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Gurman: Apple Not Working on New HomePod Mini

PortoMavericks said:
Just make it Dolby Atmos compatible and let people to use as many as they want.
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I think the HomePod (1G & 2G) supports Dolby Atmos, but of course this is limited to a stereo pair configuration. In the future tt would be great to be able to add multiple HomePods into a surround configuration.

The HomePod mini doesn't support Dolby audio at all.

Use HomePod with Apple TV 4K

You can use HomePod with your Apple TV to create an immersive theater experience.
support.apple.com
 
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There's nothing wrong with the mini. What would be nice if there was a middle option, between the mini and full size, positioned exactly in the middle price point. $99 mini, $199 mid range, $299 full size.

Or the mid range one could be a weather sealed version that you can have on a patio, gazebo, etc.
 
I suspect the last three years have been more chaotic than imagined for tech companies. Between Covid office closures, changes with international trade agreements, a rather substantial economic pull-back, the start of WWIII, inflation, rise in interest rates, and senior corporate members retiring.... I'm surprised Apple has produced what it has over the last three years.
 
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This company makes a lot of nonsense. Am I now to assume this least expensive way to have a HomeKit hub is going to be abandoned and I should not buy one because it’ll be dead-ended in months? They scrapped HomeKit hub for iPad, which is a device I already had, and they want to let the least expensive HomeKit hub device wither on the vine?
 
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The mini is fine as it is (for the target audience). I‘d rather see a HomePod Ultra …
 
To be fair not like it needs an update. The sound is very good for the average speaker this size and has updated features sensor wise as well.
 
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jayryco said:
My biggest issue with my stereo HomePod Mini's is that they consistently suffer from occasional audio stutters and they also suffer from a delay from pushing play to the audio actually starting. I have a Wifi 6e router and the problems all seem to be WIFI issue's which is all the more I'm disappointed that the new models don't have Wifi 6e as they will likely have the same problems too.
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I don't think it's a wi-fi issue. Same thing happens when you're streaming using airplay or bt. Pisses me off, as it never happens on google or alexa speakers. Must be some kind of homekit or software problem.
 
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Black Magic said:
Why do you feel like Siri sucks? Provide some examples. It can do damn near everything outside of great follow up question response. Heck, it can even reboot your iPhone.
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In general I’m a fan of Siri but it’s really not great, especially on the HomePod. Ask it a question - “who is the actor in movie X?… “you can ask me again in your iPhone.” Or “I’ve sent some information to your iPhone.” Really not great.
 
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randyhudson said:
I think anyone could have reached this conclusion after they gave up on Siri
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They haven’t gave up on Siri at all. It’s not and never will be about giving you in-depth answers like google or Alexa will. It’s about how they can help you do basic tasks within the ecosystem

I’m sure everybody would want all answers as good as google but data wise it simply will Never be at that point
 
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This sounds more like Gurman spitballing vs someone with product knowledge leaking to him.
 
dysamoria said:
This company makes a lot of nonsense. Am I now to assume this least expensive way to have a HomeKit hub is going to be abandoned and I should not buy one because it’ll be dead-ended in months? They scrapped HomeKit hub for iPad, which is a device I already had, and they want to let the least expensive HomeKit hub device wither on the vine?
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They haven’t given up on HomePods. They just released a new replacement for the old OG HomePod. Now they have a reasonable product line with low and high end models for different people. I think Gurman’s report is just for us to not expect any new HP mini with new features in the near future. I don’t think they need any new features right now anyway. There may be another other similar products brought out like a soundbar or a Speaker+FaceTime, but we’ll have to see about those.
 
QuarterSwede said:
Oh come on. The only thing lacking is bass. We use it to complement other systems and it brings highs and mids to another room while the main system supplies the bass. Sounds great together. It’s a small speaker, physics can only allow so much at that size. You would be better served by the, excellent, HomePod (full size).
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djcerla said:
Atrocious, it’s not.

I replaced a Bose (battery too expensive & complex to replace) with a Mini. Bass, the Bose was better. But midrange and highs, the HomePod wins hands down. Also, apparently the sound had improved somewhat after the update.

The OG HomePod was never released in Italy, much to my chagrin, so as soon as I saw the preorder I jumped in.
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I’m betting you’ve never experienced an OG homepod. When you do you’ll understand what I mean.
 
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darthbane2k said:
Only thing I think they were looking to improve in the Mini was the sound quality. It's absolutely atrocious for audio. By audio I mean music. Its ok for radio and podcasts and surprisingly ok for TV sound within a small room.
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Those pods, the HomePod and the HomePod mini with Siri, go hand in hand, if you can’t talk to Siri, then you can’t get your task done there are no controls to get your favorite song to play unless you ask Siri -off course there is blue tooth. an example, I asked, “Siri can you play the last song again?” Siri plays a song titled Can you play this song.
A better robust more understanding Siri is needed.
 
darthbane2k said:
Only thing I think they were looking to improve in the Mini was the sound quality. It's absolutely atrocious for audio. By audio I mean music. Its ok for radio and podcasts and surprisingly ok for TV sound within a small room.
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Completely disagree with this. I’ve always found music impressive on the mini, especially given its size.
 
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HomePod mini seems to be the way to go given how they've priced the second generation HomePod and how it has regressed in many ways from its original first generation predecessor. Also, $300 a pop? Screw that. I'll buy two minis and have a way greater value with $100 left over!
 
xmach said:
I think the HomePod (1G & 2G) supports Dolby Atmos, but of course this is limited to a stereo pair configuration. In the future tt would be great to be able to add multiple HomePods into a surround configuration.

The HomePod mini doesn't support Dolby audio at all.

Use HomePod with Apple TV 4K

You can use HomePod with your Apple TV to create an immersive theater experience.
support.apple.com
Click to expand...
Yes, I was referring to the mini.

Due to it's affordability that'd be a dream in my opinion. It's a competent speaker and paired with others it could be even better.
 
xmach said:
Several times a week I invoke Siri and say "what is the temperature?" Note, I phrase my query exactly like that, with no variation. About 80% of the time Siri responds quickly and accurately. But ~20% of the time it doesn't respond verbally at all and instead triggers a web browser search for 'temperature'. WTF?

This inconsistency is maddening, and inexplicable as far as I know. This is the kind of thing you'd have expected from Siri in the immediate period after its launch in 2011. It's now almost a dozen years later.

There is variation in product quality at any large institution. More than most, Apple generally strives for excellence and occasionally settles for mediocrity. Not only is Siri nowhere near excellent -- at best, it's a mediocre, largely stagnated service -- it can be downright bad. This is inexplicable, very frustrating when it happens (for me, at least weekly), and utterly disappointing. Steve would not abide.
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Hmm, my weather questions always come through. I ask is it going to rain? Is it cold outside? What's the temperature ? Will it be cold tomorrow? Siri on my HomePods always seems to come through. Very interesting that we have variations in experience on the same question.
 
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