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HomePod HomePod Discontinued... Discussion.

I bought a HomePod last November, and I'm deciding to sell mine today. I'm taking a loss (I was using mostly Apple Funds last time) but it's not really a big loss as they quoted me $90 to buy the HP from me. I was just not a fan of the HomePod at all. It would disconnect all the time, it would randomly play music, I didn't know how to control the thing, and the worst thing was the MLB App wouldn't work with it. The last one I blame MLB (And they refuse to update the app for some reason) but I just figured I wasn't happy with the home pod, they are discontinuing it, and I can use those funds to re-subscribe to Apple TV+ and enjoy another season of Ted Lasso, which was the best feel good show of 2020. I really hate how Apple has done that whole HomePod thing. I have a feeling that Apple also hated how they dealt with that whole HomePod thing too.
 
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I did buy another OG HomePod to complete the stereo pair today. Set it up and it sounds wonderful. Going forward I will only
invest in more HomePod minis.

What’s also great is that the HomePod stereo pair stays connected to my Apple TV 4K.

My homepods disconnect from my Apple TV HD if I use them for something else other than for sound output from my Apple TV.
 
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pup said:
I wish I had the time to go through this guy's old posts to chart the course of his ever changing rationalizations for the HomePod. I'm sure it would mirror sort of delusional logic that has Q anon people believing that Trump is still secretly in control of the US.
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Bolt always has a excuse for the hompod. He makes up numbers to fit his narrative
 
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sjsharksfan12 said:
I bought a HomePod last November, and I'm deciding to sell mine today. I'm taking a loss (I was using mostly Apple Funds last time) but it's not really a big loss as they quoted me $90 to buy the HP from me. I was just not a fan of the HomePod at all. It would disconnect all the time, it would randomly play music, I didn't know how to control the thing, and the worst thing was the MLB App wouldn't work with it. The last one I blame MLB (And they refuse to update the app for some reason) but I just figured I wasn't happy with the home pod, they are discontinuing it, and I can use those funds to re-subscribe to Apple TV+ and enjoy another season of Ted Lasso, which was the best feel good show of 2020. I really hate how Apple has done that whole HomePod thing. I have a feeling that Apple also hated how they dealt with that whole HomePod thing too.
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When I made this post, a few hours later MLB actually did update their app and now the HP works well. There are other issues with the app (Closed Captioning being always on) but I actually decided to keep the thing after all. I do have a question though. If Music starts randomly playing and you don't know how to turn it off because nothing is said on the home app or the TV, is the best way to fix it just to unplug the thing? I guess I'm just still really confused on the Homepod connecting with the Apple TV 4K and where everything goes. Also, the Home App is still a little confusing to me for some reason.
 
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Purchased the new Apple TV 4K (my first) and having the audio play through my single HomePod sounds so much better than the tinny internal TV speakers. Absolute game changer.
 
Htsi said:
My common layman understanding would say it is easier to keep your customers happy with a niche product when you’re a trillion dollar company and your selling point is the ecosystem.
1st Gen owners are burnt in apple land, but even though lossless won’t work I am still satisfied with my HomePods. There is no other product like them. It’s the combination of sound, ecosystem, size, and design that does it for me.

the little things such as the fading effect via the ambient light sensor, and how Siri lowers the volume by leaving only low frequencies are all so lovely (even though Siri isn’t the greatest).

the difference in sound is so vast between the mini & regular I’d wager 9/10 hearing will find it easy to find the difference.
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Think it's a positive that the comment about lossless turned out to not be in the direction Apple went.
 
Really interesting discussion on these pages. And great to hear now that HomePod will support lossless. 👍🏻

I come at the HomePod from an audiophile background of about 40 years, and have very recently had audio systems where the ‘audiophile’ mains cables each cost more than 3 or 4 HomePods.

So I’m clearly a senile, obsessive idiot … but there you go.

I bought a HomePod as a curiosity, then a second to make up a stereo pair.

And found that, properly mounted and with the latest updates, it was good enough in its portrayal of pace, rhythm and timing to junk my existing audio system.

To my ears and what’s important to me musically (and I stress the personal in both of those, not everyone would agree as we all seem to place different priorities on what’s important musically*), it’s really that good.

So am delighted it’ll soon get Lossless, and such a shame that many more people may not be able to experience music replay of such quality for so little money.

* There was an interesting discussion around blind listening tests earlier. This has been a hot topic amongst audiophiles for years, and there are plenty of scientific papers if you’re interested to pursue it further, which argue either that’ it’s highly accurate as a methodology, or pretty-much a complete waste of time as it often measures the wrong things.
 
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I am quite fond of my stereo pair, and if I had some more disposable income would have bought a few more. A sub is my next purchase, will add it via the airport express or the Belkin.
 
Just installed two set of stereo paired Homepod Minis around the house - pretty pleased with the result ... makes me wish I'd taken the jump earlier and parallel imported the original Homepod. Alas that's in the rear mirror now.
 
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RX8R3Rod said:
So am delighted it’ll soon get Lossless, and such a shame that many more people may not be able to experience music replay of such quality for so little money.
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I’m not really into lossless but I’m very excited about spatial audio.

Does anyone have any knowledge of how HomePod for spatial gets set up? Does one need a stereo pair or will it work with just one? Do they need to be set up in the middle of the room or are they okay in a corner? Will this allow us to hear instruments behind our heads like Dolby Atmos does for sound effects in movies?
 
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boltjames said:
I’m not really into lossless but I’m very excited about spatial audio.

Does anyone have any knowledge of how HomePod for spatial gets set up? Does one need a stereo pair or will it work with just one? Do they need to be set up in the middle of the room or are they okay in a corner? Will this allow us to hear instruments behind our heads like Dolby Atmos does for sound effects in movies?
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I’m sure (I hope) the instructions will be covered when it launches.
 
It will work with just one unit, just like it works with the Apple TV right now, but its highly recommended to get another for a stereo pair. Mind blowing for their size. Spatial audio and Atmos only applies to the original Homepod, no the Mini.

As for the homepod itself...


We have a HP Mini in the kitchen for podcast and radio playback (and occasionally background music) and its quite decent, but in the living room we have a pair of OG Homepods and is not even in the same sport as the mini. Sounds fantastic both for music and for movies and tv shows (with an Apple TV 4K).

The OG Homepods are truly great speakers for its price, segment, functionality, shape and size. A lot of advanced audio tech (that is usually much more expensive) is packed into them.

Very underrated, I would say.

Shame they are gone.
 
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Got to say I'm really disappointed they have made obsolete the Original HomePods.. I have them throughout my house and hope they continue to provide software updates etc.
 
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I got the dreaded farting sound coming out of one of my HomePods the other day. A reboot fixed it but I hope it don’t come back. If it continues I’d have no choice but to pay the repair fee which is more than I paid for it and can’t buy it new anymore. Bummer.
 
Itinj24 said:
I got the dreaded farting sound coming out of one of my HomePods the other day. A reboot fixed it but I hope it don’t come back. If it continues I’d have no choice but to pay the repair fee which is more than I paid for it and can’t buy it new anymore. Bummer.
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If that’s a known hardware fault, surely Apple would simply replace it?
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
If that’s a known hardware fault, surely Apple would simply replace it?
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I don’t know how widespread it is but I’m definitely not the only one… But, out of warranty? Of course I’ll give it a shot but I won’t hold my breath lol. This particular HomePod is about two years old since I set it up.

Also, I wonder how many, if any, HomePods they retained for warranty replacement.
 
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Itinj24 said:
I don’t know how widespread it is but I’m definitely not the only one… But, out of warranty? Of course I’ll give it a shot but I won’t hold my breath lol. This particular HomePod is about two years old since I set it up.

Also, I wonder how many, if any, HomePods they retained for warranty replacement.
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I’d definitely give it a try. If they replace 2+ year old Apple watches then I’d hope a HomePod would qualify too. I wouldn’t expect a device that young to suffer a fault and they aren’t cheap.

Edit: I’m in Europe so our consumer laws are different. Not sure what American stores are like with out of warranty stuff, sorry.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I’d definitely give it a try. If they replace 2+ year old Apple watches then I’d hope a HomePod would qualify too. I wouldn’t expect a device that young to suffer a fault and they aren’t cheap.

Edit: I’m in Europe so our consumer laws are different. Not sure what American stores are like with out of warranty stuff, sorry.
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Ah yeah definitely different on this side of the pond but I’m fully expecting them to tell me to kick rocks lol. A lot of threads in this forum are saying that. We’ll see what happens.
 
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Itinj24 said:
I got the dreaded farting sound coming out of one of my HomePods the other day. A reboot fixed it but I hope it don’t come back. If it continues I’d have no choice but to pay the repair fee which is more than I paid for it and can’t buy it new anymore. Bummer.
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As long as it’s just the sound… ;)
 
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Itinj24 said:
I got the dreaded farting sound coming out of one of my HomePods the other day. A reboot fixed it but I hope it don’t come back. If it continues I’d have no choice but to pay the repair fee which is more than I paid for it and can’t buy it new anymore. Bummer.
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Apple still has the white one but probably very limited inventory.
 
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retrospek said:
Got to say I'm really disappointed they have made obsolete the Original HomePods.. I have them throughout my house and hope they continue to provide software updates etc.
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Apple will continue to provide updates and support for HomePod and look for a HomePod Max or HomePod Pro to be introduced. HomePod isn't discontinued. It's just on pause.
 
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