This is an ironic comment, in that everyone who (finally) purchased AirPods has placed quality sound LAST on their list of beneficial features. Now Apple is going to try and sell these same customers on high fidelity for top dollar. Good luck with that.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Receives FCC Approval for HomePod, Suggesting a Launch Could Come Soon
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is an ironic comment, in that everyone who (finally) purchased AirPods has placed quality sound LAST on their list of beneficial features. Now Apple is going to try and sell these same customers on high fidelity for top dollar. Good luck with that.
The echo is doing really well. We are using it a lot in Australia for smart home use (lights, doors, air cons etc.). I think Apple will struggle to take the smart speaker market over a $50 echo dot.
I'm not able to speak as to how everyone ranks AirPods' features. However, I'm pretty sure Apple has not advertised AirPods as "high fidelity."
"Good luck with that."
No need for luck... I don't see how Apple selling AirPods with decent quality sound is in conflict with Apple selling HomePod which will have much better sound quality.
AirPods are usually used when you're mobile and on the go (though they can be used while at home as well). HomePod is only used in one's home.
Different devices for different uses.
I am ready for this to drop this week. Got a Hottest 100 party planned for Saturday and I need some more apartment coverage.
That’s not groundbreaking unless you’re an audiophile. Most people won’t care.
Well I care, but I also agree with you. Most people aren’t music purists and price is a more important factor than quality is.
I'm sure it's going to sound fantastic for it's size. But sound is physics, and there is only so much you can do with small speakers and limited power.
The question is this: Will the 1 HomePod sound better than 2 Sonos Play:1s? Or 1 Sonos Play:3? In both cases, you would also still have either $50 or $100 left over, respectively. Those Sonos speakers already sound really really good for their size. I doubt the HomePod will be appreciably better sounding.
So the question is - do you want to have a speaker in 1 room for $350, or a speaker in 2 rooms for $300?
I'm really not digging the design of this. First time that's happened with an Apple product. A white fabric exterior like that is going to yellow and stain over time. Even with the black one, an all fabric design reminds me too much of iPod Socks.
I would've liked to see a ceramic design. A glossy white speaker would have been soooo Apple. Ceramic is already used in high end acoustics. Apple would've made it financially viable through mass production, the way they made metal and glass phones obsolete the plastic ones that came before it.
I would've liked to see a ceramic design. A glossy white speaker would have been soooo Apple. Ceramic is already used in high end acoustics. Apple would've made it financially viable through mass production, the way they made metal and glass phones obsolete the plastic ones that came before it.
I wasn’t saying the iPhone can’t do it, but my iPhone X cost $1150, I picked up my Echo for $79.
Not for Apple's market. You do know it is Apple who's launching this. And for this market, which is affordable luxury (essentially every Apple has ever launched), the price and features are on point.
Apple's products are aspirational, you're not paying 10K for your sound system but your getting something that tends towards that quality using innovative never seen tech to deliver it, that you can afford.
Always here, people this, people that, Apple is not selling to "people" (sic), they have a particular market in mind their goal is to get 70%-80% of the whole industry's PROFITS eventually just like they do everywhere else. They don't need to market to everyone to get there, far from it.
Last edited:
People will care. They don’t need to understand the complex processing going on behind the scenes - they’ll just notice the better sound.
That’s the groundbreaking part. Letting an ordinary person plunk a speaker down anywhere they have room, not having to do anything other than turn it on, and start enjoying quality sound.
The "just works" part for sound systems doesn't really exist right now. You buy something that mostly "sorta" works or works in certain use cases.
Apple is using its tech as a way to differentiate in ways others can't really imitate easily.
Say Apple in 2 years put a customized variant of the A11 in a speaker and does so mindbending real time transform using the audio, users, whatever collected from the room, who on earth could do that besides maybe Samsung?
If you are heavy in Apple eco system and primarily use Apple Music then this will be a solid addition to keep everything Apple in your setup. Just won’t appeal to people who don’t subscribe to Apple Music.
Most people who are into multi room audio will already have it. Most people who are audiophiles will already have their speakers.
Being late to the market will be difficult, even if the product is good.
I have about £2500 of Denon Heos speakers around the house that are great and work perfectly with Spotify.
While I love Apple products, I can’t justify swapping them. And why would you have one when the rest of the house is on another system?
Being late to the market will be difficult, even if the product is good.
I have about £2500 of Denon Heos speakers around the house that are great and work perfectly with Spotify.
While I love Apple products, I can’t justify swapping them. And why would you have one when the rest of the house is on another system?
How are they "late" if they offer something very different? You can't really compare it really to anything else.
You can argue that this feature is irrelevant I guess, but seeing as having a speaker that adapts to its environment according to the music it plays is new in that price range (and probably any close price range) you'd have trouble making this point pre-lauch.
The main selling point here is not even multi-room audio (though seemingly it can do it too).
That would be a good point if everyone in the market based their buying decision on your preferences.
What use is one of these if it doesn't support Apple Music? Huh? Its useless, isn't it? I'll try and stream it from my phone, and it just won't work. So what_on_earth even is the point of an Echo 2?
It supports any music input source
They are launching Airplay 2 at the same time so the implication is they are a MultiRoom idea. Apparently Airplay 2 is a software solution so my hope is that the Heos speakers I have can become Airplay 2 friendly and can therefore work with the occasional HomePod.
Having Airplay 2 as an open multiroom system where different manufacturers speakers could exist on the same system would be a step forward.
Although in your statement the Sonos One would be better suited, this HomePod is supposed to compete with the Sonos Play:3 (which as of yet still doesn’t have an assistant). The new Sonos One still doesn’t have Alexia pushed to it for those of us in Canada and I’m hearing issues with commands working.
I barely use Siri although I really want to use it more she’s just limiting. Also I don’t have HomeKit appliances or accessories as of yet so no real use other than long email dictation.
[doublepost=1516541436][/doublepost]Has anyone else taken notice that a Beats Pill speaker has dropped in price?
I'm beginning to think there will be an overlap between the speakers and headphones.
Apple:
Most likely will continue the AirPods, design unchanged in 2018, yet 2019 possibly a new AirPod with Touch Interface.
HomePod & HomePod Big/Boost
Beats:
Seems to get the lions share of headphones, yet we're already seeing 2 that feature the W1 chip: Solo3 and Studio3 wireless.
I'd personally like to see an Apple version of B&O BeoPlay E8s though. Those will be my next purchase and I'll likely sell my Studio3's. Great sound ... yet under -20 celcius auto shuts off, along with I cannot use them in the gym as I sweat a lot on my head and ears and this just exaggerates that.
Yep I completely agree, I have four echoes throughout the house, got them on Black Friday for under $30 each, no way I’m spending that much on the HomePod... hope apple doesn’t make a whole lot of them, otherwise I can see them going on sale very very quickly
[doublepost=1516543373][/doublepost]
It’s really not at all, you obviously don’t have any in your house otherwise you wouldn’t be calling it a Boring product, and as far as Sound is concerned connect it to a Bluetooth speaker, problem solved
I have seen the error of my ways.
Amazon will play your purchased music.
Google will play your uploaded music. This is fantastic! I mirror my home NAS music with uploaded Google music from my office computer (a backup, if you will, of all my music).
Last edited:
It may be a successful business model but it probably means I won't be buying one. I can't imagine the sound being close enough to a multi-thousand dollar system for me to live with the things it can't do, that other systems can. And for me, thats NOT an assistant, its the ease of hooking 3rd party hardware and existing music sources into the system and being able to use it without jumping thru a bunch of proprietary hoops. And thats if you can make it work at all.
I've bought music and entertainment systems in the far past (1980's and 90's) that were tied to how one company wanted to do things, and I have a bunch of orphan equipment that works but is frozen in time because I haven't been able to buy new releases or upgraded hardware or expand how they work. Buying something from Apple, or any other company, just because of the brand name is something I'll leave to others. Features, ease of use, adaptability and quality are what I look for now. Price factors into it but is not the primary factor. Something that sounds 'better' but can't do even basic surround sound system functionality and also prevents me from using some possible sources of music/entertainment I'm not interested in, no matter who puts it out. I'll buy a $2-5000 system that will still sound good 15 years from now instead, one component at a time if necessary. Which means I don't want to use proprietary products that prevent me from using other existing components while I build my system.
The same feature set Yamaha has had (MusicCast) for a couple of years now?