Apple Employees to Receive 50% Off HomePod

[TheHammer]

Homekit is terrible to control lights etc an echo dot is better and for sound well one speaker will never sound as goood as a 5.1 cinema amp

Disagree, Siri has been fantastic to control my lifts. My google home does the same job just much slower

 

[The Game 161]

Can’t believe the comments here. This is clearly a desperate move to popularize the device because they don’t think it will sell well.

Like the Apple watch..

Oh wait..

 

[bruinsrme]

Homekit is terrible to control lights etc an echo dot is better and for sound well one speaker will never sound as goood as a 5.1 cinema amp

Talk about all over the place in comparison.

I have heard a number of 5.1 systems in the sub $400 price point.
They surely don't compare to my Klipsch Reference 7 with an SVS subwoofer.

why not compare the Homepod to Sonos Play 5?

I found it quite ironic Sonos immediately lowered the price for a pair of Sonos play 1 once the HomePod price was announced.

 

[ersan191]

Talk about all over the place in comparison.

I have heard a number of 5.1 systems in the sub $400 price point.
They surely don't compare to my Klipsch Reference 7 with an SVS subwoofer.

why not compare the Homepod to Sonos Play 5?

I found it quite ironic Sonos immediately lowered the price for a pair of Sonos play 1 once the HomePod price was announced.

A play:5 is regularly $500 - they compared it to a play:3 which is regularly $300, seems fair to me.

I think this thing might even sound better than a play:5, but I'm not gonna make that call til Friday.

 

[whooleytoo]

Apple used to outright give employees products. Now, they have hundreds of billions more in the bank then they ever did when they issued free iPods and first-generation iPhones, yet still treat their employees like trash.

Pretty rare, I think!

When I worked there the best I got was (IIRC) one 27% discount off a Mac per year, and multiple 17% discounts. Which is great - but I don't recall any 100% freebies being handed out. Other than a free game one year as part of a Christmas bonus?

 

[tomtendo]

Clearly 50% off on this device means that the device truly isn't worth $350 to Apple.... ripping off the real customers!

 

[neuropsychguy]

Homekit is terrible to control lights etc an echo dot is better and for sound well one speaker will never sound as goood as a 5.1 cinema amp

That one speaker can sound a lot better or a lot worse than a 5.1 setup; it depends on the speaker and the sound system.

Also, I have 2 Echo Dots, 1 Google Home Mini, and plenty of Siri devices. I've found HomeKit, Alexa, and Google control all work about the same. If anything, HomeKit has been more reliable. That being said, I typically default to using Google Home Mini to control things (I don't have to pull my phone out of my pocket to activate Siri or use the Home app). My Echo Dots see less use because I've found the Home Mini to be ever so slightly more reliable.

 

[Paleworm]

Can’t believe the comments here. This is clearly a desperate move to popularize the device because they don’t think it will sell well.

Replace “desperate” with “strategic” and “don’t think it will” with “want it to” and you’ll graduate from trolling.

 

[omihek]

Apple used to outright give employees products. Now, they have hundreds of billions more in the bank then they ever did when they issued free iPods and first-generation iPhones, yet still treat their employees like trash.

How do you figure that? So they've given employees free stuff in the past. Awesome! More than most companies do. But now they're ONLY giving them 50% off? Oh, the horror! But still more than most companies do. If Apple offering a 50% discount is treating them like trash then throw me in the nearest garbage bin.

 

[gnasher729]

Clearly 50% off on this device means that the device truly isn't worth $350 to Apple.... ripping off the real customers!

It's worth $1000. Apple's employees get it for $175. So Apple's employees are worth $825 to Apple!

 

[3237187]

Clearly 50% off on this device means that the device truly isn't worth $350 to Apple.... ripping off the real customers!

Actually, a 100% markup, or more, in retail electronics is not unusual at all. The $150 price is likely close to wholesale, which is what Apple sells its goods to other retailers.
I’m no business expert, but the retail selling price is $350, out of which comes cost of production, profit, and overhead. It isn’t reasonable to expect a company to sell at wholesale pricing to its retail customers.

 

[MrX8503]

I understand the recent WiFi issue has now been fixed.

But WOW, you have both the Apple Home Pod and Google Max yourself already.
Can you tell us more about how you find they compare with each other sound wise?

Thanks.

Early reports say so. Inferior product for $50 more. No thanks.

 

[bruinsrme]

Clearly 50% off on this device means that the device truly isn't worth $350 to Apple.... ripping off the real customers!

I believe Apple employees also get discounted stock purchases twice a year. I guess investors are getting ripped off too.

 

[tomtendo]

It's worth $1000. Apple's employees get it for $175. So Apple's employees are worth $825 to Apple!

How is it worth $1,000? It sells for $350...?

 

[charlituna]

Do you work there or what? Because tons of stuff is still given out. It's not as free-for-all anymore, but in almost all cases, you pretty much get devices you work on, and in some cases you can get more than one.

Nope. I have literally 4 dozen friends and acquaintances that work at Apple, some starting as far back as 10 years ago. They do NOT get devices “you work on” and certainly not more than one. Last devices they gave for free were the first iPhone and then the cheapest model of earbuds possible when they bought Beats. No free iPads, iPods, watches, apple TVs etc.
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Can imagine what else they get off other products behind closed doors...

As of about 18 months ago when my Apple employee boyfriend and I were still dating, they got 25% off the full price iPhone, an iPod, an iPad, an Apple TV and a computer once a year. 3 of each at 15% off per year and 10% off cables etc. they got 50% one watch for the first generation if they were employed at that time or 50% off one watch during their first 90 days of employment any model of their choosing after that.

My friends that still work there tell me its pretty much the same.

 

[Stan Lee]

Sonos are still better?

 

[Glee217]

If anyone wants to get rid of the Homepod if they dont like it or whatever let me know. Willing to buy it in the $200 something range. I am in sf Cali 94122.

 

[recoil80]

They had a similar discount for the first Apple Watch as far as I remember. Now for the AW they have the usual discount around 20% so maybe it will be the same for HomePod.