It uses the S7 chip, same as Apple Watch, which to date they have not made an S-series chip with 802.11ac or better.
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Apple Explains Why HomePod Was Released Again, Wi-Fi 4 Limitation, and More
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I agree with the stereo paring explanation but think the Wi-Fi 4 is bogus on its face because all improvements in standards and chip design have been for less power, more bandwidth and speed and lower latency. My guess is the Wi-Fi 4 chip is cheaper. When the Wi-Fi 6 chip falls in price we’ll see HomePod 2024 or 2025.
They believe (rightly or wrongly) that their entire brand image hinges on them never being wrong.
Not the quality of their products or anything.
Someone here already explained the Wifi 4 was because the system on a chip they chose to get a faster processor had Wifi 4. That’s the real answer. This answer is nothing but also makes me wonder if the marketing person doesn’t know.
Another user here also said that stereo pairing is almost always done with identical speakers so that is also not a surprise. These answers were not needed.
Another user here also said that stereo pairing is almost always done with identical speakers so that is also not a surprise. These answers were not needed.
The are bundling the watch and home pod chip buy to get greater scale effects.
The pod may exist, in part, to make the Watch more profitable.
""HomePod features Wi-Fi 4 connectivity that allows us to target exactly what works best in the entire system," translation: We'll use old standards so we can keep you shmucks updating each year.
This certainly answers the age-old riddle: when are answers not really answers?
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Apples own marketing places these items conveniently in that category. Its not a stretch. Im not so naive that once Apple figures out a marketing way to bring these devices together where they can make everyone upgrade (ie. profit from it) they will.
TV & Home
Simply connect Apple TV, HomePod mini, and other accessories to experience a smart home that runs flawlessly across your devices.
www.apple.com
HomePod (2nd generation)
High-fidelity audio. Intelligent assistant. Home hub that works across devices. HomePod is a powerhouse speaker with the privacy of Apple built in.
www.apple.com
HomePod mini
HomePod mini. A smart speaker with room-filling sound. An intelligent assistant that helps you control your smart home. 100% private and secure.
www.apple.com
Also, I'm a 2x HomePod Mini owner that has to create a workaround to use them as computer (iMac Pro) speakers. I like these products. I also have an Apple TV with a Sony 7.1 HTS. I'm not against these products, but its obvious and even with the current tech inside of them, that they should work together as an HTS and Apple is just buying time until they make this a profitable endeavour.
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...what did that "explain", exactly?
"We went back to Wi-Fi 4 because that allows us to target exactly what works best in the entire system"
OK, WHY does that work best?
I don't even care the new HomePod is Wi-Fi 4, my HomePod Mini is 802.11n and I find it works just fine - I would just like to know what in the world "works best in the entire system" means
"We went back to Wi-Fi 4 because that allows us to target exactly what works best in the entire system"
OK, WHY does that work best?
I don't even care the new HomePod is Wi-Fi 4, my HomePod Mini is 802.11n and I find it works just fine - I would just like to know what in the world "works best in the entire system" means
Wi-Fi 4 connectivity that allows us to target exactly what works best in the entire system….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."
um what???
um what???
"largely the same" and "nearly identical" are not exactly the same/identical. In a hi-fi stereo system, this matters. Average users might not notice but the kind of people who usually buy $600+ speaker combinations care about this.
Can someone explain to me why I should care what version of wifi the HomePod uses?
Folks, don't fall for the Apple PR. Apple maxed-out the original HomePod and didn't see a clear upgrade pathway. They had to go back to the drawing-board and develop a clear product PR roadmap. Now we can expect many years of happy returns:
1. We are excited to announce a powerful upgrade to the HomePod.
2. We're taking the best-in-class home speaker to the next level.
3. With an upgraded CPU, the HomePod can now do more than ever before.
4. We've re-engineered the speakers for an all-new, pro-level immersive experience.
5. With upgraded WiFi, the HomePod is now faster and more responsive than ever.
6. The new Wifi and Bluetooth chips allow for seamless interaction across all your devices.
1. We are excited to announce a powerful upgrade to the HomePod.
2. We're taking the best-in-class home speaker to the next level.
3. With an upgraded CPU, the HomePod can now do more than ever before.
4. We've re-engineered the speakers for an all-new, pro-level immersive experience.
5. With upgraded WiFi, the HomePod is now faster and more responsive than ever.
6. The new Wifi and Bluetooth chips allow for seamless interaction across all your devices.
This seems to me to be the reason that makes the most sense. A different question is why the S7 in the first place, but I'm sure it's a cost thing.
They’re taking an entirely different approach the the soundscape that works with their automatic sound sampling. That’s just never going to work with the hard defined 7.1 standard, so keep dreaming.
Don't forget the Spatial Audio on their headphones and the TV subsription service....they want to own that segment end to end eventually.Apples own marketing places these items conveniently in that category. Its not a stretch. Im not so naive that once Apple figures out a marketing way to bring these devices together where they can make everyone upgrade (ie. profit from it) they will.
TV & Home
Simply connect Apple TV, HomePod mini, and other accessories to experience a smart home that runs flawlessly across your devices.www.apple.com
HomePod (2nd generation)
High-fidelity audio. Intelligent assistant. Home hub that works across devices. HomePod is a powerhouse speaker with the privacy of Apple built in.www.apple.com
HomePod mini
HomePod mini. A smart speaker with room-filling sound. An intelligent assistant that helps you control your smart home. 100% private and secure.www.apple.com
Also, I'm a 2x HomePod Mini owner that has to create a workaround to use them as computer (iMac Pro) speakers. I like these products. I also have an Apple TV with a Sony 7.1 HTS. I'm not against these products, but its obvious and even with the current tech inside of them, that they should work together as an HTS and Apple is just buying time until they make this a profitable endeavour.
I don't care so much that they don't admit errors explicitly; few companies do. I care more that they have so many WTF design decisions in the first place.
Just curious as to why Wifi specs are so important to so many - would it help improve sound in any way?
2nd question: Why is it so important to connect an old speaker with a new? I feel tech changes as do speakers, years ago during analog days, we never connected an old speaker with a new one, it just sounded horrible.
2nd question: Why is it so important to connect an old speaker with a new? I feel tech changes as do speakers, years ago during analog days, we never connected an old speaker with a new one, it just sounded horrible.
It's pretty clear that the reason for they switched to Wifi4 is because they switched from an old iPhone chipset to a newer Watch chipset and the wifi just came with that. It was too much effort to customize that chipset for the HomePod. It's just not important enough for custom hardware.
That leads to the question of why the Watch chipset is still using WiFi4. Perhaps that is due to energy efficiency or maybe they just don't have room on the SOC for a newer Wifi chipset?
Wfi range and latency if you sync it with other speakers.
"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."
So is he really saying the older standard works better? That’s hard to swallow.
So is he really saying the older standard works better? That’s hard to swallow.
If you think trying to match 2 different speakers as a pair is marking speak, I don't have enough crayons and puppets to explain that to you.