Apple to Charge $279 to Repair or Replace a Damaged HomePod Without AppleCare+

[I7guy]

Well, they shouldn't buy the HomePod unless they've got more money than brains. I've never said that about an Apple product before, but this one is ridiculous.

And homeowners insurance policies in the US include your home's contents by default. I've never seen a homeowner's policy that doesn't. Now, there's a deductible that's usually higher than the cost of this stupid outrageously priced speaker, so I suppose if you're going to buy one and put it where it'll get smashed by your trash compactor or something you should probably get the AppleCare, but if you have lightning damage you're typically going to have more than one thing zapped, you'll almost certainly be going over the deductible anyway, and your insurance is going to buy you a new one.

The best individual call is to not buy a HomePod. Apple is charging a highway robbery price for this speaker.

It’s an individual call as whether the HomePod is worth it. Just like every purchase decision large or small.

Having said that most home insurance policies do not insure against accidental breakage of items unless you have a waiver. That said if an asteroid falls through your rod and destroys your house that would be covered. Drop your iPhone in the toilet, not so much.

 

[doctor-don]

I love apple but it seems they just recycled the mac pro design for this thing.

Only the SHAPE. The Mac Pro has a solid housing.

 

[JediZenMaster]

The meaning of my comment is: Apple Care for HomePod does not make sense.

It makes sense to me and I’ll be getting it with my HomePod.

 

[citysnaps]

Well, they shouldn't buy the HomePod unless they've got more money than brains. I've never said that about an Apple product before, but this one is ridiculous.

And homeowners insurance policies in the US include your home's contents by default. I've never seen a homeowner's policy that doesn't. Now, there's a deductible that's usually higher than the cost of this stupid outrageously priced speaker, so I suppose if you're going to buy one and put it where it'll get smashed by your trash compactor or something you should probably get the AppleCare, but if you have lightning damage you're typically going to have more than one thing zapped, you'll almost certainly be going over the deductible anyway, and your insurance is going to buy you a new one.

The best individual call is to not buy a HomePod. Apple is charging a highway robbery price for this speaker.

Why is how others choose to spend their money such a large concern of yours? And why are you suggesting that those who purchase a HomePod are stupid?

"The best individual call is to not buy a HomePod."
For you and your personal/financial circumstances, perhaps. For others, again, why worry about what others do with their money.

 

[Noctilux.95]

Greed is good, according to Tim Cook.

 

[thekev]

To force you to buy AC+. Can’t see any other reason at that price point.

AC+ still isn't worthwhile. It only gives you a couple years and reduces the repair cost by $200 minus the cost of AC+. I suspect if you worked out the expected amount spent over time given typical purchasing habits, it is not close to worth it.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I don't know what AC cost for HomePod but it seems excessive to charge $78 for the repair to people who have already purchased AC. They are charging 22% the price of a new HomePod to the people who have "insurance". I only have to pay a 20% copay when I use my Anthem healthcare insurance.

Well it might have been useful for MR to actually quote the cost of an AppleCare+ plan for the HomePod, especially since they opine that buying "it could be worthwhile."

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Its supposed to compete with mid range/high end speakers. Not the the throwaway speakers you get with a PC. The siri part is just a way to control it or other homekit devices.

All that being said. There are other speakers with "smarts" that sound as good or better and right now with homePod you are locked to apple music and its services. To me Sonos is a way better choice since you get great sound for cheaper price and has support for basically any music service. Works with alexa and soon google and will support airplay 2 when released. alexa does not support homekit but pretty much any smarthome device and hubs you buy now supports alexa and homekit. I have wink hub and any thing I add to it gets alexa support. This closed Siri stance is hurting apple more than helping.

This verge title sums it up pretty good:

The HomePod is the point of no return for Apple fans
This speaker is openly hostile to any hardware or service not made by Apple
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/9/16994382/apple-homepod-release-day-price-compatibility

I just don't see a mono speaker being "high end" in any way.

This thing's competition is Amazon Echo and Google Home. Neither of those is even half the price of the HomePod.

And Homekit is a disaster. I looked at it when I was picking something to replace my old X10 gear, and it's just too closed to be an option. Yeah, I could set up a computer with Homebridge to handle bridging, but that's a pain, especially since Homekit devices are generally more expensive than Z Wave.

And Apple Music just doesn't interest me. Yeah, it's a decent service, but it was late to the game, isn't compatible with some of my stuff, and is too expensive.

And of course all of the speakers that I have now have Macintoshes or AirPort Expresses hooked up to them. I've got sound covered for the entire house. I don't need a smart speaker at all, let alone a ridiculously priced one like HomePod.

 

[Bacillus]

If you consider the HomePod not worth the money, dont buy it. Others will buy it.
....
It’s an individual call. Things have hit the floor in my house I never would have thought.

That advice carries some redundancy.
If I'd care about what others buy, things would hit the ceiling instead of the floor.

 

[Swift]

I don't think I've ever seen a repair cost that close to the original purchase price.

What's the point?

So, you drop the HomePod and the inner mechanism gets damaged. You can't fix it. You put in a new part and replace the cloth cover. It's a low-probability accident. If your audiophile speaker gets in a flood, you can't fix it at all. The speaker cones would be ruined, the wiring would have to be redone, and the fine rosewood cabinet would be smelly and prone to rot. Or you can buy another Echo dot. Terrible fidelity, but a workable robot. Your choice. Have replacement insurance.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The HomePod is the most expensive cat scratching-post in recent memory.

My cats would disagree. They've mangled much more expensive sofas and chairs.

 

[Swift]

I just don't see a mono speaker being "high end" in any way.

This thing's competition is Amazon Echo and Google Home. Neither of those is even half the price of the HomePod.

And Homekit is a disaster. I looked at it when I was picking something to replace my old X10 gear, and it's just too closed to be an option. Yeah, I could set up a computer with Homebridge to handle bridging, but that's a pain, especially since Homekit devices are generally more expensive than Z Wave.

And Apple Music just doesn't interest me. Yeah, it's a decent service, but it was late to the game, isn't compatible with some of my stuff, and is too expensive.

And of course all of the speakers that I have now have Macintoshes or AirPort Expresses hooked up to them. I've got sound covered for the entire house. I don't need a smart speaker at all, let alone a ridiculously priced one like HomePod.

Listened to it? For an audiophile speaker, $350 is really cheap. And it's really funny to hear you say it's "mono". It gives you 360 degrees. Beam-forming? Adapting the sound to your room on the fly, each tune?
[doublepost=1518199724][/doublepost]

Don’t get me started on that. I keep my phones 3-4 years as iPhones are expensive but they were built to last. I had an iPhone 6 less than 2 years old but because of the battery fiasco I was forced to buy 8 plus. I would have never bought a new phone if Apple didn’t refuse to replace the battery.

Where did they do that? I just got a battery for my iPhone 6 in October. It was $79, true. I thought it had done well, lasted 2 1/2 years.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Top tip for potential UK buyers. Don't buy it from Apple, if John Lewis are selling them then get one there, 5 years warranty as standard. Tell them to shove the Apple Care right up the ginnel.

Exactly what I did with my MacBook. I experienced the most horrible customer service at the Covent Garden Apple Store, London, that I vowed never to buy from an Apple Store ever again. Instead, I checked prices and bought from John Lewis were I got a 3 year warranty as standard and 10% off the price saving me £370 compared to the horrible Apple Store!

 

[npmacuser5]

Speaks volumes about how precise the HomePod speaker design requirements are. Essentially not a repairable device without the manufacturing process involvement. A good thing by the way.

 

[apolloa]

I don't think I've ever seen a repair cost that close to the original purchase price.

What's the point?

Marketing tactic to force you to pay for Apple Care as it’s such a bargain, and the analysts would have predicted how much profit the company will make by following this route.

 

[kaldezar]

I predict the gnashing of the teeth will be start soon...

Guys, this thing has one year Apple warranty. It is a speaker, so anywhere in the EU and the future previous EU countries, it is covered by consumer protection laws which say it must last for a reasonable amount of time. Typically two years, but for speakers I would argue that a "reasonable amount of time" is longer than two years. So nobody in the USA is paying for the next year, nobody in the UK is paying for two years.

Solution: Be careful when you water your house plants, and don't water the HomePod as well. And I must say, I have never heard of anyone repairing speakers. I actually never had any speakers break. The first pair that I bought lasted forever, and I replaced them because I could afford better ones, which then lasted forever (forever meaning more than 25 years).

Speakers just don't break. Unless you break them. And if you think the amount that Apple charges is too much, then surely someone will repair them for less money if they ever need repairing.

UK consumer law covers for 6 years, and EU law for 5 years so Apple can shove their repair charges where the sun don't shine.

 

[miric]

The bad thing is Apple "tests" new sales model with repair costs and enforced Apple Care. The very bad thing it will become daily practice soon.

 

[Swift]

I don't think I've ever seen a repair cost that close to the original purchase price.

What's the point?

Pay the Applecare+ or take out replacement value on your Renter's or Home-owner's policy. I have had speakers go for 20 years and still sound fine. Sometimes, the cones get brittle. Wiring rots. A condenser blows. This is smaller, and it has a wire permanently attached. Inside is a bewildering set of things. Precision surfaces, etc. Very heavy. Cats, children, accidents moving.

 

[Bacillus]

Oh please people, don't complain about expensiveness.
Remember that you buy into the Spaceship, into a network of the biggest and most luxurious shopping malls in the world, the greatest and wealthiest Board, management that makes no mistakes, and therefore some of the wealthiest people on the planet, the largest R&D budgets in the world, and a financial infrastructure bigger than some continents. This all must be supported and maintained by some mere mortals, i.e. us, considered to be the Chosen Ones. Rather than complaining, we should consider it a privilege to participate in that circus - the biggest on the planet.
There's enough pictures of Tim and Angela availble. Print them out on a large format, so they become your role models, your virtual Father en Mother. They really care about you !
(if you contribute)

 

[apolloa]

Top tip for potential UK buyers. Don't buy it from Apple, if John Lewis are selling them then get one there, 5 years warranty as standard. Tell them to shove the Apple Care right up the ginnel.

In the U.K. it’s supppsed to be 2 year warranty anyway by law. From what I’ve read, and then you have the ‘fit for purpose’ regularions.

But I tend to buy Apple stuff from JL anyway.

 

[Quu]

My mistake.

I mentioned HomePod repairs cost £268 without AppleCare+ in the text portion of my article, but I mistakenly put the brand new price of £319 in the chart.

Fixed that.

Thank you for the correction. Mistakes happen to all of us!

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

Why is it always amateur hour around here? It's not even funny and it adds nothing to the discussion. Does a cat scratching post have the best hardware in the smart speaker space?

Stop posting for likes from Apple haters and add something to the discussion.

Lol, I'm an apple lover and fully intend to buy the HomePod (likely two, for stereo). At least others seemed to get the (admittedly not very profound) Friday afternoon levity. Chill, dude.

I don't own cats, there are no external inputs, and the volume doesn't go very high, so I will skip AppleCare.

 

[Moorepheus]

Just buy a new one, but for 350, I would not buy one to begin with. I will keep my google home, which for me, works great.

 

[seatton]

In other words it’s disposable

I disagree with that statement mainly because the darn speaker is much faster than the current Mac Mini.

 

[run1976]

I predict the gnashing of the teeth will be start soon...

Guys, this thing has one year Apple warranty. It is a speaker, so anywhere in the EU and the future previous EU countries, it is covered by consumer protection laws which say it must last for a reasonable amount of time. Typically two years, but for speakers I would argue that a "reasonable amount of time" is longer than two years. So nobody in the USA is paying for the next year, nobody in the UK is paying for two years.

Solution: Be careful when you water your house plants, and don't water the HomePod as well. And I must say, I have never heard of anyone repairing speakers. I actually never had any speakers break. The first pair that I bought lasted forever, and I replaced them because I could afford better ones, which then lasted forever (forever meaning more than 25 years).

Speakers just don't break. Unless you break them. And if you think the amount that Apple charges is too much, then surely someone will repair them for less money if they ever need repairing.

You obviously don’t have little boys running around your house. There is no idea stupid enough that they or their friends may not come up with it. Apple Care+ is a must in this case.