I’m not surprised, as I’ve never known anyone outside of MR and myself to own a HomePod, but disappointed because it was a great sounding speaker. Hopefully I can pick up another one on discount.
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Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
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You do realize that Apple can’t just “buy” A company because they feel like it, right?
that’s not how acquisitions work
Not to mention everything it hears in your background goes to Amazon cloud for data mining - privacy with Echo and Alexa is out of the window.
Inevitable move. Nobody wants to spend like 300 bucks on an assistant as dumb as Siri, and there are better speakers for the price if that's all you want without any of the proprietary crap that comes along with Homepod.
The Mini is a far more enticing product but it's still mad expensive and it will get discontinued eventually until they finally figure out that Siri's the problem
The Mini is a far more enticing product but it's still mad expensive and it will get discontinued eventually until they finally figure out that Siri's the problem
Careful there - I won't be surprised if that's gone in a couple years also
There was an iMore story about this in 2019.
But since Apple hasn't released a new Apple TV box since 2017, the data is still relevant. And likely even more skewed at this point
Apple was 2nd to last and likely far in dead last by now with no new hardware. $179+ is too expensive for a set-top box; it was before and especially now when you can Airplay to your TV purchased in the past few years, or $99 4k Roku box (and others out there). And they're a much better streaming service box.
I have never seen anyone use the Apple TV for apps or games in real life. It seems more like a pipe dream plan than reality.
They may "not do the low end," but they need to here. Or go the way of their routers and seemingly now Homepod (which they did for the Homepod which will live on in the Mini).
A sub $50 4k stick and ditch this all-in-one set-top box dream. Maybe a $99 4k box too. it simply isn't working and makes the hardware not worth it for most, as the data shows. The point is to get as many people on their streaming service now with the hardware; not hardware profit from a one-time purchase.
It's also back to that unless you own all Apple products Airplay just isn't the best thing. Stuff like a Chromecast will work with almost any device- laptop, iPhone, Android, Mac, anything.
Would be good to see some discount. Also hopefully a new model announced this week as we need something with better sound than the mini. The mini is fantastic for the size but Apple need a higher performer to go with the min.
I’m glad I sold my four HomePods when I did. I feel more comfortable on the Sonos platform knowing that they’ll continue to invest in their hardware and software. This news is a massive blow to those who invested in the larger HomePod ecosystem. You would expect this type of behavior from Google, not Apple.
Apple was responsible for age of music compression, so they should know very well that sound quality is not a high priority for the masses.
It’s such a shame though. Sound quality is a priority for me.
It’s such a shame though. Sound quality is a priority for me.
Yeah. I don’t care what Apple‘s statements say, because Apple‘s statements have never always been fully truthful when it comes to future plans, obviously.
as someone else pointed out, just recently Apple started referring to this in some places as HomePod (2018), and they are only discontinuing them a couple weeks before a big event that might have a new Apple TV.
not to mention, they just added Dolby Atmos support not even a full six months ago, along with being able to stay constantly connected to an Apple TV.
The original HomePod may be gone, but I don’t think we’re done with it just yet.
wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple introduce a new Apple TV, with a Homepod built in.
all I know is, for all the videos I’ve watched, and all the articles I’ve read, Apple spent years perfecting this thing. There is absolutely no way they’re just going to discontinue it, and not use any of the technology that was built into it for something similar.
and for anyone saying that it’s because it wasn’t selling well and it was priced too high and it was too niche of a product, keep in mind this is the same company that has $550 headphones, $54,000 computers, and $6000 monitors. they are not above having a couple extremely luxury, overly expensive, and not for everyone products.
as someone else pointed out, just recently Apple started referring to this in some places as HomePod (2018), and they are only discontinuing them a couple weeks before a big event that might have a new Apple TV.
not to mention, they just added Dolby Atmos support not even a full six months ago, along with being able to stay constantly connected to an Apple TV.
The original HomePod may be gone, but I don’t think we’re done with it just yet.
wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple introduce a new Apple TV, with a Homepod built in.
all I know is, for all the videos I’ve watched, and all the articles I’ve read, Apple spent years perfecting this thing. There is absolutely no way they’re just going to discontinue it, and not use any of the technology that was built into it for something similar.
and for anyone saying that it’s because it wasn’t selling well and it was priced too high and it was too niche of a product, keep in mind this is the same company that has $550 headphones, $54,000 computers, and $6000 monitors. they are not above having a couple extremely luxury, overly expensive, and not for everyone products.
Siri is a huge part of that. It just isn't that good, even after all of these years. Better, but still tries to show web results for too much stuff. It is nowhere on the same level as Google Assistant in intelligence. I haven't played with Alexa much at all honestly to say what theirs is like.
And without a display, and how neutered it as on the Homepod at the beginning, it's not shocking.
I had a stereo pair and I didn't think they were that great of a product. The sound quality was decent but not exceptional and they had poor clarity for older music and vocals in movies (Dolby Atmos wasn't available when I had them). They had no bluetooth, no line in, no EQ adjustment and, unlike Sonos speakers, they didn't have the versatility of being able to be incorporated into a surround sound home theatre system. For a long time, Apple Music was the only service that was compatible with the Siri voice assistant which was limiting. Siri is also the worst assistant and the price was very high for a product that failed to offer so many features.
If there was a new model coming this week (or anytime soon), Apple wouldn’t have made that statement. They would have just announced the new model.
Hey i have a stereo pair.. any idea on how much further updates the OG HomePod may get in the future?
Apple has discontinued the standard HomePod to focus exclusively on the HomePod mini, reports TechCrunch. First introduced four years ago, Apple's larger HomePod has never sold well because of its high price tag.
Apple hoped that the HomePod's high-quality sound would give it an edge over competing products, but sales of the HomePod have always been lackluster with so many more affordable options on the market. Apple has been selling the HomePod for $299, but it was originally priced at $350. The HomePod mini is available for $99.
The HomePod mini offers all of the features of the HomePod in a smaller and less expensive package. Many reviews praised the HomePod mini for its sound quality relative to its size, and while it won't quite match the sound available from the HomePod, it features the same Siri integration, Apple Music support, and HomeKit controls.
In a statement, Apple said that the HomePod will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store and Apple retail stores.On Thursday, many tech sites noticed that the full-sized space gray HomePod was out of stock in the United States, but it was believed to be just a stock shortage. As it turns out, it was because Apple no longer plans to sell the HomePod.
The space gray HomePod can likely be purchased from third-party retailers, but it is no longer available from Apple, while the HomePod in white continues to be available for purchase as of right now.
Article Link: Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini
Funny how the worm turns - I recall Apple taking the high ground against Sonos, Google and Amazon at WWDC 17 about there not being any high-quality "smart" speakers in the marketplace, and just four years later look what has happened. Anyway, maybe now Apple will allow/agree to have Siri in Sonos speakers alongside Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant so we can have the flexibility to choose ourselves.
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They never bothered to release them in New Zealand, I guess it was a Siri issue since Siri isn't available for AppleTV in New Zealand either.
I kind of wanted one, I like the design.
I kind of wanted one, I like the design.
Because every Sonos ever sold is still supported and they totally didn't cut off support for devices manufactured only 5 years before and suggest that unless those devices were deactivated, updates would be withheld from newer devices in the same system...
While not perfect, Sonos’ support for their hardware is a hell of a lot better than what Apple has just showed us with the HomePod biggie
Siri is fine for certain use cases. I don't need my smart speaker to spout off some random fact. I want to use it to play music, controls my home automations, and set reminders or calendar events. No other smart speaker integrates as well with the apple ecosystem. I have a personal automation setup to play music to my HomePod when I start a workout on my Apple Watch. I can airplay from my MacBook to my HomePod speaker.