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.
Except the AirPods big or little aren’t failing.....
A core part of Apple since almost the beginning has been sound and music (iPod, iTunes, Apple Music, etc...). In fact, they revolutionized the music industry. They turned it on its head.
But, while Apple Music is very solid, they seem to be losing their way, wondering in the wilderness.
My grandson had one Homepod, an XBox Series X, and an Apple TV.
This past Christmas I looked at component audio systems to bring quality sound to that mix (I rejected a sound bar as too limited).
A component home theater system was simply too expensive for me (Receiver, subwoofer + 5 speakers). Plus, its integration with his Apple devices was less clean,
So, I bought him a 2nd Homepod to make a stereo pair.
It is not as good as a Home Theater system -- but it is surprisingly close.
Unfortunately, it will only interact with his Apple Devices -- not with the XBoxSeriesX -- so its use is limited.
So, without a high end HomePod, where now does one turn?
High end Home Theater systems often include Airplay -- but moderately priced soundbars do not. Without it access to Apple Devices is limited.
Plus, with the AppleTV also in questionable standing, what does Apple use as a Homekit hub? iPads are not the best choice for that.
In short, Apple has thrown a hodgepodge of products at both home automation and home theater.
I think they need to look at this and develop a cohesive, integrated, quality, more systematic approach to the home.
There seems to be a large void there without a cohesive strategy from Apple.
I would like to see: -- Apple WiFi routers
-- Apple Home automation products
-- Apple home theater systems
...... And, of course, all of that would be tightly integrated into a cohesive, seamless and secure whole.
And that is why the HomePod needed HARDWIRED speaker connections. Duh Apple.....
Hi Homepod, this is iPod Hi-Fi! Welcome to the discontinued overpriced garbage club!
It was a stupid product when it was new, it never improved, the price never dropped to anything even remotely close to reasonable, Apple discontinued it.
Why would anybody be surprised? It was a failure from minute 1.
It’s not garbage by any means. Its built fantastic and sounds great that was my reason for buying. Not Siri or smart functions. We love good sounding music and this fit the bill perfectly. Airplay from my phone while controlling everything from my watch as I move about the house is solid. Have you ever actually heard or used this speaker ?
Your comment sounds like someone that has read about them here and maybe some other forums and jumped on the chance to say they are a failure without any hands on with the product. Like you’ve been holding the HI-FI comparison comment in your back pocket waiting for the right time to throw it out there hahaha.
The Apple Watch comment however is still up in a dark place. ....
I learned my lesson with the Newton Message Pad. I steer way clear of tech that I don't have an actual need for. Cute, interesting, cool, sure sure. I saw these speakers come out, looked at the speakers I have (and have had for 20 years) and said to myself "skippit until those get to $99...for 2x in stereo and with a lifetime of Apple Music on them." That's not happening.
So, the years of amazing sound I've already had and the countless years still to come from my paired Home Pods should have been avoided because of a lesson from the Newton? What are you smoking?
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
Without an an AppleTV - a product that should be retired just for its ungodly remote - just as external speakers to any old TV (as thousands of speakers can)?
Pray tell us how... I'll wait. In the meantime, you can educate yourself with this (as can the ignorant poster to whom I responded above): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207705
Of course we can’t show you how as it cannot be done without an Apple TV. Your original post did not include the adverbial phrase “without an Apple TV”, which would have added the necessary modification to your statement.
Adding this qualification in a future post and calling people ignorant for not reading it in the original one is a little disingenuous.
Not a huge surprise. I just came across this story a few minutes ago, coincidently after having been listening to my HomePod since early this morning. The good news is that it seems like a solidly engineered and constructed product so hopefully it will last several more years and continue to deliver a great listening experience.
Sloughing off products that aren't hitting their targets or gaining marketshare is an inevitable fact of life for profitable businesses. You have to free up resources and focus for the next round of products that will get their opportunity to run the race and thrive. Survival of the fittest.
As much as I hate to say it, I'm thinking the axe blade may be swinging in the direction of Apple TV next. It's a great product, but it's stuck in a tweener hole (sucker hole?) between low cost streamers and gaming consoles. I've bought a few Apple TV 4Ks because they are super easy to setup and have been very reliable for me. Yeah, the price is definitely higher than it probably should be for what it does, but I'm willing to pay for convenience.
There was a time when I thought Apple might combine the HomePod and Apple TV into something like an "Apple Soundbar Pro" that would put all of the Apple TV features and apps into the soundbar hardware, which would also function as a high-end audio HomePod (using HomePod minis as satellite speakers) and an integrated HomeKit hub. They could probably make it all work through a single HDMI ARC connection to 4K TVs and monitors. But with the demise of the HomePod and Apple rolling much (but not all) of the Apple TV functionality into smart TV apps, my hopes aren't very high for such a mashup. Who knows? The only thing that's certain is uncertainty.
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
@dymmas I have a LG C9 tv, and two homepods. I would love to know how to use the homepods for TV content. Thanks in advance for your help.
Homepods can be used as TV speakers. You will, however, need to add an Apple TV to your setup. If you’re willing to get one of these, see this article:
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
Without an an AppleTV - a product that should be retired just for its ungodly remote - just as external speakers to any old TV (as thousands of speakers can)?
Pray tell us how... I'll wait. In the meantime, you can educate yourself with this (as can the ignorant poster to whom I responded above): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207705
Of course we can’t show you how as it cannot be done without an Apple TV. Your original post did not include the adverbial phrase “without an Apple TV”, which would have added the necessary modification to your statement.
Adding this qualification in a future post and calling people ignorant for not reading it in the original one is a little disingenuous.
Apple is reported to have sold all of 25 million AppleTVs, ever. OTOH, billions of television sets have been sold: Let's be conservative and say, one billion, i.e., 1,000 million TVs exist today in the wild.
That would imply HomePods are useless vis-a-vis 97.5% of ALL the TVs out there. So, no qualification required in the use of "TVs".
I'll stick to my characterization of ignorance. I am guessing that it is perhaps amplified by that disturbingly common unable-to-look-past-one's-nose-thanks-to-Appleitis syndrome that afflicts some in this forum.
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
Without an an AppleTV - a product that should be retired just for its ungodly remote - just as external speakers to any old TV (as thousands of speakers can)?
Pray tell us how...
Fair point - when you change the conditions of your statement, the response is indeed wrong.
No condition was changed. Basic reading comprehension - or in its absence, seeking clarification - was assumed.
On its face all your original statement said was being able to use them as TV speakers. You since clarified, aka changed, that statement to add that it needed to be without the Apple TV which also gave you the chance to add your negative comments about that device as well. I’d say yeah, you changed the conditions.
Not at all as you’re wrong. I understood the original comment as how do you hook it up to a tv without a Apple TV. Because there is no way for lack of connections.
Of course, it's also possible that sales of the HomePod fell off a cliff because everyone bought HomePod Minis instead.
I mean, £99 is pretty cheap.
Lots of folk are speculating that Apple is cancelling it to replace it with something else.
Possible, but I doubt it.
If they continue with the Mini, then improvements are going to come from there.
I’m one of those people. Given the way Apple has systematically improved the audio on all of its products over the past few years, I find it hard to believe that they will be satisfied with the compromised sound of the Mini as being their only option. I agree with your last post that bringing back AirPort to create a mesh network with the Minis as satellites makes complete sense. Adding in Apple TV is also a no-brainer and would help justify the high price tag. Roku is doing something similar with their soundbar. Add in Thread, CHIP, UWB, and Bluetooth support on an S6.
Also, the sheer number of patents they have for HomePod, along with the suspicious timing of this cancellation so close to the reputed spring event are all indications for me that Apple is not just throwing in the towel. If a replacement is on the way, I would expect it then, or not at all.
A core part of Apple since almost the beginning has been sound and music (iPod, iTunes, Apple Music, etc...). In fact, they revolutionized the music industry. They turned it on its head.
But, while Apple Music is very solid, they seem to be losing their way, wondering in the wilderness.
My grandson had one Homepod, an XBox Series X, and an Apple TV.
This past Christmas I looked at component audio systems to bring quality sound to that mix (I rejected a sound bar as too limited).
A component home theater system was simply too expensive for me (Receiver, subwoofer + 5 speakers). Plus, its integration with his Apple devices was less clean,
So, I bought him a 2nd Homepod to make a stereo pair.
It is not as good as a Home Theater system -- but it is surprisingly close.
Unfortunately, it will only interact with his Apple Devices -- not with the XBoxSeriesX -- so its use is limited.
So, without a high end HomePod, where now does one turn?
High end Home Theater systems often include Airplay -- but moderately priced soundbars do not. Without it access to Apple Devices is limited.
Plus, with the AppleTV also in questionable standing, what does Apple use as a Homekit hub? iPads are not the best choice for that.
In short, Apple has thrown a hodgepodge of products at both home automation and home theater.
I think they need to look at this and develop a cohesive, integrated, quality, more systematic approach to the home.
There seems to be a large void there without a cohesive strategy from Apple.
I would like to see: -- Apple WiFi routers
-- Apple Home automation products
-- Apple home theater systems
...... And, of course, all of that would be tightly integrated into a cohesive, seamless and secure whole.
As my grandpa usta say, "ain't no money in that."
I completely understand and share your desire to have reliable (!) and fully functional Apple devices that solve tech needs and wants. I really miss AirPorts. But like TV screens, thats a race to the bottom of the price people are willing to pay, something Apple has never done. I'm stunned by the low prices of really high quality HDTVs these days. Only by combining displays with something else (iMacs, MacBooks, and the MacPro display) does Apple even participate in this product. I get the sense that Apple wa pushed to an audio product rather unwillingly.
I am sort of curious if the headline here is correct: now that "HomePod" is gone, will the $99 ones still be "mini?" Seems that is something of a marketing...gap?
No money in it if they release them all as separate products.
But what if they put a decent Mesh Router in the HomePod, and the HomePod Minis also worked as mesh satellites. Sound, Wifi, Siri, home automation in one device.
You're describing a current Nest product. I don't know whether that's been a real market success either.
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
@dymmas I have a LG C9 tv, and two homepods. I would love to know how to use the homepods for TV content. Thanks in advance for your help.
You can't, without an AppleTV.
Thousands of far better alternatives out there.
I’d much rather use an ATV than any smart TV out there. We plan on moving soon to a new house with new TVs. First thing on new TVs is disable any network connection and hook up ATV.
That is a far better alternative than any Smart TV spying on me.
A core part of Apple since almost the beginning has been sound and music (iPod, iTunes, Apple Music, etc...). In fact, they revolutionized the music industry. They turned it on its head.
But, while Apple Music is very solid, they seem to be losing their way, wondering in the wilderness.
My grandson had one Homepod, an XBox Series X, and an Apple TV.
This past Christmas I looked at component audio systems to bring quality sound to that mix (I rejected a sound bar as too limited).
A component home theater system was simply too expensive for me (Receiver, subwoofer + 5 speakers). Plus, its integration with his Apple devices was less clean,
So, I bought him a 2nd Homepod to make a stereo pair.
It is not as good as a Home Theater system -- but it is surprisingly close.
Unfortunately, it will only interact with his Apple Devices -- not with the XBoxSeriesX -- so its use is limited.
So, without a high end HomePod, where now does one turn?
High end Home Theater systems often include Airplay -- but moderately priced soundbars do not. Without it access to Apple Devices is limited.
Plus, with the AppleTV also in questionable standing, what does Apple use as a Homekit hub? iPads are not the best choice for that.
In short, Apple has thrown a hodgepodge of products at both home automation and home theater.
I think they need to look at this and develop a cohesive, integrated, quality, more systematic approach to the home.
There seems to be a large void there without a cohesive strategy from Apple.
I would like to see: -- Apple WiFi routers
-- Apple Home automation products
-- Apple home theater systems
...... And, of course, all of that would be tightly integrated into a cohesive, seamless and secure whole.
As my grandpa usta say, "ain't no money in that."
I completely understand and share your desire to have reliable (!) and fully functional Apple devices that solve tech needs and wants. I really miss AirPorts. But like TV screens, thats a race to the bottom of the price people are willing to pay, something Apple has never done. I'm stunned by the low prices of really high quality HDTVs these days. Only by combining displays with something else (iMacs, MacBooks, and the MacPro display) does Apple even participate in this product. I get the sense that Apple wa pushed to an audio product rather unwillingly.
I am sort of curious if the headline here is correct: now that "HomePod" is gone, will the $99 ones still be "mini?" Seems that is something of a marketing...gap?
No money in it if they release them all as separate products.
But what if they put a decent Mesh Router in the HomePod, and the HomePod Minis also worked as mesh satellites. Sound, Wifi, Siri, home automation in one device.
Maybe toss in a 5G modem? Apple become a cell/service provider? Maybe with Starlink? Hum....
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.
Agree. Price point was I’ll conceived. But it’s not like they couldn’t correct it over time with design refinements while maintaining sound quality. The HomePod was a great design, and I would argue still technically the best solution among its competitors. Siri didn’t help. While Siri works very well for music, it remains woefully inadequate for any other tasking. One could write a book on what’s wrong with Siri.
The sad bottom line, Apple just announced to the world that they should not be trusted to make a sound systems. This was a bad bad bad decision Apple. Sometimes I just don’t know what you’re thinking.
Wake me up when they can be used as TV speakers. Yawn.
What a useful post you have provided. Been able to do this for ages...
Without an an AppleTV - a product that should be retired just for its ungodly remote - just as external speakers to any old TV (as thousands of speakers can)?
Pray tell us how... I'll wait. In the meantime, you can educate yourself with this (as can the ignorant poster to whom I responded above): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207705
Of course we can’t show you how as it cannot be done without an Apple TV. Your original post did not include the adverbial phrase “without an Apple TV”, which would have added the necessary modification to your statement.
Adding this qualification in a future post and calling people ignorant for not reading it in the original one is a little disingenuous.
Apple is reported to have sold all of 25 million AppleTVs, ever. OTOH, billions of television sets have been sold: Let's be conservative and say, one billion, i.e., 1,000 million TVs exist today in the wild.
That would imply HomePods are useless vis-a-vis 97.5% of ALL the TVs out there. So, no qualification required in the use of "TVs".
I'll stick to my characterization of ignorance. I am guessing that it is perhaps amplified by that disturbingly common unable-to-look-past-one's-nose-thanks-to-Appleitis syndrome that afflicts some in this forum.
Using your own silly method with statistics, the fact that about 97% of people with HomePods already have an Apple TV, then that ridicules your claim that "HomePods can't be used as TV speakers." They can, if you have one, since there's a 97% chance you already have an Apple TV.
Statistics are for losers. And you can't admit you lost this argument, badly. So you pull out lame stats to try to justify your mistake.
I have one that never finishes configuration and even though the audio works fine, Siri is, er, dumber than usual because of the incomplete configuration. I’ve tried all the fixes I could find online and have been meaning to get with Apple on this but I think I waited too long. I have 4 more, it’s the original one that’s gone flaky. We’ll see how long the other ones last. I can’t believe a HP2 isn’t imminent, something with Thread, presence detection, Apple SilIcon, whatever, considering how much they have invested in the A/V sector. But they do have a history of dumping perfectly good servers and routers.
It was pretty evident from the beginning that HP want (Edit: Wasn’t)going to get the support it needed. They really needed a family of products that could compete with Sonos. I was waiting in anticipation for this to come out. When it missed its Christmas window I went with Sonos and just seem to keep buying. It should have been 200 when it came out. They should just give the Mini Away with each iPhonePro Max. I expect it to be a dead product in a year because Siri is still third place and fading.
Of course, it's also possible that sales of the HomePod fell off a cliff because everyone bought HomePod Minis instead.
I mean, £99 is pretty cheap.
Lots of folk are speculating that Apple is cancelling it to replace it with something else.
Possible, but I doubt it.
If they continue with the Mini, then improvements are going to come from there.
I agree that Apple is not going to replace the HomePod with anything else. The reality is that the market that comprises of smart speakers is dominated by under-$100 devices. Those in this market that are looking for "audio fidelity" sound are a very small slice of that market. It's quite telling that Apple's biggest success in the audio space is coming from AirPods / AirPods Pro and HomePod mini both which occupy the price conscious end of the spectrum. And it remains to be seen what kind of success the AirPods Max will see. Also, as others have mentioned, it doesn't help that Siri is still awful after ten years.
Comments
And that is why the HomePod needed HARDWIRED speaker connections. Duh Apple.....
The Apple Watch comment however is still up in a dark place.
I think I'll buy another pair while I can.
Adding this qualification in a future post and calling people ignorant for not reading it in the original one is a little disingenuous.
Sloughing off products that aren't hitting their targets or gaining marketshare is an inevitable fact of life for profitable businesses. You have to free up resources and focus for the next round of products that will get their opportunity to run the race and thrive. Survival of the fittest.
As much as I hate to say it, I'm thinking the axe blade may be swinging in the direction of Apple TV next. It's a great product, but it's stuck in a tweener hole (sucker hole?) between low cost streamers and gaming consoles. I've bought a few Apple TV 4Ks because they are super easy to setup and have been very reliable for me. Yeah, the price is definitely higher than it probably should be for what it does, but I'm willing to pay for convenience.
There was a time when I thought Apple might combine the HomePod and Apple TV into something like an "Apple Soundbar Pro" that would put all of the Apple TV features and apps into the soundbar hardware, which would also function as a high-end audio HomePod (using HomePod minis as satellite speakers) and an integrated HomeKit hub. They could probably make it all work through a single HDMI ARC connection to 4K TVs and monitors. But with the demise of the HomePod and Apple rolling much (but not all) of the Apple TV functionality into smart TV apps, my hopes aren't very high for such a mashup. Who knows? The only thing that's certain is uncertainty.
That would imply HomePods are useless vis-a-vis 97.5% of ALL the TVs out there. So, no qualification required in the use of "TVs".
I'll stick to my characterization of ignorance. I am guessing that it is perhaps amplified by that disturbingly common unable-to-look-past-one's-nose-thanks-to-Appleitis syndrome that afflicts some in this forum.
Next product to be cancelled: AppleTV HD.
Statistics are for losers. And you can't admit you lost this argument, badly. So you pull out lame stats to try to justify your mistake.
and just seem to keep buying. It should have been 200 when it came out. They should just give the Mini Away with each iPhonePro Max. I expect it to be a dead product in a year because Siri is still third place and fading.