Apple Says HomePod is Delayed Until Early 2018

[MH01]

Shame. Many fans were looking forward to it

 

[George Dawes]

it's probably stuck in tim's pipeline....

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

Timmy's on a roll. Give him more stock options.

 

[macmyworld]

Very courageous to delay shipping this. My guess is the demo unit was a Sonos speaker stuffed into a different cover.

 

[chfilm]

Well, given that they only ship it to the English speaking market in the beginning and countries in Europe have to wait for it anyways, I think we can assume that this delay has also to do with Siri and her language skills. What good would a smart speaker be if it doesn’t understand you.. hopefully this will lead to better Siri on other devices too on the future!

 

[Fozziebear71]

Then, when they actually do "release" it, within three minutes of pre-ordering, shipping times will slip to 4-6 weeks.

Standard operating procedure for Apple these days.

 

[chfilm]

This thing better be top notch. At WWDC they stated it was 4 years in the making and now still delayed.

This time last year it was the same thing with the Airpods.

And they were top notch

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Why are people upset? Seemed everyone on MR said it was too expensive and would never buy it anyways. Shouldn't matter if it comes to market or not.

 

[Since1987]

I bet iMac Pro will be delayed, too.

Well, Apple actually CARES about HomePod. While computers stay at the bottom of their priority list (IF they are on the list at all) so yes, iMac Pro delayed. And the silence about the MacPro has me doubting that will ever happen as well. Seems like IveCook are going to try to get away with the iMac Pro as the Pro machine.

 

[az431]

Hahaha why did they announce this at WWDC?

What's your point? That they should have a psychic on staff to predict possible delays, and base their event scheduling on the psychic's visions of the future?

 

[Z3man]

Shame this as its about the only new Apple product i can afford as the new iPhones are just too expensive.

Not interested in their iPads or Watches, but would have liked one of these speakers, looks like i will have to wait a bit longer.

Looks like its just Me my MacBook and my 5s and 6s for the time being.

 

[az431]

Why now? Come on Apple, you missed the boat on this one.

I know it seems difficult to imagine right now, but the human race will somehow find a way to survive for a few more months without HomePods.

 

[Baymowe335]

Good. Push those sales into Q2.

 

[Solomani]

Delays are acceptable as long as this thing comes out as "best of class" in 2018.

 

[0007776]

It was nice back when Apple waited until things were ready to announce them.

 

[Baymowe335]

Apple has lost this battle before it even enters. I’m sure a small contingent will buy, but this will definitely be a flop (on the Apple scale).

You mean like the watch was a flop? Oh, they took the wearables market too.

 

[The Game 161]

better to take their time with it i guess

 

[IJ Reilly]

Apple have delayed a lot of things in recent times.

The only other actual delay in recent memory is the AirPod. If Apple announces a release date and misses it, that's a delay. Apple failing to ship a product when media expected it is not an actual delay.

 

[Xavier]

See you in March HomePod. Apple's idea of early has never been early.

 

[H.Finch]

A company delaying a product just before the holiday season shows b*lls and principle... I love Apple for being like that. You can bet decisions like this don't come easy...
Now just let me use two Homepods as external Mac speakers (to replace my soundsticks) and then please; let me give you my money...

 

[citysnaps]

Timmy's on a roll. Give him more stock options.

He certainly is! Hope he makes out well this year.

 

[44267547]

Apple have delayed a lot of things in recent times.

In a sense, they have. But this is a company that doesn't need to be the first to release something that might have a fault where it affects the user. The AirPods were delayed until December and look how successful they turned out altogether. What would have happened if Apple would have released the AirPods in October of last year with a potential issue and then they would have backlash from fans saying the product is garbage. Apple doesn't want that, they want the product to be right the first time and Ready when the time comes.

 

[Brookzy]

I'd rather have a product that works right, than get a so-so product early.

I can't help but think we'll get a so-so product, late.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Delayed along with Amazon Prime Apple TV app it would seem...

That's 100% on Amazon. Apple has no part in Amazon choosing to design and release an app.

 

[coolfactor]

Damn. With Amazon releasing new Echos with much better sound quality than their previous models, I wonder if they need to get that price down to a more reasonable level.

I suspect this is a factor. The competition is coming out with "good enough" alternatives at a much faster pace, so Apple may feel that they really need to rock the house with their first version... a device that the competition can't touch. But is there really room in that product space?
[doublepost=1510939202][/doublepost]

Do you think they finally noticed the problem of defining which device the user was trying to use when you say "Hey Siri" in a house with more than one Apple product?

Since they are all connected, they could definitely cooperate with each other say "I've got it! Butt out you two!".

They could also analyze the clarify of what each device received to choose the best one to respond.