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Apple Reintroduced the HomePod a Year Ago Today

ghostface147 said:
Can you use this as a Bluetooth speaker?
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No. That's the biggest fail on these, that there's no audio input to them. It's almost entirely via Airplay, which is flakey if you don't have a perfect network setup. And then there's the disaster that is Siri.

I have two mini's, and they're good enough for the occasional music in random rooms, but they're not loud enough for large rooms, and I'm not about to drop over $100 for a full size version when it has the same audio source limitations as the minis do.
 
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I want them to make a medium sized HomePod for $199 that I can buy as a stereo pair to use with my MacBook Pro when I have it docked via TB at my desk. Although maybe two $99 HomePod Minis would work.

Does anyone use HomePods with their Mac? Is it easy to work with since it's wireless or a pain? I need to get some kind of decent, smaller desktop speakers since replacing my old Intel iMac and 16" MBP with this single, beastly M3 Max. The speakers are good for the size but I'd like something better, especially since the sound comes from off center now since it's to the left of my two displays.
 
I have almost every Apple Product (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, MacBook Pro, Pro Display XDR, Apple TV, you name it..) and my pair of 1st gen HomePods are by far the worst Apple products that I’ve ever bought. The “it just works” aspect just isn’t there. They have gradually become more unreliable with every software update and are a nightmare to use if you have Spotify (which, of course, is also Spotify’s fault..). Sound quality is okay but I wouldn’t praise it as much as some reviewers did. Voice assistant features are a joke with Siri (in German)…personally, I wouldn’t buy them again.
 
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mac_head said:
I have almost every Apple Product (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, MacBook Pro, Pro Display XDR, Apple TV, you name it..) and my pair of 1st gen HomePods are by far the worst Apple products that I’ve ever bought. The “it just works” aspect just isn’t there. They have gradually become more unreliable with every software update and are a nightmare to use if you have Spotify (which, of course, is also Spotify’s fault..). Sound quality is okay but I wouldn’t praise it as much as some reviewers did. Voice assistant features are a joke with Siri (in German)…personally, I wouldn’t buy them again.
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These are my thoughts too. I love apple products and have always enjoyed everything I’ve bought off them. But i would never buy a homepod again. Siri is completely useless and worse than on the phone (for some reason). It frequently “can’t get a connection” and hangs for ages when making a request that actually works. The sound quality is not worth the hassle.
 
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Yeah.... never got too excited about these. I like music and good quality sound, but like everyone else is saying? Siri is a "swing and a miss" compared to Alexa and its functionality. And that's really what justified buying more speakers to place around my house. (I've already got a great pair of headphones and a nice set of studio monitor speakers attached to my Mac in the basement -- not to mention decent stereos in my vehicles.)

So I have 5 Echo Dots now, all purchased on sale at bargain prices. They kind of suck for music, but they'll do for situations like having something to listen to in the background in the kitchen while fixing food, or serving as a clock radio to wake you up in the morning.

Only bad part? Amazon has been cutting back their Alexa division's funding since they realized they don't really make a profit for them. (Entire business model for them was planning on them essentially doubling sales of products since people could just order things with voice commands. Turns out, most people didn't care or buy more because of that option. Instead, they streamed a lot of radio stations, asked for weather forecasts and news updates, and asked Alexa to control their lights and ceiling fans - which was just a server-side expense for Amazon.)

So a lot of features I loved are getting cut, like their "guard" feature that could run actions based on detecting the sound of broken glass or a smoke alarm going off. Might be a place Apple could step in and add back/improve on what Amazon is taking away? But ... that would require some forward-thinking I'm not confident Apple has these days.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple relaunched the HomePod one year ago today, debuting a second-generation model almost five years after the original model's introduction.

HomePod-2-White-and-Midnight-Feature-Blue-Orange.jpg

The HomePod was announced at WWDC in 2017 and launched in 2018 after a heavily delayed launch. The device was met with mixed reviews; critics praised its outstanding sound quality but pointed out its high price, missing features, and limited functionality compared to rivals.

Apple dropped its price from $349 to $299 in April 2019 and, in March 2021, the company announced that it was discontinuing the first-generation HomePod, instead shifting its focus to the HomePod mini, which launched the previous year. The decision left a gap in Apple's product lineup for a full-sized smart speaker until the company introduced the second-generation model via a press release on January 18, 2023.

The second-generation 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. It also boasts a range of upgrades and changes compared to its 2018 predecessor:

HomePod (second-generation, 2023)HomePod (first-generation, 2018)
Refined design with acoustically transparent mesh fabricDesign with acoustically transparent mesh fabric
Larger backlit touch surface that illuminates from edge to edgeBacklit touch surface
S7 chip from 2021's Apple Watch Series 7A8 chip from 2013's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
U1 ultra wideband chip–
Five horn-loaded tweetersSeven horn-loaded tweeters
Four far-field beamforming microphonesSix far-field beamforming microphones
6.6 inches tall6.8 inches tall
Weighs 5.16 poundsWeighs 5.5 pounds
Removable power cableFixed power cable
Wi-Fi 4 connectivity (802.11n)Wi-Fi 5 connectivity (802.11ac)
Thread support
Temperature and humidity sensor
Sound Recognition
Available in White and MidnightAvailable in White and Space Gray


While Apple's potential plans for a third-generation HomePod are unclear a year after the current model was introduced, there are a multitude of rumors surrounding a HomePod with an LCD touchscreen display arriving as soon as 2024.

Article Link: Apple Reintroduced the HomePod a Year Ago Today
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Who's Speaking???
 
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Have they fixed the stain problem? If not, can we have an iMat for placing underneath the device?
 
mac_head said:
a nightmare to use if you have Spotify (which, of course, is also Spotify’s fault..)
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Can confirm this is real. My wife uses Spotify and AirPlays to the HomePod and it tends to have a lot more issues than when I play from Apple Music. As I understand it, the issue is that Spotify has opted to not build in native support for the HomePod which would let the speaker stream directly from Spotify instead of relaying through the iPhone.
 
I've got 3 mini's instead, a set in the living room and one in the bedroom, two being Open-box excellent condition items and one slightly used. It's not worth paying full price.
They're decent for playing music and audiobooks.
The stereo pair in the living room is flaky at times at it switches back and forth between the speakers even after resetting and Siri isn't that good. Airplay isn't that good but got better after the last update.
Can't imagine paying more for the bigger one and having similar issues on it.
 
Too little to late. I got tired of waiting so I choose Sonos and I was not wrong. Amazing sound, much better than HomePods and very classy, I love the design and the overall performance, they are truly a piece of engineering. Considering that music or sound can be playing at all times in all the home, they not expensive at all.
 
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Unggoy Murderer said:
I have a stereo pair with my Apple TV and love them.

The ARC feature appearing on the Apple TV was what really made it brilliant, I can run my PS5 and Xbox audio out through the HomePods too which is great. Audio on par with a good quality soundbar.
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Isn’t there a slight audio delay for games?
 
I own the v1 and I'm glad they shipped a v2 eventually. This way, I know what to get if my OG HomePod ever goes kaput.

To discontinue the first version without a successor was a weird move. My favorite explanation is that the v1 was too difficult and expensive to assemble. That makes the most sense to me.

Obvious is on the other hand that the HomePod wasn't the big flop some people made it out to be. Otherwise Apple wouldn't have come out with a second generation in almost the same design and at the exact same price point.

I use my HomePod pretty much exclusively as an AirPlay speaker. I don't need Siri. I think the sound is amazing for such a small little thing.
 
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OMGwtfBBQwings said:
got my first one last feb. love everything about it.

...except how stupid Siri is
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Really love my HomePods v2, and have some good use of the HomePod Mini’s too ♥️
Siri however, I have turned off, jailed her, and thrown away the keys - on all my devices!
She said something unexpectedly and very unrelated anyway when I moved my HomePods to another room. I just answered what? and haven’t heard a peep more.
 
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I eagerly bought one of these many years ago to use with my iTunes library which consists mostly of a lifetime's collection of ripped CDs. I was instantly disappointed to learn I couldn't do something like say "Play Bob Dylan" and have it do just that. It would only play music within the context of an Apple subscription to their music world (which I with never do). That resulted in me returning the miserable thing the next day. Has it grown up yet - will it allow the playing of my own music? In the past people have suggested Itunes Match - that doesn't work if you have music that you've edited etc..
 
Lioness~ said:
Siri however, I have turned off, jailed her, and thrown away the keys - on all my devices!
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Siri only listens on my Apple Watch. Used mostly for reminders and adding items to lists [and for outdoor cycle workouts].

I used to have Watch Siri set not to listen (requiring pressing the Crown), but reading about people trapped in bizarre, emergency situations convinced me to make it possible to ask for help with only one hand.
 
I'd love to see a slightly larger 3rd gen that incorporated a battery so it could be used in a wireless situation.
 
Mick-Mac said:
I eagerly bought one of these many years ago to use with my iTunes library which consists mostly of a lifetime's collection of ripped CDs. I was instantly disappointed to learn I couldn't do something like say "Play Bob Dylan" and have it do just that. It would only play music within the context of an Apple subscription to their music world (which I with never do). That resulted in me returning the miserable thing the next day. Has it grown up yet - will it allow the playing of my own music? In the past people have suggested Itunes Match - that doesn't work if you have music that you've edited etc..
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This is the main reason I returned my first generation one. I have a huge lossless library hosted on my network by a Mac Mini media server, but HomePod only wants to stream Apple Music files. The way Apple matches music is also half-baked. While Apple Music or iTunes Match will match the songs, this isn't recognized in the library. If I open one of my matched albums in Apple Music, I see the option to add to library, even though my copy of the album is already matched and in the library. There's no way to tell HomePod to use a home media library instead of streaming. It's such a frustrating, half-baked product.
 
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Got a pair and use them every day. Excellent quality and pretty reliable. They do need a restart once in a while. I just wish Siri worked better.
 
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