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Apple's Phil Schiller on HomePod: We Want to Create a New Kind of Music Experience in the Home That Sounds Incredible

I didn't realize until a few days ago just how small this thing is. I thought it would be closer to double its actual size. Was not at all interested, but now I am - somewhat. If they can truly get good-great (not 'amazing') sound from a package this small, it may be worth it. I currently have a Bose Soundwave 2. It isn't great, but sounds pretty good. I just wish the HomePod came with Bluetooth (and a better virtual assistant)
 
So now the spin I’m reading here is the HomePod really isn’t for those who care about sound quality and that is why they are not giving audiophile blogs access. Truly comical.

Sounds more like a case where some, in their zeal to automatically, as a reflex, defend Apple, didn’t think about what they were writing.
 
JTR555 said:
THIS! I still don’t have an answer on if I can stream my iTunes library over HomePod or just the songs I purchased from Apple. I know I can stream my entire iTunes library on my Amazon Echo using the My Media skill.
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Actually, PaulRustad007 did answer your question. If you purchase iTunes Match, which is a yearly subscription costing $25 a year and you upload your entire library to that service, then you can play all of your songs. iTunes Match allows you to store 100,000 songs and if it doesn’t have a match for some particular song you own it will upload a copy of your song, otherwise it just uses the song it has from Apple Music. So if you have a higher resolution format than what Apple Music uses you’ll lose that extra resolution.
 
robjulo said:
So now the spin I’m reading here is the HomePod really isn’t for those who care about sound quality and that is why they are not giving audiophile blogs access. Truly comical.

Sounds more like a case where some, in their zeal to automatically, as a reflex, defend Apple, didn’t think about what they were writing.
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I just want to know if it will cause listening fatigue ala Bose where it appears to sound good only to fatigue you later. If not Audiophiles, who can we turn to?
 
Add me to the list of early adopters. I ordered a space gray one today. I’m replacing a Play:1 and 2x Amazon Echo(s). Looking forward to it!
 
What you heard so far is from ******** speakers. Welcome $xy HomePod.....Not
 
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PaulRustad007 said:
I get that Apple likes music....but I cannot stream my home library to the Homepod unless I have iTunes Match. I get that Apple likes TV but Siri cannot locate anything on my NAS let alone play it. I get that Apple wants to make money via iTunes but allow us to at least play our music on your device without having to pay Apple money. There is no way Siri cannot read the metadata on my NAS to catalog and play my movies. It used to be "it just works" with Apple, now it is "it just works with your credit card only."

rant over.
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The 'Ecosystem' argument is far less compelling than it used to be.
 
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No matter how you spin it, you really can’t polish a turd. Atleast they could have put a 1970s old iPad mini in it.
 
It's about creating an experience that moves with you throughout the day -- so the experience you have at home, is replicated in the car with CarPlay, at work with iPad and Mac, and when you're out for a run with Watch and iPhone.
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Sounds like a Siri nightmare.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
I think people will be surprised by the positive reviews the HomePod will receive.

Remember how people slammed the AirPods before they actually tried them, then found they loved them. They also slammed the Apple Watch and it turned into a great success too.

Calling a product a failure before it even hits the market almost always turns out to be a failed prediction. It's far easier to gauge success before release than failure. We see it time and time again.
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
99% of listeners don't care. For the vast majority of users, a normal 128bit MP3 is perfectly fine.

Apple markets to the average user. They're the largest percentage of the market and the largest potential to make money.

Just look at how going after hi-fi audio has worked out for Tidal.
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So lets collect these thoughts. Apple markets to the average users who not care about high fidelity music. Yet these same average users will be very happy with a $350 speaker thats primary selling point is sound quality?

Wow. Youre trying way too hard.
 
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Brookzy said:
I have no doubt that HomePod will sound great. So much so that I've ordered several to dot around the house.

But, my gosh, what a shambolic release.

I was hoping this interview would reveal more practical details about what the hell it can do and how.

Instead we're still - just a few days before launch - relying on drip-fed, third-hand information from journalists about things so fundamental as what types of music Siri will work with. So weird.
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Honestly it’s really sad. Like we can’t we have definitive answers about what it does?
 
csurfr said:
Add me to the list of early adopters. I ordered a space gray one today. I’m replacing a Play:1 and 2x Amazon Echo(s). Looking forward to it!
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So I bought the play one and tried it. This is going back to best buy why, I can not cast jack to it. I am so used to just casting what ever I want to the speaker and moving on with my life. If I can not cast to a speaker from air play it has very little use to me. The Sonos app is also horrible. The apple music integration is half hearted it feels like. So the issue with Sonos is they need air play 2 more than apple does. They need it to make the speaker useful to people like me who want to cash youtube audio while they cook or a movie while in the tub etc. I want my speaker to be versatile. The talking to it thing is super meh. I have an Alexa that lady is just as dumb and useless as the Siri lady. I am sure the google las is not half bad but then she will send me random ads for stuff cause ugh google. So yeah these things are not up to the level of assistant yet. I suppose my bad it just higher than most peoples. Alex is better only cause she does not cut you off mid request. Apple fix that and Siri will seem smarter than Alexa That simple
 
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melancholy said:
But Sonos sucks, you have to use a controller app, another unnecessary app that is another music player. Also you can’t stream your own stuff, only services. You’ll have to work with workarounds and third party services which you will have to hope will last reliably.

We got AirPlay, soon to be upgraded soon too. While we can still individually stream stuff independently as of right now.
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You really have limited knowledge on how Sonos functions. One thing for sure, Sonos does Not Suck. At present, Sonos audio echo system far exceeds Apples. That does not mean that Apples is substandard either. The choice comes down to ones budget and audio needs. Example, how does HomePod handle home theater surround sound without adding a third party system like Sonos? FYI, Sonos plays my entire iTunes library off of my Mac Mini. Want a single source integrated, complete home system, Apple not there yet.
 
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