Apple Explains Why HomePod Was Released Again, Wi-Fi 4 Limitation, and More

[Alan Wynn]

You apparently didn't read my post.

I did read your post and ask you questions to clarify things you said.

As a speaker they are a poor value.

I asked you questions about it as a speaker and you have not responded to any of them. Your statement was that you think that the Sonos 1 sounds just as good. I have not heard the new one yet, but I know that I disagree about the original ones sounding just as good, but accepting your statement, I want to know how well it works as a speaker. Can I stream Apple Music to it directly? Will it play Apple Music encoded in Dolby Atmos with spatialization? Can I pair it with my AppleTV and play Atmos content through it?

These are all questions about it as a speaker.

I've listened to the original HomePod and the Sonos 1 side by side and they were very similar.

You have now moved from “equal sound quality” to very similar. Were you playing spatialized music on them both? That is one thing I really like about both Apple Music and the original HomePods. I expect I will like that if I ever get a pair of the new ones as well.

Room placement has more impact on sound quality than most people understand. I have two Apple TV 4k's and 8 minis so all the "extra features" in the full sized model are of little value.

How do you listen to Dolby Atmos content in your systems with the two Apple TVs? Again, that is just a speaker feature.

I was interested in a better sounding speaker for a room and so the full sized HomePod is a candidate but not at the price they set since I don't need the other functions.

I get that you do not need the Thread functionality nor do you need precision location if you have an AppleTV in the room, but I personally think that Atmos is pretty important for movies (and music), so not having it would be a big deal for me.

If all you are interested in in your entire home is a single HomePod and have no Apple TV's then you may want all the functionality it offers but with all the rest of the features standard in Apple TV's and HomePod mini's the only thing the full sized HomePod offers is better sound which is available for less from other products.

If one cares about having Apple Music with Atmos, and the ability to control it in a room just with one’s voice, I am not sure how a Sonos One solves that. If I have to put a HomePod mini into the room to do that, than it seems that I am probably not saving much and ending up with less functionality.

Even if I take your word that the sound quality is similar for that content it is able to play, it seems like I would still need at least a HomePod mini in every room to support Hey Siri.

Apple’s gear is about an ecosystem. The more of it one has, the better the overall experience.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Pairs: It would limit their ability to make things sound good because one doesn't support the same audio processing or capabilities (e.g. spatial audio). And, why write a bunch of code to support a rare configuration involving a product that was end of manufacturing two years ago? The problem will solve itself in time due to attrition.

Isn't that subjective though? I mean they cancelled the original one, and put a limitation on the new one. I probably wouldn't need the latest and greatest, but buying a second homepod and pairing it together to make it sound better is good enough.

 

[TundraKing]

I did read your post and ask you questions to clarify things you said.

I asked you questions about it as a speaker and you have not responded to any of them. Your statement was that you think that the Sonos 1 sounds just as good. I have not heard the new one yet, but I know that I disagree about the original ones sounding just as good, but accepting your statement, I want to know how well it works as a speaker. Can I stream Apple Music to it directly? Will it play Apple Music encoded in Dolby Atmos with spatialization? Can I pair it with my AppleTV and play Atmos content through it?

These are all questions about it as a speaker.

You have now moved from “equal sound quality” to very similar. Were you playing spatialized music on them both? That is one thing I really like about both Apple Music and the original HomePods. I expect I will like that if I ever get a pair of the new ones as well.

How do you listen to Dolby Atmos content in your systems with the two Apple TVs? Again, that is just a speaker feature.

I get that you do not need the Thread functionality nor do you need precision location if you have an AppleTV in the room, but I personally think that Atmos is pretty important for movies (and music), so not having it would be a big deal for me.

If one cares about having Apple Music with Atmos, and the ability to control it in a room just with one’s voice, I am not sure how a Sonos One solves that. If I have to put a HomePod mini into the room to do that, than it seems that I am probably not saving much and ending up with less functionality.

Even if I take your word that the sound quality is similar for that content it is able to play, it seems like I would still need at least a HomePod mini in every room to support Hey Siri.

Apple’s gear is about an ecosystem. The more of it one has, the better the overall experience.

You have your opinion, I have mine. I was simply offering it. We both state facts but come to different conclusions. You can read the specs on Sonos yourself if you wish.

 

[Powerbooky]

"HomePod features Wi-Fi 4 connectivity that allows us to target exactly what works best in the entire system," Costello tells TechCrunch, "making sure Siri requests are responsive, and ensuring a consistent experience for all you are listening to, controlling your smart home accessories and more — all while being energy efficient."

Article Link: Apple Explains Why HomePod Was Released Again, Wi-Fi 4 Limitation, and More

Nice try. Wifi 5 or 6 can do that much better. The current S-series chip (7 and 8) only has 802.11n and my best guess is that the S7 was the cheapest and quickest option, instead of creating a new chip for the HomePod series.

 

[ErikGrim]

How is the homepod not a mono speaker? Stereo music left and right channels are summed to one channel. The speakers in the Homepod playback one channel of audio on all it’s speakers. That’s why they want you to buy two homepods so it plays back left and right channels independently. I currently have two original homepods. Had to buy two to get stereo like a proper modern speaker system. They should have come up with a stereo speaker. The homepod plays back just like those old radios people used to listen to back in the day. In my opinion the sound is not all that great. You can get much better sound from regular bookshelf speakers.

No they are not. Even a single HomePod produces full spatial audio. You might not be able to hear the separation as well as with two homepods, but it's definitely there.

 

[ErikGrim]

Sorry, but you are incorrect. It gives you the impression of sound separation due to its multiple tweeters. But it’s still mono. I also can‘t believe that peeps are still having this misconception.

Kirkville - The HomePod Is a Mono Speaker

The HomePod is a mono speaker. I don’t know why some people think it isn’t.

kirkville.com

This was wrong in 2019 and it is wrong in 2023. Don't know what else to tell you. Do you not have ears?

 

[ErikGrim]

the downgrades are

• 2 less tweeters (new type of metal, so possible improvements there. Still 2 less)
• 2 less mics
• worse wifi capability (on a wireless speaker)

It's $50 cheaper and none of these physical "downgrades" matters one iota. It performs better than its predecessor in every way. Real world performance matters way better than any spec checklist. Guess you weren't around for the death of spec chart comparisons huh?

 

[_Spinn_]

I wish you could pair HomePods and the Minis together to get a surround sound experience.

 

[ian87w]

Translation: we wanted to cut cost, and we wanted you to buy two of them instead of using the old one for stereo poring.

Apple’s BS answers are getting tiresome. Their PR team is just a disaster.

 

[Burger Thing]

This was wrong in 2019 and it is wrong in 2023. Don't know what else to tell you. Do you not have ears?

Ok, stereo pairing with another Homepod is no longer required then.

Erik, I would classify the Homepod as a potent, clever and omnidirectional speaker But it's not really creating a stereo sound stage IMHO. At least from single homepod I would not be able to "locate" a single instrument in an orchestra for example. But maybe the traditional definitions of stereo / mono are not suitable for the Homepod anyway?

 

[Uofmtiger]

Ok, stereo pairing with another Homepod is no longer required then.

Erik, I would classify the Homepod as a potent, clever and omnidirectional speaker But it's not really creating a stereo sound stage IMHO. At least from single homepod I would not be able to "locate" a single instrument in an orchestra for example. But maybe the traditional definitions of stereo / mono are not suitable for the Homepod anyway?

Below is an excerpt from pcmag:

The second-generation HomePod produces rich, room-filling sound thanks to a unique five-tweeter array that separates and distributes stereo channels of audio. But a single HomePod can only offer so much in the way of directional audio and stereo separation

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple’s only providing this “explanation” to those that don’t need one. Those that DO need an explanation… would never be satisfied with anything coming out of Apple .

 

[ErikGrim]

Ok, stereo pairing with another Homepod is no longer required then.

Erik, I would classify the Homepod as a potent, clever and omnidirectional speaker But it's not really creating a stereo sound stage IMHO. At least from single homepod I would not be able to "locate" a single instrument in an orchestra for example. But maybe the traditional definitions of stereo / mono are not suitable for the Homepod anyway?

If it projects more than one channel of audio (i.e. what's required for spatial audio of any kind) it is not mono. End of story.

Yes, the soundstage is vastly different with two and personally I can never live with just one - but that's not the discussion here

 

[dwaite]

Isn't that subjective though? I mean they cancelled the original one, and put a limitation on the new one. I probably wouldn't need the latest and greatest, but buying a second homepod and pairing it together to make it sound better is good enough.

Somewhat. If you think of stereo pair as "one cuts the left and right channels and put them to the respective speakers", then it might make sense to support mixed modes.

When you consider one is potentially handling Atmos-style audio objects mapped into 3d space and the other is outputting a single audio channel with a static transform, it gets easier to see how it you might misrepresent or outright miss sounds due to the discrepency. They aren't even playing the same version of the song at that point.

So is it worth Apple supporting a downgraded audio model for pairing mixed HomePod versions? How would they explain to users that their pair is operating in a degraded mode?

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Somewhat. If you think of stereo pair as "one cuts the left and right channels and put them to the respective speakers", then it might make sense to support mixed modes.

When you consider one is potentially handling Atmos-style audio objects mapped into 3d space and the other is outputting a single audio channel with a static transform, it gets easier to see how it you might misrepresent or outright miss sounds due to the discrepency. They aren't even playing the same version of the song at that point.

So is it worth Apple supporting a downgraded audio model for pairing mixed HomePod versions? How would they explain to users that their pair is operating in a degraded mode?

All I'm saying is I would like the option. Sure it probably is listening to different versions of a song, but that should be a consumer choice, and it wouldn't be different versions if the new Homepod was backwards compatible. I guess I wanted a compromise because they did discontinue the original homepod. There is no way I can get a stereo pair unless I trade in the old one (And it's probably close to worthless) and get the new one. I bought the home pod at the worst possible time I guess.

 

[ric22]

Until Siri can consistently respond to "Hey Siri, play some music" by actually playing some music, I don't think I'll be relying on Siri for much....

 

[dwaite]

There is no way I can get a stereo pair unless I trade in the old one (And it's probably close to worthless) and get the new one. I bought the home pod at the worst possible time I guess.

Quick check of most recent two auctions had two used original HomePods go for ~$150 and ~$210 on eBay (plus shipping). You could always try to sell it now and wait for the new models to go on sale.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Until Siri can consistently respond to "Hey Siri, play some music" by actually playing some music, I don't think I'll be relying on Siri for much....

I’m sympathetic for those where Siri DOESN’T work like this. Because it’s amazing that not only can one ask siri to play music, I can specifically ask for certain playlists to be played shuffled, ask for genre’s of music, ask for years of music…it’s so pleasing when it happens, I really wish everyone could have that experience.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Do you really think there will be an updated HomePod next year with Wi-Fi 6E and droves of people will upgrade because of that?

Fewer tweets and microphones will make it sound better as well? Sure, be my guest and "upgrade". I'm happy with my original homepod, thank you.

 

[ErikGrim]

Fewer tweets and microphones will make it sound better as well? Sure, be my guest and "upgrade". I'm happy with my original homepod, thank you.

Yes, it does sound marginally better than the original homepods