Oh, I agree, but a lot of folks on the internet were skeptical. I never doubted it. It's good to see something official.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Confirms HomePod's Supported Audio Sources in Tech Specs
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh, I agree, but a lot of folks on the internet were skeptical. I never doubted it. It's good to see something official.
Tempest in a teapot. The people willing to give Apple $350 for this aren’t going to base their purchasing decisions on whether or not an Android user can play music on it, while the rest of us weren’t going to give Apple $350 even if it did support Bluetooth.
Doesn't iCloud storage upload music that isn't available on iTunes? I thought the only music you couldn't upload was low quality (lower than 128mbps) rips -- though you could cheat and fake a rip to look like it was high quality.
Not moot at all.
• In a little more than a week or two there could very well be a million people who own a HomePod. Purchased to play music from their iPhones/iPad's/Macs.
• At that point, if you already own a HomePod to play the above music, why would you not consider playing sound from your AppleTV - since you already have a HomePod and are pleased with its sound quality.
It almost seemed that way at first when it was just being pushed as an accessory for Apple Music subscribers.
About damn time. Getting basic information seems like pulling teeth. Whoever's in charge of this rollout should probably not be in charge of anything.
As you said, in a week. Right now, we have people with AppleTVs who very likely own a better audio SoundBar.
But we are not at that point. It's like saying, "If I had a $1Million USD, then I'd do XYZ", but I don't.
Don't think so. Bluetooth is coming. It's just not ready yet.
Apple will sell a lot of additional HomePods to people who are in the Android camp - assuming the reviews are good. And then, if people like the performance of HomePod after purchasing one, they might consider an Apple iDevice in the future.
I suspect in the long term the Sonos will be the omni speaker. The app is horrible I get why it exist they did not want to pay the MFI fee to get the airplay hardware chip. But why is chrome casting not on the units. There is no casting MFI fee. So I have to wonder why they are dragging feet on pushing people into the the natives of choice. I have to say the sound quality of the one was pretty darn good for the price. I am an audiophile with some truly insane speakers in other rooms. The one is a quality caster for a bathroom / kitchen. The lack of airplay is just crippling my use case which is frankly old school I cast to it. I would love native support for voice to Apple Music. I use apple music since to me they are all the same and I was not a fan of the UI in Spotify. The dark them was just no my jam. If one day I move to that. I am sure I will cast to the home pod. I never asked Siri / Alexa to play things for me cause I suppose I am tactile in my music search I like to click around like I would pulling vinyl from my rack thinking do I want to listen to this.
So in short Sonos is amazing sound for dollar. Sonos app is horrible. Sonos with airplay 2 and chrome cast = omni speaker and huge market share killer
Apple home pod = best airplay casting speaker as it has native MFI and airplay 2 support
I see this question fairly often, but it is missing the point a bit.
We have a number of Apple TV's around the house. Two of them are connected to pretty decent speaker systems. That is fine.
Another is in the kitchen (which has a table for dining etc). In that room we rely on the TV speakers. It is not an easy room to put a decent speaker system into for a number of reasons. It is also the room that we will be putting the HomePod I have ordered into, for just that reason.
The main use of the HomePod will be to play music, but I will certainly be looking at the option of Airplaying the Apple TV audio to it as well.
Most of these questions asking why people are thinking of using HomePod rather than buying or using a home music system are missing the point that people have different requirements in different rooms. It is possible to have all sorts of audio equipment but still have some rooms where a HomePod could be a great solution.
It reminds me of the person on this board who couldn't understand why anyone would need an Apple TV, because he just plugged his MacBook into the TV via HDMI. It just never occurred to him that other people had different uses for things than he did.
Secondary Apple TV - e.g. in a bedroom or kitchen? This is what HomePod will do for me. So much better than the TV's own speakers and Siri for HomeKit to boot without scrabbling for the Apple TV remote - often on my partner's side of the bed or hiding itself in the folds of the duvet
It's unlikely HomePod would ever replace my main home cinema/HiFi system which, amongst others, has an Apple TV source and plays through a receiver with B&W floor standers for front L/R and Kef centre/surrounds. Since I'm alert and (mostly) upright when in the living room, pressing the Siri button on the Apple TV remote isn't exactly a big effort.
If (when?) AirPlay 2 makes it into a decent receiver which can then split channels, I may look at replacing the centre/surrounds with HomePods - mostly wire free 5.1 or even 7.1 would be fantastic from my pov.
Dreaming into the future even better, for me, would be an Apple TV5 which can take an optical in from the TV and Airply 2 output to a 5.1 or 7.1 HomePod based speaker system. Although I suspect the .1 would have to be a phono out to someone else's sub.
I don't own a soundbar. And that's true for many others. If HomePod works as well as I think it will for my music, I'll definitely route my AppleTV through it.
I suspect many others will give that a try as well. And will likely be very happy with the result.
Where are you getting this "Bluetooth is coming"? Afaik, the HomePod already has Bluetooth and it's only reported use is for setup. Are you just making assumptions? If so, could you make that a little clearer because reading your quotes, it seems as if you're stating factual info.
It seems you aren't alone. There was a thread about the HomePod a couple of days ago where a lot of the comments were from people saying the same thing.
Then you'll be missing out on several things. A HomePod is not even Stereo. You need to buy 2 to have stereo and even then, the ability isn't there yet.
So you'll pay $349 for a nice mono speaker. Good job at burning money!
No need to worry about me and what I do with my money. As I said, I will already have one sitting in my living room. And many others will as well, I imagine.
It should require zero effort routing AppleTV through HomePod. I suspect it will sound just fine. If it doesn't for some reason, nothing lost.
The problem with this is lip sync issues/delay. I believe there is a second or two delay with bluetooth and AirPlay, but maybe AirPlay 2 fixes that. If these had even one input (optical, USB-C, anything) input it would have helped those of us that wanted to use them for things beyond Apple music.
Sonos speaker die not have BT compatability either ,to my knowledge. Wonder why?
In my experience, Bluetooth is a horrible platform for streaming audio. Disconnect issues with devices (cars, Bose and other speakers I've tried, etc), pairing BS, distance issues. I FAR prefer Wifi and leave bluetooth for close distance control/data and phone headsets.
Yet, we still have solutions out there... like the Sonos promo (2 speakers for $349) that have better sound and could easily fit in a scenario like yours. They aren't big.
There are several speaker/audio vendors with good or better solutios than a HomePod.
Secondary Apple TV - e.g. in a bedroom or kitchen? This is what HomePod will do for me. So much better than the TV's own speakers and Siri for HomeKit to boot without scrabbling for the Apple TV remote - often on my partner's side of the bed or hiding itself in the folds of the duvet
It's unlikely HomePod would ever replace my main home cinema/HiFi system which, amongst others, has an Apple TV source and plays through a receiver with B&W floor standers for front L/R and Kef centre/surrounds. Since I'm alert and (mostly) upright when in the living room, pressing the Siri button on the Apple TV remote isn't exactly a big effort.
If (when?) AirPlay 2 makes it into a decent receiver which can then split channels, I may look at replacing the centre/surrounds with HomePods - mostly wire free 5.1 or even 7.1 would be fantastic from my pov.
Dreaming into the future even better, for me, would be an Apple TV5 which can take an optical in from the TV and Airply 2 output to a 5.1 or 7.1 HomePod based speaker system. Although I suspect the .1 would have to be a phono out to someone else's sub.
See above.
[doublepost=1517498892][/doublepost]
I am not worrying about you. Just arguably laughing to myself why would you spend $349 for a not so good mono-speaker that needs a secondary $349 investment to make it stereo.