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First HomePod Pre-Order Customers Get Charged as Speakers Prepare for Shipment

CarlJ said:
Saw the headline: "First HomePod Pre-Order Customers Get Charged ..."

First thought: Now even customers have batteries in them?
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But when they are throttled they fall asleep. ;)

Replacing them every 2 years or so can be a legal nightmare. ;)

Here's one product where a dominant "thinner" objective seems to still generally apply. ;)

And their dongles come in all shapes & sizes :eek:
 
gnomeisland said:
You would need some kind of wifi network but it shouldn't need internet access. Airplay is audio streaming over wifi but peer-to-peer instead of server-to-client like chromecast so it doesn't need internet access to work, both devices do need to be on the same network.
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Hmmm, that wouldn't work for camping music in that case. I'd have to also bring a wifi router for them to network. Which I could I suppose. Just more to deal with.
 
BornAgainMac said:
If it works with Apple TV for movies and they have it working with two of them then I'll get it.
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The former is confirmed via AirPlay, the latter (meaning stereo sound) will work once Airplay 2 is being rolled out. For me exactly what I want to do too - decent wireless stereo sound for my music library and Apple TV in one..
 
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djeeyore25 said:
Latency is my biggest concern, even though I rarely play games on the computer. Plus, I use Windows 10 on my Mac Pro every now and then. Not sure how well that would work out. So much for a nearly wireless desk...for now.
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obviously as an airplay target I understand your concern but 95%+ of the use of these devices is likely direct music streaming in which case latency isn't a concern. if you pair with video I understand your concern, hopefully it is better than Airplay 1.
 
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This is not like other apple products that some people said would suck and then ended up being well liked.

I've bought every iphone from 3g on up to the X, bought apple watch pre-order, Airpods pre-order, the first ipad up to the latest ipad pro. Imacs, macbooks, airports... all of it.

But not this.

First, mono sound is not acceptable for home audio.

So you need 2 per room. That's $700 per room. Sonos does this for $300-$400 per room (2 play ones or 1 play 3)

Second, it doesn't do any other major streaming services like pandora or spotify.

Third, Siri in a smart speaker does not add value. I have Siri in my watch, my phone, my macbook, my ipad, and my imac.... that's more than enough access to siri.

Very disappointed in this one. Sonos One with Alexa is half the price...
 
What????? This thing is junk, sounds terrible, doesn’t work with Suckify and no one will buy it. Oops, haters were wrong again.
 
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archer75 said:
If this homepod was portable that would be nice. I do use our portable bluetooth speakers when camping sometimes. Though our trailer does have speakers. I guess I could run an extension cord to the trailer though no ideal. Would airplay from my phone work if I have all the music downloaded to my phone but don't have a wifi connection?
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The iPhone _can_ create a WiFi network on its own but that functionality is not available in the UI (on a Mac, you go to the WiFi menu, pick "Create Network", and that's it). Apps can use that to talk to the same app on devices in the neighbourhood. So if Apple decides to do it, they can do that.

Apple Music should work over 3G + WiFi if your phone uses tethering. Obviously comes out of your data allowance; about 120MB per hour.
 
Canezmd said:
mono sound is not acceptable for home audio. So you need 2 per room.
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gnasher729 said:
HomePod is not mono. You don't need two per room.
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I think Canezmd and gnasher729 are both right.

When you purchase the homepod it defaults to 1. But you can change it to 2. So you don't need 2 otherwise the default would be 2.

However it is going to be better with 2. It even says so on apple's website: https://www.apple.com/homepod/

"Create stereo sound with a second HomePod. Put another HomePod in the same room and they automatically detect and balance each other. With advanced beamforming capabilities, a HomePod pair is able to create a wider, more immersive soundstage than a traditional stereo pair."
 
My cards were charged this morning (2 separate purchases). Both finally got updated moments ago to "Preparing to Ship"!
 
gnasher729 said:
The iPhone _can_ create a WiFi network on its own but that functionality is not available in the UI (on a Mac, you go to the WiFi menu, pick "Create Network", and that's it). Apps can use that to talk to the same app on devices in the neighbourhood. So if Apple decides to do it, they can do that.

Apple Music should work over 3G + WiFi if your phone uses tethering. Obviously comes out of your data allowance; about 120MB per hour.
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all music would be downloaded to the phone. And we'd be in areas with no reception whatsoever.
 
$349 would be OK for Canada I guess, unfortunately it will be priced as $499 plus 15% tax and all of a sudden it is $575 a speaker! Don't even play with an idea for two as a stereo ...
 
BornAgainMac said:
If it works with Apple TV for movies and they have it working with two of them then I'll get it.
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I thought about doing the same... but if you are going to mainly use them as a sound system for the entertainment center, then for $700 you can get something that will *probably* blow the HomePod away.

I say probably because we really don't know how good they are. I am waiting patiently this time. Let's see what early users report, and given the steep price, for Best Buy to run a promo :D:D:D
 
tubular said:
. And “iPad” sounds like what you clean up the mess with. That’s why the product failed so miserably.
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Sold 13 million iPads last quarter, over six billion dollars in sales == "miserable failure" to the MacRumors crowd. Smh. The record for total PC sales last quarter was taken by HP, with 16 million. Would you say that 16 million is a resounding success, while 13 million is a miserable failure? And what do you make that sells more than 13 million per quarter?
 
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ersan191 said:
Sonos 3 plays discrete stereo if you turn it on its side.
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Sonos' own website says the PLAY:3 has one tweeter and two mid-woofers. That's not discrete stereo - at a minimum, that would require two tweeters. The most it can do is direct the midrange L/R frequencies to either mid-woofer, while combining the (more directional) high frequencies to play through the single tweeter (it also has a single bass radiator, which is not an actual driven speaker, but simply a large passive "speaker cone" that reradiates some of the back energy from the mid-woofers, extending their frequency range downwards - of necessity, it is not stereo either, since there's only one). The HomePod has one woofer and seven tweeters. Both have suggestions on their respective web pages that one can get true stereo separation by buying/using a pair of the speakers. It remains to be seen (heard) which speaker sounds more like stereo when played alone (and, more importantly, which sounds more accurate and/or pleasing). The HomePod literature talks extensively of isolating various instruments/voices and placing them using the multiple tweeters - this is much of the purpose of stereo imaging in the first place. So, wait and see.
 
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boshii said:
How big do you think it is? It’s actually smaller than you think.
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Agreed that the HomePod is a good size for what is is, but if it gains traction, I'd love to see them do a smaller, less capable, less spendy "HomePod Satellite", for use as surround speakers.
 
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