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Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini

I think it has to do with another thing, Apple winding down production of the A8 chip. Once the next Apple TV releases, Apple TV HD will most likely be put out to pasture.

I think for a bigger sized HomePod, Apple would need to swing for the fences, it cannot be just a one trick pony that plays music well, and it does indeed play music well, but it needs to do more than just that.

What I want to see with a full sized "HomePod Max" is to be able to scale from a single speaker that plays music to a full 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos setup and beyond.

I'd be thrilled if I could build up a system with 6 full size HomePods to serve as my satellites, plus a HomePod Soundbar serving as the center channel plus doing the Atmos ceiling reflection speakers, and then if one day I decide I want to just go with the soundbar, then the full sized HomePods could be reallocated to stereo pairs elsewhere. That flexibility would be essential to having a great audio experience. The next gen apple TV can easily serve as a home theatre receiver by using a usb-c port that can connect to a HDMI breakout dongle to accept inputs from other devices like the xbox, ps5, etc.

The current HomePod is terrific, but it's just far too limiting in what it can do. I tried the Atmos setup with my apple TV 4K, cannot compete with my Bose Lifestyle 600 system. I'd imagine a new full sized HomePod running the A14 chip could have many many many many years ahead to do some incredible things. The A8 chip was probably Apple's worst ever smartphone chip. Way too underpowered compared to its successors.
 
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TheDailyApple said:
I expect they'll release a hi-end HomePod (i.e. HomePod Max) which will essentially be a replacement for the original HomePod and make the mini the standard model.

No change overall, but better marketing. The original HomePod might have been worth its price, but releasing it first and marketing it as the standard model put it in competition with the Amazon's Echo and Google's Nest instead of it's true competitors like Sonos.
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I hope you are right, and it makes sense. I want a decent set of speakers and the minis, while good, are not sufficient. So if Apple doesn’t offer anything high(er)-end, then I will have to go Sonos. And then there are no longer any reasons to have Apple Music instead of Spotify, so I’ll change because Spotify is better at music discovery (at least for me). But then I won’t need Apple One anymore as I don’t really use Arcade or TV... So I really hope you are right... :)
 
Dang. Was waiting for version 2.0 for quite some time now. There is no way a HomePod mini (or a few of them) can compete with a stereo pair of HomePods. Such a bummer.
 
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Tev11 said:
Ugh. That's kind of annoying. I was planning on buying more HomePods and not the minis.

I truly hope my HomePods don't fail in the next couple years. HomePod minis cannot compare in sound.

In case for anyone who wonder why I can't use other smart speakers and other music services:
  1. There's no equivalent to iCloud Music Library. I can't ask Google to play locally uploaded songs from Spotify.
  2. I can upload local music to YouTube Music, but their app is horrid on iOS.
  3. I don't particularly like Deezer. It takes so long for locally uploaded songs to be synced across my devices.
  4. Apple Music for Google Assistant is not yet available in Canada so I can't use Google Speakers.
  5. I could use Alexa-enabled speakers, but from previous experiences, Alexa cannot shuffle Apple Music playlists properly (it plays the first song of the playlist, then shuffles the next few songs before going back to the normal trackless - not sure if that was fixed yet as both Apple and Amazon blame each other for the bug).
  6. Pandora isn't available in Canada.
  7. I'm perfectly aware of AirPlay or Bluetooth on alternative speakers, but I don't want the added steps.
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You sound like a perfect candidate for a Sonos system.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you should probably sell them.

They are going to end up useless way before they should, simply due to the electronic guts and no other connectivity options.

The only thing Apple might do to “address it”....is make some other newer and different product.
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Always going to be an AirPlay device so unless Apple abandons airplay there will be no issue going forward.
 
Or maybe Apple should have just lowered the price again.

Apple would be wrong to think that enough consumers will continue to buy their overpriced products. How are sales of the ridiculously priced AirPods Max going? With AppleCare+, they cost $978 in Australia. #smfh
 
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I think 199$ would have make a difference in the HomePod sales

BTW, IMO the 99$ should be called HomePod and the bigger one should called HomePod Max (emphasize a greater product to the non-tech costumer), HomePod mini should be an Airplay portable HomePod.

its like the 12 MacBook, 899$-999$ should have been the price but apple discontinued it (probably Intels fault to deliver the chip who knows).
 
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I think HomePod was the only Apple HW products that was not sold by Apple in all the regions where iPhone is available. The same is true at least here in Northern Europe for HomePod mini. We get all the AirPods (normal, Pro, Max) and even Beats. I have never fully understood why HomePod has been missing. It's not the lack of Siri in my native language, it is available on my phone (not on the Apple TV though for some strange reason).

Maybe Apple had serious doubts about their whole HomePod strategy from the beginning? This news would confirm that they were right.
 
Lol...due to it‘s high price tag?? I would rather say because it‘s nowhere available! There are many countries with lot‘s of buyers for sure! This company is getting more stupid with every second further away of Steves death.
 
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SuperMatt said:
Kind of like Kellogg’s frosted mini-wheats. They don’t sell frosted “big wheats” anywhere that I know of.
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This argument doesn’t quite work because yes there is no “big wheats” but there is also no “big HomePod”; just “HomePod”. The mini in “Mini wheats” is used to denote bite sized squares compared to just plain old wheat which is not that.
 
The only drawback to the HomePod I think was the price from a consumer standpoint they didn’t understand what this product could offer, but they only could see the price tag. When the Mini came along, consumers see one thing and one thing only, and that’s the price, and the features come second, which turns into higher sales. I remember the general complaint about the HomePod when it first launched was the price, and it was kind of misconceived what this product really was, was it a smart speaker? No, it was actually a music player first, which was very impressive in a room, but I don’t think it ever really had the grand stage it deserved either. Time will tell what Apples long term plans are.
 
ader42 said:
They would only do this if they are not selling that many, which means it was overpriced or wouldn’t fit into most peoples home theater setup aesthetically. I understand it sounded good, especially in pairs, but not many people want to spend that much on two round ball shaped speakers to sit either side of their TV. Most people would rather spend half the price on a conventional shaped soundbar that sits under the TV.
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Maybe I‘m misinformed, but another issue for me was that I simply don't watch stuff exclusively on AppleTV, so if I put 2 of them next to my TV, I can't use them for anything non-AppleTV.

How many people are there that use nothing but AppleTV?

Then they added AppleTV+ directly to Smart-TVs, so I can now watch everything on the TV without using the AppleTV 4k and potential Homepods...🤷‍♂️
 
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Unsurprising. It has always been a huge flop. Way too expensive for what it was, and for that price tag one can buy much better speakers, if sound quality is what one is after (it can’t be a smart assistant as Siri has nothing smart).
 
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FranzMarc said:
Maybe I‘m misinformed, but another issue for me was that I simply don't watch stuff exclusively on AppleTV, so if I put 2 of them next to my TV, I can't use them for anything non-AppleTV.

How many people are there that use nothing but AppleTV?

Then they added AppleTV+ directly to Smart-TVs, so I can now watch everything on the TV without using the AppleTV 4k and potential Homepods...🤷‍♂️
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Us, we don't have an aerial and won't get one. All we watch is content through our AppleTV. We don't use our one HomePod with the AppleTV but use the HomePod every day. Love the bass and prefer it over our mini. Will probably buy a new one and keep it boxed in case our used one stops working. Unless they are going to release a newer version.
 
mpetrides said:
Your comment about what happens when one dies is exactly the reason why, after falling in love with the first two pairs of OG HomePods that I purchased to use as speakers for my Apple TV4Ks, that I went out and purchased a third pair (all three pairs purchased on sale, of course!) just in case Apple decided to discontinue the OG HomePod. That said, I‘m betting they are discontinuing this model to replace it with a new, more powerful model.

BTW, I have found that even though I have a very fast fiber optic internet connection, if I try to set up two pairs of OG HomePods as default speakers for the ATVs at the same time, my WiFi grinds to a screeching halt—or at least to a snail’s pace. From what I can tell, the bandwidth that is consumed by doing so simply cripples my WiFI. There’s an entire thread on this topic here in the Forums. Maybe a new ATV + new HomePod with BT instead of AirPlay 2 (which consumes WiFI bandwidth) would solve this. One can hope.
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Yeah I think this announcement definitely means a new HomePod is coming, but unlike iPhones etc they can’t just refresh it as their back stock will be sat there for months on end...

So by discontinuing it they will likely just sell up what they got then in a year or two a refreshed HomePod will launch.
 
I have 2 HomePod and 1 HomePod Mini, to be completely honest, HomePod Mini is pretty disappointing as the sound quality not as good as HomePod. I’m still hoping there will be a HomePod Pro...
 
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I’ve had HomePod since the beginning. Have one stereo pair hooked up to the Apple TV and another in the kitchen. The sound is brilliant.

Added a mini to my bedroom which is nice but don’t rate the sound quality quite as much as a lot of other people. Is it true you can’t stereo pair minis? Because I’d hate to lose the set up from my TV if my original homepods ever stop working.
 
This would be very disappointing. Firstly the mini has less functionality than the HomePod, secondly not the same sound quality.

I have been patiently waiting for this to progress to the point where I can have a full proper surround sound system made up of multiple Homepods all linked to the Apple TV.

I‘m assuming one of my Homepods is faulty as it keeps dropping off the network (despite repeatedly resetting it, whist the other HomePod is fine) - but other than that the recent integrations with the Apple TV have been a massive step in the right direction.
 
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Better get some more of the larger ones whilst I still can. Nothing wrong with them. They do what I need. It’s a shame.
 
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