What do you mean by 70% reliability? And then it dropped to 50%? I don't get it. And how is Tim Cook the cause of this failure?
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Apple Relaunched the HomePod Two Years Ago Today
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But the POS Siri still asks me who I am, requires me to shout at her in order for her to respond, can’t handle several simple additions to the shopping list (Siri, add turkey meat to the shopping list). OK, I have added turkey and meat to the shopping list. 🙄. She regularly won’t play my favorites, the list goes on….worthless POS.
Apple relaunched the HomePod two years ago today, debuting a second-generation model almost five years after the original model's introduction.
The original HomePod was announced at WWDC in 2017 and launched in 2018 after a heavily delayed release. 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, including the S7 chip, a U1 ultra wideband chip, a removable power cable, a temperature and humidity sensor, and sound recognition. However, it features two fewer microphones and horn-loaded tweeters.
While Apple's potential plans for a third-generation HomePod are unclear two years after the current model was introduced, there are a multitude of rumors surrounding a smart home "command center" product with an LCD touchscreen display arriving this year as Apple looks to rethink its smart home lineup.
Article Link: Apple Relaunched the HomePod Two Years Ago Today
I think someone at Apple did a study on backend processing and what it was costing Apple and they decided to turn the “back-end processing” knob down from 9 to 2…
I have 2 originals. they work great. Mostly used at tv speakers. And just love them for that.
Really came into their own with an ATV update a few years back where they make the tv speaker thing official sort to speak.
One of the best things about them as tv speakers is hands free operation via Siri for play, pause, captions on/off, skip 3 minutes, go back 30 seconds or mute. Do that quite a bit instead of grabbing the remote. Got better when they dropped the "Hey."
No reliability issues whatever that means. Don't airplay stuff to it except Apple Music from iPhone sometimes.
Really came into their own with an ATV update a few years back where they make the tv speaker thing official sort to speak.
One of the best things about them as tv speakers is hands free operation via Siri for play, pause, captions on/off, skip 3 minutes, go back 30 seconds or mute. Do that quite a bit instead of grabbing the remote. Got better when they dropped the "Hey."
No reliability issues whatever that means. Don't airplay stuff to it except Apple Music from iPhone sometimes.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I think that's on the todo list, right after they get all the AAA games published for Mac.
If anyone can't wait that long, there's PLENTY of fish in the speakers sea. Move HPs to other rooms and have full surround sound with center channel for clear dialogue and sub for deep bass as soon as TONIGHT.
Apple tried so hard to sell these as what they are: excellent speakers. Still people criticised them for what they are not: smart speakers.
I have two Gen 1 attached to an Apple TV and I get wonderful surround-like sound. Shame that they need to be reset every two months or so.
I have two Gen 1 attached to an Apple TV and I get wonderful surround-like sound. Shame that they need to be reset every two months or so.
I have a couple of HomePods 2 in our living room. Use them as TV sound (from the Apple TV) and for Music (mostly airplaying from my Mac).
Excellent as a sound system, and much, much better sound than the Bluesound node 2i (with some more than decent Phiips speakers) that they replaced.
I also have a couple of HomePods mini at the kitchen, and - especially for music - it's a very handy multiroom system "that just works"**.
Don't use the "smart" aspect of the speakers, at all.
** most of the time, there have been some issues with Airplay, but it seems to have become better lately...
Excellent as a sound system, and much, much better sound than the Bluesound node 2i (with some more than decent Phiips speakers) that they replaced.
I also have a couple of HomePods mini at the kitchen, and - especially for music - it's a very handy multiroom system "that just works"**.
Don't use the "smart" aspect of the speakers, at all.
** most of the time, there have been some issues with Airplay, but it seems to have become better lately...
Have a pair of HomePods gen 2. One of them started having ghost touches I don’t know If I should buy a replacement or get the Sonos Era 300.
The Beatles are getting back together to record a new version of Sgt. Pepper's, with a new lyric: "It was two years ago today..."
Listening to mine now. Have had zero problems with it. It's been a tank. I hope future macOS and iOS support it.
That sounds about right. It's amazing how bad Siri still is. The speakers still sound great.
The new HomePod has to include BlueTooth. WiFi is great but also have BlueTooth...and a wired connection option.
I don't think they would ever allow Bluetooth on a HomePod. Then lowly Android users might buy it. /s
And just one year later, despite being in development before the relaunch, Apple made it obsolete by making it incompatible with Apple Intelligence.
I have two pairs of the original HomePods as well as two pairs of the HomePod Mini’s.
The original HomePod’s continued being updated-all are currently on 18.3. Updates are doing via the Home application.
I was bitten by mine bricking after an automatic update and Apple refusing to service it. I have two homepod minis but i miss the grander audio quality of the full homepod.
It shares the same fate as the original HomePod though. Poor sales, no obvious updates or hardware upgrades, it's not getting AI so it's dead in the water basically. I don't know why it was relaunched, or discontinued at the first place? Seems like a pointless pause and relaunch.
I agree a wonderful speaker. But Siri is a nightmare. The promise to fix it in Siri in iOS 18 huh.?
How could you communicate fully, only what time is it and what is the weather. But, getting some simple questions, Siri wants me to run to my iPhone if I ask again. It’s like having a car with deflated tires, you can’t go far with it.
It a joke.
It needs to have a screen to display answers or the song it’s playing with name of band members. Is that asking for too much, and while they are at it, have some psychedelic lights lighting up while the music is playing. And then sales will be up.
