
for me, the HomePod mini is a decent kids bedroom speaker or “kitchen radio” speaker. I have three, one in the living room that sits next to my Sonos just for the siri facility. My kids will ask it to play their favourite tune and mostly works for them.
I think I might go and buy three homepods today. One to finally create a stereo pair. One to replace the living room Sonos and maybe one to keep boxed to sell in 30 years for a gazillion quid (lol no chance).
I wanted to buy two of them to use as stereo speakers with Apple TV. People were reporting that there was some issues with that use. They said sound levels was low, stereo sound does not work with some apps. Infuse and plex somehow got it worked. After release of hompod mini, an update is deployed. This stereo issue has been improved. For these kind of issues I wasn’t convinced to buy them. I wish Apple added some sort of sound in option other than airplay. May be like a lightning port. This way they could still make money. I mean lightning to hdmi, optical, aux in etc. Or work with standard bluetooth connection. I could connect them to my lg tv.
An interesting development, and a tough choice. When this happens, it makes folk wary of buying other products in the same range.
I think the problem was that at that price it needed to do more, and because Siri is not up to snuff, it couldn’t. At £99, folk are happy to pay for a small speaker, even if Siri can’t match the capabilities of the competition. But again, cancelling the big sister will make potential buyers nervous.
But Apple throwing in the towel at the high end is a rare occurrence it could just be a matter of refocusing, or it could be something more serious. In any case, I’m definitely steering clear of the AirPods Max because I suspect they’ll go the same way.
Still, got to admire how ruthless they are with their own products.
I was thinking exactly the same thing re AirPods Max. Unlike the Homepods, however, they sound pretty ordinary.
I find this truly shocking. I cannot find a speaker with better sound anywhere near £260. If it exists, please tell me. Much less one that is integrated with Apple. What shall I do, have a HomePod Mini AND a third party speaker in the living and the family room? Not very nice.
Seriously, too expensive? This company sells headphones for £500 and little ear sticks for £250.
They should have just added Bluetooth instead of discontinuing it. I am sad.
(Let’s face it: the reason they discontinued it is because they could not figure out a regular upgrade cycle that consumers buy into).
I wrote this in a different post; the reason they abandoned this product is because they could not sketch a regular upgrade cycle for the HomePod, like they have for iPhone, Watch, AirPods, Macs, and iPads.
Most of the speakers I've used in my life have physically lasted 20++ years. How long will Apple support HomePods in terms of software? It would be a shame to have to throw mine out just because the software doesn't get updated anymore.
Sad to hear. I have three Homepods and now two Homepod Minis. Of course the sound isn’t as good on the Minis, it couldn’t be, but they are a hit with the family, especially the wife, and casual tech types who have seen them (through the window, wearing masks ) My kids love them and they have Echo Dots in their rooms, so there’s something about the price and form factor that really works; I can see easily how the Mini is doing numbers the Homepod could only dream of. But the sound and aesthetic combo of the larger Homepod is still top class to me, really superb. Stereo pair in the lounge for movie time - beautiful. That was always the point for me, not the smart speaker aspect - a great sound with a look the wife could stand. A real shame to see them go.
Even at its high price, I would have bought one if it’s uses weren’t limited by Apple. I believe there was no input, you couldn’t use it for a TV instead of sound bar, etc.
Comments
And Apple has repeated it on steroids with Airpods Max. It too will fail in the market, for the very same reason.
sonos one’s are no way close to the quality. I have both and it’s worlds apart for my taste. They work with Airplay2 and all that, but the experience within the Apple ecosystem isn’t quite the same.
As a few others have pointed out, the issue will be that there just isn’t a big enough market of people who will pay that much for one speaker. It’s too much to them and therefore they won’t buy it.
Everyone who thought the price was acceptable probably already has one (or more) and probably for some time too.
the masses are not fussed about sound quality, so why spend that much now when £99 gets them the same thing (to them anyway).
for me, the HomePod mini is a decent kids bedroom speaker or “kitchen radio” speaker. I have three, one in the living room that sits next to my Sonos just for the siri facility. My kids will ask it to play their favourite tune and mostly works for them.
I think I might go and buy three homepods today. One to finally create a stereo pair. One to replace the living room Sonos and maybe one to keep boxed to sell in 30 years for a gazillion quid (lol no chance).
They should have just added Bluetooth instead of discontinuing it. I am sad.
terrible shame 👎👎