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HomePod Does anyone else think Apple have lost the plot without he HomePod?

S

scaramoosh

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 30, 2014
857
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I get why the iPhone doesn't have a 3.5mm Jack, and I can make sense of it because I've never used it. I love wireless headphones with my phone, it just makes sense not to be tied to something when you want to be out. I can even understand why the HomePod doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, Apple want to control the sound via digital.... but surely optical could have been the way to go? Whatever...

The biggest killer for me though, there is no support for Bluetooth, something that every Apple product has. It straight away locks this to Apple products (The EU will have a field day with their anti competitive practises) and that's not the worst part, for me I want Bluetooth because Airplay is downright bad. Bluetooth is seamless on my Apple products, but Airplay is so annoying to have to constantly switch connections. Then you have the fact is has like a 2 second delay... that one thing kills it entirely. I tried to use my current speaker (which supports Airplay) with my Mac, it's impossible as the audio is so far behind. So luckily I can use Bluetooth and it's perfect, it's not just my Speaker, this is a worldwide Airplay problem.

I don't get why they'd make the controls so restrictive on the top, they have screen space and don't use it. Instead we're still tapping away at this massive thing, it's not like they're AirPods.... which btw I don't get why I cannot double and triple tap to go back and forth, I can only set it to do one or the other. So you then have to use Siri, which sucks... it never gets anything I say right "Set Volume to 70%" - me "okay calling Dean" - Siri....... You always have to talk slow and clearly, it doesn't understand any Nouns or anything in context. It's why I always turn Siri off and just type, it's faster that way.... plus the button on the side of the iPhone X always sets Siri off for some reason.

I love Macs and iPhones, I even love my Watch, they all have annoying Apple problems... but the good outweighs the bad. However this is the first Apple product that is just completely useless for everything but one situation, which is casually listening to Apple Music at home. I have a subscription for 6 months to Apple Music with my phone, I don't even use it because I think it is plain bad. It's like all Apple's software lately, it feels half baked, needlessly complicated because they've tried to make it too simplified, and buggy.

I'd really be in the market for a HomePod that has Bluetooth, so I can Stereo them with my TV (I don't use Apple TV anymore as it's bad) and so I can use them when gaming. I want them for music as well, but they need to do a whole lot more than just Apple Music to have value for me. I can go buy any other Speaker and not have the restrictions....

I have a Naim Mu-So and I love how flexible it is, I can use it in every situation... but sadly they don't allow you to Stereo two of them so I really need to get something else.
 
There's a very simple reason this doesn't use Bluetooth: because their advertised audio quality is not possible over Bluetooth. AirPlay is lossless and therefore can still deliver the same audio quality as something playing natively on HomePod (minus the fine tuning it does based on Apple Music EQ data if playing natively).

If this thing acted as a regular Bluetooth speaker you'd have loads of reviewers and buyers saying it doesn't meet expectations on audio quality, which is a much worse look than having its capabilities being limited to other Apple products and services.

I wanted to buy this to replace my crappy bluetooth speaker, not to act as yet another one.
 
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I'm fine with no bluetooth, just wish it had one input (3.5, optical, usb-c) for hooking up to things that aren't AirPlay capable.
 
essential said:
I'm fine with no bluetooth, just wish it had one input (3.5, optical, usb-c) for hooking up to things that aren't AirPlay capable.
Click to expand...
Yes, bothers me I can’t connect my directv receiver , if it’s a hit though you would think some third party dongle would be developed
 
Mercury7 said:
Yes, bothers me I can’t connect my directv receiver , if it’s a hit though you would think some third party dongle would be developed
Click to expand...

Well, if Apple is going to compete in this market, Google Home and Alexa seem to have yearly updates so I'm sure we'll get future HomePods. Apple does this, their gen 1s are limited, lacking basic features. Then in future iterations they give you a feature that should have been in the first gen. I wouldn't be surprised if a gen two HomePod had a single usb-c input (or some kind of universal input) with an adapter for attaching other things.
 
blasto2236 said:
There's a very simple reason this doesn't use Bluetooth: because their advertised audio quality is not possible over Bluetooth. AirPlay is lossless and therefore can still deliver the same audio quality as something playing natively on HomePod (minus the fine tuning it does based on Apple Music EQ data if playing natively).
Click to expand...

What quality is Apple Music streaming at?
 
It’s a first generation Apple Product. People often forget that all of the products we know and love today started just as the HomePod - later than the competition, considered to be behind or inadequate, and seen as overpriced. Fast forward a few generations later they were widely considered to be best in class.

Time and software will mature this product into something great. The advantage the HomePod has over other first gen products is that the hardware is all there. Most of the problems yet to be solved can be done with software updates to the existing hardware.

If you expect Apple to solve every use case and shatter technology ceilings on day one of a new product line, you’re in for a rough time. The reviews you’ve seen here from satisfied customers aren’t from people that are lying to themselves, they’re from people that had the correct expectations going in.

They probably have a build of the software internally that addresses 75% of the feedback we’ve seen here. We just won’t get to see it until iOS 12.
 
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Patriot24 said:
It’s a first generation Apple Product. People often forget that all of the products we know and love today started just as the HomePod - later than the competition, considered to be behind or inadequate, and seen as overpriced. Fast forward a few generations later they were widely considered to be best in class.

Time and software will mature this product into something great. The advantage the HomePod has over other first gen products is that the hardware is all there. Most of the problems yet to be solved can be done with software updates to the existing hardware.

If you expect Apple to solve every use case and shatter technology ceilings on day one of a new product line, you’re in for a rough time. The reviews you’ve seen here from satisfied customers aren’t from people that are lying to themselves, they’re from people that had the correct expectations going in.

They probably have a build of the software internally that addresses 75% of the feedback we’ve seen here. We just won’t get to see it until iOS 12.
Click to expand...

posted by vipergts2207 in another room:

The /r/audiophile write-up and measurements are out.

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective/ ​
 
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