Apple Offering Discounts on HomePod to Apple Music Subscribers

[JGIGS]

Anything over $150 for this product is a scam

Totally! $450 Canadian for a HomePod no thanks. I'd rather upgrade my AV receiver to one with 4k HDR/Dolby Vision and still be able to stream to the receiver using airplay. I don't need the smart features. I have my actual iPhone beside me 24/7 for that.

I guess if you don't already have a speaker system or want one for your a specific room then I guess you could indulge in a HomePod still seems like there are better options for the price though.

 

[bbednarz]

Totally! $450 Canadian for a HomePod no thanks. I'd rather upgrade my AV receiver to one with 4k HDR/Dolby Vision and still be able to stream to the receiver using airplay. I don't need the smart features. I have my actual iPhone beside me 24/7 for that.

I guess if you don't already have a speaker system or want one for your a specific room then I guess you could indulge in a HomePod still seems like there are better options for the price though.

Thats an option for a specific room, sure. If you are looking for a whole home audio kind of thing these are great, albeit expensive. At $250 I think it is a good/fair price. $450 is asinine.

 

[Superrenz]

Hey what about continental Europe? No offer for small markets like Germany?

 

[Bacillus]

I just said "Hey Siri, play some Beatles songs."
She replied "Here's 'So How Come'" and played the song on HomePod.
Pretty crappy song by the way, but it worked.

Ah. Is that Siri-fluff for “Here comes the Sun...” or an outcry by Yoko Ono ?

 

[Justin Stevens]

I’m an ‘Apple Music Family subscriber’ and haven’t received the promotional email here in the UK. I already have a HomePod but was considering getting a second one and therefore would have really appreciated the £50 discount. I rang Apple to find out why I haven’t received said email and apparently it’s being sent to random Apple Music subscribers. Given the amount of money we spend on Apple products and services I am incredibly put out that the offer hasnt been extended to us. If anyone does happen to receive the promotional offer and isn’t intending to use it, I would be ever so grateful if you could forward it to me at justin [dot] stevens [at] mac [dot] com. Many thanks!

 

[Uofmtiger]

People ripping on Alexa for its sound quality are the same ones who must not understand you can bluetooth Alexa to existing high end speakers in your home.. and it has ports.. for those of us apple users that have forgot what that is... they are these plugs on hardware that you can plug other things into...like speakers..

The issue is that Bluetooth is lossy, you can't send Bluetooth to the Echo and simultaneously stream from Bluetooth to another speaker, the footprint of anything comparable to the HomePod for sound quality will usually be much larger and you need two power plugs (one for Alexa and one for the speaker).

The Aux out is nice, but when you stick it across the room and plug it into a receiver, it has problems hearing you when music is being played. Its mics are insufficient compared to the HomePod. The aux out of the Dot is analog only, which means it can't send out a digital signal to the better DACs in your receiver. My receiver, like most receivers, requires a digital input to apply Audyssey settings. In other words, sound quality will still suffer.

The HomePod has Airplay 2 available. Therefore, it can control what is playing on devices like a compatible Airport Express or AppleTV. These devices have a digital output, so the receiver or preamp can get a cleaner signal and send out better sounding audio no matter what speakers you have. With the AppleTV, the audio is actually coming over the internet and just being controlled by the HomePod, so you aren't really streaming to it from a HomePod. I tested this by unplugging my HomePod after I had it start playing music on my main setup.

 

[KPandian1]

They can already turn on the mic on my iPhone whenever they want to listen and probably my Apple watch.. I will take my chances of putting an Alexa in my house.

It's not like Apple is the gatekeeper of privacy here. They are better then most, but if the NSA wanted to know what was going on in my house, they could just turn on the mic on my iPhone or watch which I have on me all of the time.

This HomePod literally has no market.

Wow! So much hatred for Apple products with such nonsensical argument!

Yes, if the government decides to target you, they can do anything. They don't target all 330 million - no way to process the audio.

Apple is a bastion of privacy - the rest are collecting information ALL the time and using it for profit, without sharing said income with you.

I am not sure they can turn on your microphones without a dedicated team of super spies targeting you, with reason.

HomePod does have a huge market - even Costco sold out in November! They did have stock the following week.

Today, they are sold-out (at Costco).

It is a speaker - it does everything better than all smart speakers, even at its price point.

It all boils down to whether the consumer is willing to subscribe to Apple Music. Once they do, they win big.

If I connect my ATV to my home theater, I do get even better sound - at a minimum of $1000 for a decent AV receiver and speakers at the lowest end.

Or, I can use the $250-350 HomePod!

 

[Shanghaichica]

I’m an ‘Apple Music Family subscriber’ and haven’t received the promotional email here in the UK. I already have a HomePod but was considering getting a second one and therefore would have really appreciated the £50 discount. I rang Apple to find out why I haven’t received said email and apparently it’s being sent to random Apple Music subscribers. Given the amount of money we spend on Apple products and services I am incredibly put out that the offer hasnt been extended to us. If anyone does happen to receive the promotional offer and isn’t intending to use it, I would be ever so grateful if you could forward it to me at justin [dot] stevens [at] mac [dot] com. Many thanks!

Maybe they aren’t giving me one because I already have 2 HomePods. Maybe it’s for people that don’t have one.

 

[haleyp]

Stereo sound is an innovation of the late 19th century. We have never looked back until now, with "smart" mono speakers.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Stereo sound is an innovation of the late 19th century. We have never looked back until now, with "smart" mono speakers.

The non-directional 360-degree speaker arrangement in HomePod isn't exactly mono, but two of them definitely sound better as a stereo pair.

 

[flygbuss]

Stereo sound is an innovation of the late 19th century. We have never looked back until now, with "smart" mono speakers.

People are actually listening to music through their phones or notebooks.
One Home Pod means a huge improvement compared to that, also you can get two if you wanna have Stereo.
As I stated earlier you'll have to pay at least 200,- each if you want to buy decent active speakers.

 

[danmart]

Have Apple not discontinued those? Is it because they could have eaten into their new Home Pod market?

Yes and no, respectively (IMO). My main point is that this capability has been around for years and not had much traction except with hard-core tech users.

I have had all my sound systems linked to Airport Express units for years, but know no one else who used this feature. And my wife rarely used it as it was too much faff. The HomePods are frictionless.

Stereo sound is an innovation of the late 19th century. We have never looked back until now, with "smart" mono speakers.

Many people use small Bluetooth speakers with such small separation it’s pretty much meaningless.

 

[justperry]

We live on a finite planet with finite resources. It’s unrealistic to expect there to be growth all the time.

OT
This bit stands out in your post.
quite a while ago, think about 2 decades ago, told an engineer at a big (American)chocolate factory just this, he looked down at me first, frowning, but he then started to think and smiled.

As for the rest of your post, mostly agree.

 

[alexhardaker]

OT
This bit stands out in your post.
quite a while ago, think about 2 decades ago, told an engineer at a big (American)chocolate factory just this, he looked down at me first, frowning, but he then started to think and smiled.

As for the rest of your post, mostly agree.

What does OT mean?

And do you agree with this part now?

 

[fullauto]

Nothing here - Australia. Anyone with a spare coupon - please PM, keen to grab one.

 

[justperry]

What does OT mean?

And do you agree with this part now?

Off topic.
Yes.

 

[fullauto]

What does OT mean?

Operating Thetan.

 

[alexhardaker]

Off topic.
Yes.

Why was it off topic?

 

[KPandian1]

Totally! $450 Canadian for a HomePod no thanks. I'd rather upgrade my AV receiver to one with 4k HDR/Dolby Vision and still be able to stream to the receiver using airplay. I don't need the smart features. I have my actual iPhone beside me 24/7 for that.

You have healthcare that won't bankrupt you - you can pay the extra $100 Canadian for a speaker!

 

[Handsome Bacon]

I have a Sonos in each of the eight bedrooms of my home + one in each bathroom (except one), plus a system in my arcade room and an entertainment set in my gym too. Great speakers!

 

[justperry]

Why was it off topic?

My reply was off topic because it had nothing to do with the article.

 

[skitidetdu]

As an Apple Music subscriber I'd probably jump on this...if the bloody thing were available in Sweden.

Not that it will replace my Dali system but as a complement in the kitchen

 

[flygbuss]

As an Apple Music subscriber I'd probably jump on this...if the bloody thing were available in Sweden.

Not that it will replace my Dali system but as a complement in the kitchen

You’ll find it cheaper in other stores as well. Or get it somewhere else. Cyberport in Germany delivers to Sweden, I think.

https://www.kjell.com/se/sortiment/el-verktyg/smarta-hem/homekit/apple-homepod-smarta-hem-controller-svart-p99031?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqIWc86Kb3wIVxxoYCh2POQKMEAQYASABEgIOTvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.d

 

[Uofmtiger]

Stereo sound is an innovation of the late 19th century. We have never looked back until now, with "smart" mono speakers.

I don't think the HomePod is mono with its array of speakers, but mono was a popular way of recording going back to the 60s. The Beatles Mono box came out to rave reviews and we have see re-releases in mono by many artists from that era ranging from Bob Dylan to John Coltrane.

I asked about this situation from one of my audio-geek buddies. He discussed how recording studios like Capital were meticulously setup for mono audio and moving to stereo caused some awkwardness over the years because artists were more focused on mono. Here is an excerpt from one article about The Beatles:

"Since most of the audience was listening in mono, that's the version of the music that preoccupied John, Paul, George and Ringo in the studio. When songs are produced, recording is the first step. The song is then mixed, meaning the instruments and vocals are blended and adjusted into a final soundscape. According to all the Beatles literature, the band labored over the mono mixes and showed little interest in the stereo versions."

While I am not advocating for mono, I believe many of the biggest selling artists from the 20th century recorded in mono.

 

[AdamskiUK]

UK Family subscriber for a couple of years here, no email so far. Might be interested in getting one to audition alongside the existing Sonos kit around the house.

Don't know why you'd bother -- get from JL and get the free warranty.