Apple to Unveil New Full-Size HomePod 'Fairly Soon,' Says Gurman

[CreepyAF]

Lots of criticism of these HomePods, but I love them for my apartment. Not too loud but good clear bass and mostly unobtrusive. I’ve bought eight of the OG HomePods and three minis, and I have them scattered about the house. I use four in my living room for movies using Apple TV, and it’s great. Not true surround sound but there is separation of sound, and I have the front speakers louder than the back ones.
I’ve a couple in my bedroom working with Apple TV as well. If I really wanna immerse myself in quality sound I’ll put on air pods max or air pods pro 2.

 

[cjbryce]

I use four in my living room for movies using Apple TV, and it’s great.

How do you achieve this? I tried putting HP Minis as "rears" but couldn't get my ATV4KMk2 to select the HP OG "fronts" as permanent mains AND play to the "rears" at the same time too.

 

[Spotlighter9]

Paying to access my own music as a service? Hell no!

Home Sharing is Free...just turn it on. And $25 a year for iTunes Match is fairly reasonable. It's certainly more cost effective and efficient than paying $100+ for extra storage on each of your devices to physically load your entire ripped music collection. You're paying to access it on the go either way...and it also serves as a backup.

Or not paying for either Match or extra device storage and having to deal with the process of loading music files, juggling albums and playlists, or not having a something I want to listen to on my devices when I want...yuck, who has time for all that.

 

[Rychiar]

I don’t get the point of the HomePod. Those who are serious audiophiles or home theater buffs are going to get something much better and everyone else will want something cheaper. Wouldn’t a better option be for Apple to make a really good sound bar that has Apple TV and Siri integration?

I wouldn’t want a soundbar. My living room has a proper home theater 5.1.2 atmos setup. I use HomePods to have a random speaker in every room so music can play throughout the house And i can use siri for homekit

 

[Amazing Iceman]

But not today, I see!

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Home Sharing is Free...just turn it on.

That doesn't work with Homepods.

And $25 a year for iTunes Match is fairly reasonable.

For accessing my own music, on my own LAN? You really have to be a fan boy to believe that.

It's certainly more cost effective and efficient than paying $100+ for extra storage on each of your devices to physically load your entire ripped music collection. You're paying to access it on the go either way...and it also serves as a backup.

I already have backups and disks.

Or not paying for either Match or extra device storage and having to deal with the process of loading music files, juggling albums and playlists, or not having a something I want to listen to on my devices when I want...yuck, who has time for all that.

I only need to load files once to get the majority of my library on my units.

And I like to juggle smart playlists and make sure I have proper meta data, thank you very much. My digital music library is 30 years old now, with 33.000 well curated tracks, so I'd prefer to use that.

 

[clg82]

It's not the speaker that's the problem it's the assistant Siri within it that is.....sometimes she says the most off the wall **** with simple commands....

 

[Spotlighter9]

That doesn't work with Homepods.

For accessing my own music, on my own LAN? You really have to be a fan boy to believe that.

I already have backups and disks.

I only need to load files once to get the majority of my library on my units.

And I like to juggle smart playlists and make sure I have proper meta data, thank you very much. My digital music library is 30 years old now, with 33.000 well curated tracks, so I'd prefer to use that.

Got it.

You can use Home Sharing if your HomePods are connected to an AppleTV

Also...Here's a sub-reddit where folks are able to Airplay their iTunes collections (though I believe this may include ONLY their purchased music) from their Macs to their HomePods without ANY subscriptions...read the entire thread...

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomePod/comments/wsyoe5

 

[bobscape]

We are all waiting on Spotify. First they said Apple didn't allow them, now they are silent as nothing is stopping them from supporting Homepods.

Well, not all are waiting.

 

[npmacuser5]

All about the sound eco system. The failure of the first HomePod was not price. Very limited integration with other systems for that price. Essentially what do I do with it. Only way to play music was through a poorly designed Apple app. I have one of the original HomePod. Nice sound use it as an overpriced office speaker. Hopefully Apple will do better this time around.

 

[I7guy]

All about the sound eco system. The failure of the first HomePod was not price. Very limited integration with other systems for that price. Essentially what do I do with it. Only way to play music was through a poorly designed Apple app. I have one of the original HomePod. Nice sound use it as an overpriced office speaker. Hopefully Apple will do better this time around.

Imo for the masses the failure of the first HomePod was the price; it was exactly that. I bought two and loved them and gave one to my son.

Imo overpriced it is not, to others yes.

 

[npmacuser5]

Imo for the masses the failure of the first HomePod was the price; it was exactly that. I bought two and loved them and gave one to my son.

Imo overpriced it is not, to others yes.

I said exactly that. HomePod does not do enough for the price. Two options, build a less expensive speaker for the very limited use or build a speaker that does more for the price. Maybe direct integration to a good number of music options a starting point. The price is only one aspect of the sale.

 

[I7guy]

I said exactly that. HomePod does not do enough for the price.

Even I the HomePod had Bluetooth or line in, imo, people would still fin the HP overpriced expensive.

Two options, build a less expensive speaker for the very limited use or build a speaker that does more for the price. Maybe direct integration to a good number of music options a starting point. The price is only one aspect of the sale.

I think price is the biggest factor. People are used to crappy speakers at a cheap price. Maybe the HomePod 2.0 will address your concerns.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Instant buy for. I love my homepods both OG and mini.

 

[subjonas]

I would prefer a soundbar and subwoofer tbh. I would pay a fair bit for a soundbar with HomePod features. Not so much for a single speaker.

Sure, I didn’t say everyone would prefer it.
And not single speaker, for home theater it should be a stereo pair.

Soundbar plus subwoofer would be a simple setup too, but (stereo) HomePods have better stereo separation (including bass) and 360 speakers, all of which enables them to do more with the sound stage.
And sure, 5.1/7.1 would probably be better in that regard, but those are more complicated setups.

 

[CreepyAF]

How do you achieve this? I tried putting HP Minis as "rears" but couldn't get my ATV4KMk2 to select the HP OG "fronts" as permanent mains AND play to the "rears" at the same time too.

Well a lot of times I have to manually select the fronts and back speakers from the control tab, but the Apple TV will often remember my preference… unless… I mess things up by using AirPods or APM. Then I’ll likely have to select the rears again.

 

[SBlue1]

An EQ would be great. Boost the mids. Siri control, like the ability to reduce the bass after 10pm. Line in would be great. Detachable cable.

 

[nutmac]

As long as they suppose atmos, count me in.

Hopefully with some of the drivers oriented upward for more immersive Atmos, unlike the current OG HomePods.

I would also like to see:

• On-device Siri
• More capable Siri (no more "try again on iPhone" crap)
• $249 if purchased individually, $399 if purchased as a pair
• Support for more than 2 HomePods in Spatial Audio configuration

 

[ctyrider]

Bluetooth and Line In or DOA.

Will not happen - this is Apple. Going to be AirPlay only, as the rest of the HomePods.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

The original size HomePod has so much potential.

 

[compwiz1202]

There will be very long lines at the Apple stores because everyone wants a HomePod with the awesome Siri.😉

Seriously:
Why buy Apple's hobby "HomePod"? It can't do Spotify or other music services, plus the not-so-smart Siri and a limited product range that can be adjusted at any time!

I chose Sonos (Bose and Yamaha were also in the selection) for exactly these reasons at the time:
2 x One Play and later bought the Beam 2 in addition.

Siri was RIP for us lately. She never recognized our AM sub, and lately she kept saying we have no HomeKit Accessories, even though they were in the Home App and worked from there. Google Nest Mini does AM better than Siri could! And it's so easy to toggle the music service in the GH App

 

[subjonas]

I don’t get the point of the HomePod. Those who are serious audiophiles or home theater buffs are going to get something much better and everyone else will want something cheaper. Wouldn’t a better option be for Apple to make a really good sound bar that has Apple TV and Siri integration?

It’s not binary, people span the whole spectrum of preferences between cheap low quality and expensive high quality. But it’s also not just those factors—others are simplicity and convenience. HomePod (OG, stereo pair) forms a combination that hits the mark for some. Of course it would have hit the mark for more if it was cheaper, but of course that would make it less profitable and therefore less desirable for Apple. Like I said in another post, they should have made it a little cheaper, but I think their main mistake was not introducing/marketing them with stereo home heater functionality. Instead they waited until people already chose to ignore the HomePod. Most people I know still don’t know HomePods can be used for home theater.
Some would want an Apple soundbar (probably with subwoofer), sure, but only thing is it wouldn’t create as great of a sound stage as stereo separated HomePods with 360 speakers.

 

[subjonas]

That doesn't work with Homepods.

For accessing my own music, on my own LAN? You really have to be a fan boy to believe that.

I already have backups and disks.

I only need to load files once to get the majority of my library on my units.

And I like to juggle smart playlists and make sure I have proper meta data, thank you very much. My digital music library is 30 years old now, with 33.000 well curated tracks, so I'd prefer to use that.

You can play your iTunes library to HomePod as long as you just have another Apple device, using either Airplay or Home Share. That’s what I do (usually Home Share with Apple TV). But it is unfortunate you have to use your hands and can’t access your library via voice/Siri (I think; I haven’t actually tried because my HomePods are set up with Apple Music too).

 

[subjonas]

Bluetooth and Line In or DOA.

Let it have an optical in port so that you could connect it directly to your TV-set. I hope the new HomePod will stream the sound directly to another HomePod for stereo sound. I would love to have an HomePod who delivers terrific good sound on my TV-set and be able to stream music from my phone or iPad.

Please Bluetooth and Aux port.

I wanted a hard line in too, but that was only because there was no other way to get audio from a bluray player to the HomePod. Even my antenna channels I had going through my Apple TV via an HDHomeRun device, so those were able to play audio to HomePods. But after ATV 4k gen 2 got eArc which allows bluray audio to output to HomePod, I was able to upgrade and solve that last problem (though I haven’t set it up yet). But not sure if that is also a solution for other things like game consoles (I don’t have any).
Bluetooth would be useful if you have non-Apple devices. But I guess Apple would rather everyone get Apple devices than having lesser quality audio coming out of HomePods. Also they would rather everyone get Apple devices period haha.

 

[Itinj24]

I don't get why speakers should be "smart". We already have assistants on our phones so why on the speaker too ?

Because it’s nice to be able to ask the HomePod to close my garage door when my hands are full with groceries. It’s nice to be able to add something to my shopping list when my hands are all greasy from cooking. It’s nice to be able to snooze the alarm on my HomePod when I’m still crusty eyed. It’s nice to use the intercom feature from across the house or have my HomePod in the garage ding dong when someone rings the doorbell. It’s nice to have multi user support using voice recognition. It’s nice to make phone calls and receive texts when hands are full. etc…

On the flip side though, Siri on the HomePod is a hot mess, but only lately. She used to be obedient.

Of course you don’t have to use the smart features if you don’t like.