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Gurman: Apple Considered a Battery-Powered 'HomePod' Years Ago

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Earlier this month, Apple discontinued the Beats Pill+, its last battery-powered speaker. Following this news, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has revealed that Apple once internally discussed and prototyped a battery-powered smart speaker.

homepod-mini-power-cable.jpg

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman said that while Apple prototyped a battery-powered smart speaker years ago, he would be surprised if one ever launches under the Apple brand. For now, the HomePod mini is the only smart speaker that Apple sells, and it must be connected to a power source to operate at all times.

Gurman addressed a few other topics in his newsletter this week, including Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset, which he again said will have performance on par with the M1 Pro chip in the new MacBook Pro and could be priced above $2,000 when released.

Gurman also backed a MacRumors report claiming that Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis is planning to support Apple's digital car key feature, which lets users lock, unlock, and start their vehicles using a pass stored in the Wallet app on the iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature has been limited to select BMW models since launching in 2020, but Gurman said Genesis plans to roll out support for the feature by the summer.

Article Link: Gurman: Apple Considered a Battery-Powered 'HomePod' Years Ago
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/16/apple-considered-battery-powered-smart-speaker/
Interesting that Apple wouldn’t want to offer something that competes with the Sonos Move. That’s a decent sounding speaker that works over WiFi (and Bluetooth when away from home) that also offers a smart assistant.

I’m sure if they had a competitor to that at a similar price point, Apple fanboys (myself included) would buy it.
 
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jz0309 said:
really, Apple prototyped ... years ago???
Are you running out of news Gurman? Come on ...
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He really doesn’t have any information on the Apple Spring 2022 event? How about tell us what Apple is currently working on and planning on introducing in March/April Spring event? I feel like he’s just talking today.
 
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I wish they’d release a cellular HomePod for people without home ISPs. I have an uncle who has nothing but a landline phone and a CD player/radio/stereo. He calls me to ask me to look things up and to play music for him before he buys physical CDs. I feel like a standalone HomePod would be a great standalone gadget for people who don’t even have smartphones or computers.
 
ouimetnick said:
Interesting that Apple wouldn’t want to offer something that competes with the Sonos Move. That’s a decent sounding speaker that works over WiFi (and Bluetooth when away from home) that also offers a smart assistant.

I’m sure if they had a competitor to that at a similar price point, Apple fanboys (myself included) would buy it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the Move was a huge gateway drug for me into the Sonos ecosystem. Sonos has since taken over my house like a virus and while I still prefer the sound out of my paired HomePods, they're rarely used because of limited compatibility with streaming services.
 
I find my Sonos Roam a very useful nice sounding speaker. Moves with me and travels nicely. The Sonos Move my next speaker consideration. Instead of plugging in speakers in areas of the house and yard lightly used. Take the move. Very good sound, can handle areas like the shop, than back to its home position. Should significantly reduce the number of speakers in the house without reducing one’s ability for good sound. Would consider Apple as I have a HomePod. However, as noted nothing to buy in the portable speaker market and only one choice in speakers period.
 
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Is this a safer form of prognostication? I'm sure they did think about it, but they hog tied the thing to a power cord, defying the norm. They could have put a port in it (maybe what port to put in it was the sticking point?) and made it able to go both ways, plugged in, or not. Maybe they were thinking by requiring mains power, they could also assume there would be usable wifi available too? I could see someone trying to use it in the middle of absolute nowhere, and asking Siri to play a tune, and Siri not able to. *shrug* Unless that someone had a generator/inverter, they would be safe from a brain dead Siri, not of the body, disconnected from the Mothership. *shrug*
 
mikethemartian said:
What wattage can the MagSafe charger deliver compared to the wattage used to drive the speakers at full volume?
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MagSafe apparently goes up to 15W of peak power when fast-charging an iPhone, which is less than the 20W via USB-C currently delivered to HomePod Mini.

However, could next-gen MagSafe be powerful enough? Maybe. Although I get the impression from Gurman’s post that a battery-powered speaker isn’t in the cards anytime soon.
 
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Juanchi007 said:
MagSafe apparently goes up to 15W of peak power when fast-charging an iPhone, which is less than the 20W via USB-C currently delivered to HomePod Mini.

However, could next-gen MagSafe be powerful enough? Maybe. Although I get the impression from Gurman’s post that a battery-powered speaker isn’t in the cards anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I'd bet it's Siri holding them back. Siri needs wifi. *shrug*
 
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