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

[PauloSera]

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.

It was indeed users that dragged HomePod kicking and screaming into HomeTheater. It was completely unusable as such in the beginning (yet people tried) and Apple gradually made some concessions over the years to even make it viable, but in a bare minimum capacity. It isn't intended as Home Theater. It isn't optimized for Home Theater. It isn't ideal for Home Theater.

 

[klasma]

"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?

It means it works best for Apple's bottom line.

 

[xraydoc]

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?

The watch couldn't possibly max out the bandwidth of 802.11n, let alone anything faster, so there's no need for faster wifi in the S7 SoC for now.

 

[Eorlas]

Costello explained why the new HomePod is limited to the older Wi-Fi 4 standard, compared to Wi-Fi 6 on other modern Apple devices:

"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."

this is like the no calculator on ipad thing. they're really hoping most people are too braindead to care.

i'd wager this person doesn't know the differences between wifi 4, 5, 6, 6e, and 7 are, enough to answer this question.

 

[ConcernedCitizen]

Nearly identical isn't identical. Never mind the fact that nearly identical is an opinion.

You would only want to pair identical speakers.

I can only assume the people disliking/laughing at our comments on this probably also think casually listening to music through their phone speakers sounds good.

 

[fatTribble]

You wait and wait using your older products until the new one comes out.
Then you find out the new product uses old technology. So frustrating!

If you’re going to be a premium product with premium pricing, use premium technology.

 

[PauloSera]

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.

100% a cost thing. The very existence of a product like this is predicated on Apple's ability to reuse massive engineering efforts like S-series SoC.

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

HomePod should never have been discontinued.

Is this all marketing talk because I’m not understanding what to get out of this interview?

It’s indeed just that. Vacant nonsensical corporate marketing talk.

 

[mytdave]

What a bunch of corp-speak BS. Why is it so hard to just say "the SOC we're using in this model only supports WiFi 4"? What's wrong with that? Non-answers just erode trust. Don't be stupid.

 

[xyz01]

In other words a bunch of lame marketing speak that tries to obfuscate real reasons for wifi 4 and lack of stereo mating.

The reason for stereo mating is not a bad one. Wifi 4, OTOH - the real reason is that the Homepod uses an old Apple chip that doesn't support anything newer.

The bandwidth should be plenty, but the support of old standards only slows down the net for everyone unfortunately.

 

[Black Magic]

I thought it was possible to pair old and new. Interesting that it's not.

The WiFi 4 justification sounds like a made up excuse.

What he says about audio performance being better than the original doesn't seem to be the case.

Costello definitely has a future in DC.

I think it is. The OG HomePod doesn't support Dolby Atmos.

 

[Analog Kid]

On the wifi front, it's using an older wifi b/c it's using Apple Watch tech that probably only supports that Wifi. Plus it's not like streaming audio requires that much bandwidth that you need newer tech. It's fine and does the job.

You can defend Apple all you want, but 6 is bigger than 4 and I know what I'm talking about because I went to school. It has to be greed because I looked at Wikipedia and it says 4 is old so they're easily saving a nickel on every one of these and they're selling like thousands of them.

 

[QandnotU]

If his explanation of Wifi 4 is true, and the new HomePod streams lossless audio without issue, Siri responds quicker, who cares what radio they included. If in practice the new HomePod is step back from the original, then I can understand the concern, otherwise...it all feels like a bunch of people complaining about an issue that may not exist.

 

[Sarafay]

Apple is selling A15 for just 129 bucks in Apple TV. Wifi 4 okay? I expect loudspeakers running for at least 10 years. If they were really smart, they would build a stereo pair with version 1.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

I suppose, but its like buying a baseball bat to serve as a hat rack.

There are actual products on the market designed for this. Why is HomePod constantly being forced into home theater? And now surround sound? Come on.

Perhaps because they are…speakers. I respond to your sentiments with simply a “why not?” You can do this in a Sonos system, why not in the Apple system?

 

[brizna]

Apple's VP of hardware engineering Matthew Costello and product marketing employee Alice Chan recently spoke with Men's Journal and TechCrunch about the new second-generation HomePod in wide-ranging interviews about the smart speaker.

Apple discontinued the original full-size HomePod in March 2021 after multiple reports indicated that sales of the speaker were lackluster, but Chan told Men's Journal that Apple has since "heard more interest than ever for the acoustics of a richer larger speaker," leading the company to release another larger HomePod.

The new HomePod looks virtually identical to the original, although it is 0.2 inches shorter and has a larger edge-to-edge LED touchscreen on top. Costello told TechCrunch that Apple's teams "really love" this shape and form for the full-size HomePod and "were able to create a wonderful system within that structure."

Costello explained why the new HomePod is limited to the older Wi-Fi 4 standard, compared to Wi-Fi 6 on other modern Apple devices:He also elaborated on the inability to pair a new HomePod with an original HomePod:Apple told both media publications that the HomePod mini is "popular," but did not provide any additional details or comment on the future of the smaller speaker.

In his interview with Men's Journal, Costello provides additional details about the new HomePod's hardware and technologies, including the four-inch high-excursion woofer, tweeters, beamforming microphones, room-sensing capabilities, and more.

The new HomePod is available to pre-order for $299 and launches this Friday in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Japan, Australia, and select other countries. Check out our HomePod review roundup for a hands-on look at the speaker, which many reviewers found to have largely the same sound quality as the original.

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

Aren’t newer Wifi standards more efficient? I think this guy is talking out of his *** about wifi energy efficiency for a plugged in product.

Just admit you wanted to use cheaper chips and don’t need higher speeds for a low res mp3 audio speaker ffs.

 

[siddavis]

Let me vomit some word salad that shows we had (have) no vision or strategy for this line and just keep throwing stuff at the wall. Something's gotta stick, right?

 

[Mr_Ed]

it really confuses me why anyone is upset over wifi 4 and not wifi 6, and why none of the writers have pointed this out. it is simply a bandwidth issue, wifi 4 has more than adequate bandwidth to support airplay and therefore wifi 6 would not provide any value added whatsoever. This is like a repeat of the really old appleTV using a slower ethernet. the ethernet selected at the time had more than adequate bandwidth to support the 1080p limitation of the older appleTV, yet there were those whiners who were upset. But really, would it have operated any better? NO. Once adequate bandwidth is achieved, case close, additional bandwidth provides 0 benefit

You seem to be only focused on the bandwidth needs of the one device here. While this varies by router, whatever theoretical bandwidth your WiFi router provides on a given band is shared (even if time sliced in some way) by all devices on that band/network. The newer standards can support more devices smoothly and simultaneously (up to your internet pipe speed, of course).

It’s not about what bandwidth the HP needs to play music, it’s about what it needs when paired with a second one playing music from your iPhone, while your spouse is streaming Hulu on the TV in the den, and your son is streaming YouTube in his room, and your daughter is streaming Netflix in another room, and so on…

That aside, I think the decision to cut costs by using SoC with an older standard also speaks to Apple’s desire to turn these devices into disposable items you replace every 2-3 years like many do with their phones. Using the newest standard increases the useful life, as would including a way to use it as a plain old amplified speaker (like analog 3.5mm jack or similar).

 

[PauloSera]

Perhaps because they are…speakers. I respond to your sentiments with simply a “why not?” You can do this in a Sonos system, why not in the Apple system?

Because its not that simple? I mean, really? HomePod is a standalone smart speaker. Sonos is an established Home Theater system.

Really?

 

[mytdave]

You can defend Apple all you want, but 6 is bigger than 4 and I know what I'm talking about because I went to school. It has to be greed because I looked at Wikipedia and it says 4 is old so they're easily saving a nickel on every one of these and they're selling like thousands of them.

Well, see, that's where you went off the rails... If you've been paying attention, you would know that what you learned in school is no longer correct. 6 is not necessarily more that 4. It can now be anything you want it to be, because insisting on a correct answer is racist. /s

 

[brofkand]

Pretty much all the IoT devices in my home are WiFi 4, it's not really a huge issue. Granted none of them are what I'd call "premium" products. I think it's reasonable for people to expect Apple to do better.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Still no 7.1 speaker setup. C’mon Apple it’s 2023 for crying out loud.

C'mon, study up. Surround sound systems are a totally different beast than what the HomePods do. Literally Apples and oranges.

7.1 systems are designed to make theatre-type surround sound around a seating point in a medium to largish good-acoustically space, using separate main speakers, separate satellite speakers and separate subwoofer(s) to achieve surround sound. Note specific seating point, medium to largish space, good acoustics, typically seven or more individual speakers are all required.

Full size HomePods are a different speaker type, designed to use two self-balancing speakers to provide good stereo sound in acoustically difficult small to small medium sized spaces using just two speakers.

 

[Realityck]

Costello explained why the new HomePod is limited to the older Wi-Fi 4 standard, compared to Wi-Fi 6 on other modern Apple devices:

"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."

Ridiculous to promote a new HomePod version with only 802.11a/b/n in 2023?

 

[iStorm]

Chan told Men's Journal that Apple has since "heard more interest than ever for the acoustics of a richer larger speaker," leading the company to release another larger HomePod.

I think a similar thing could have been said about the iPhone mini. Sounded like a lot of people wanted a smaller phone, but then not many people actually ended up buying it. Will be interesting see how the new HomePod fares over the next few years to see if the demand is really there.

 

[Wildkraut]

In other words a bunch of lame marketing speak that tries to obfuscate real reasons for wifi 4 and lack of stereo mating.

Real reason is, they found a pallet full of ol’chips that had to be used somehow.