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Glad you found the humor 👍 😆

It’s easy to. Our lives don’t change. By the time our HomePods are of no use it would have been time to replace them anyway. I’m excited about what Apple will do with the next gen.

Right now I’m looking forward to using my AirPods Pro on a plane for the first time. 👍
 
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Apple just continues to lag and screw over people who try and go all in on Homekit and Siri.

HomeKit is something Apple got into reluctantly 5 years ago. It’s not their wheelhouse to support other companies niche products. Apple is not making doorbells and lightbulbs.

Siri is fine. Apple isn’t in the search business. She executes commands on HomePods, Apple TV, and CarPlay very well, I’ve had zero issues. If you want search results and data, you turn to Google. If you want to skip a track or text a friend, you use Siri.
 
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What makes you think this will happen? You can restore older iPhones by connecting to iTunes, I don’t think Apple has ever bricked a previous device
iPhone activation server is still the same.

I’m talking about server side connectivity. How well does the iTunes Store and App Store application with on your 2007 iPhone or 2008 iPhone 3G? How about the Weather, Stocks and YouTube app on those devices? How’s the original Apple TV (2007-2010) working for you? I can’t access the iTunes Store on mine. Thankfully I can still sync with iTunes.

Will the HomePod still be able to access Apple Music and Siri servers 8-10 years or even 15 years from now? It was sold and advertised as having a certain set of features than could basically be removed/disabled at anytime. Imagine if Mercedes removed features from my 2003 car or Apple removed features from my 2007 MacBook? The MacBook does everything it could when I bought it and then some. Nothing was disabled or “broken” like my Apple TV (1st gen)
 
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I was just doing some thinking and what features were released for the HomePod with iOS 14... Apple are some conniving bastards.

Highly doubt the decision to discontinue the HomePod was made last week. Instead they went ahead and added a feature that the Mini didn’t get. Home theater/default audio. This was done intentionally to try to entice people to get rid of remaining stock. It’s half baked a and possibly rushed out though. Many reports of that feature destroying network speed. Why can’t the Mini get the default audio output feature? I don’t know but I’m sure it will soon. Am I nuking this or does it seem plausible? Thoughts?

And as I sit on the crapper, watching day turn into night, forgetting to turn my bathroom lights on, the ‘ol trusty HomePod in here did the trick. Take that boltjames lol. (Yeah yeah, I could’ve used my phone but Siri is like an angel to my ears).
I doubt they added features to try and sell remaining stock. I think that what happened was once the initial supply (from 2017-early 2018) started to get low they decided not to order anymore from Inventec & Foxconn.

The decision to discontinue was probably made somewhat recently by marketing or Apple’s bean counters, not the software engineers. Remember that Apple works in secrecy. I doubt hardware/software engineering talk to bean counters or marketing
 
iPhone activation server is still the same.

I’m talking about server side connectivity. How well does the iTunes Store and App Store application with on your 2007 iPhone or 2008 iPhone 3G? How about the Weather, Stocks and YouTube app on those devices? How’s the original Apple TV (2007-2010) working for you? I can’t access the iTunes Store on mine. Thankfully I can still sync with iTunes.

Will the HomePod still be able to access Apple Music and Siri servers 8-10 years or even 15 years from now? It was sold and advertised as having a certain set of features than could basically be removed/disabled at anytime. Imagine if Mercedes removed features from my 2003 car or Apple removed features from my 2007 MacBook? The MacBook does everything it could when I bought it and then some. Nothing was disabled or “broken” like my Apple TV (1st gen)
Thing is, if Apple did something to render my 5 HomePods inoperable, they would lose my $15 a month in Apple Music revenue in a finger snap.

If they sold 15 million HomePods, let’s assume that means there are 12 million Apple Music subscribers tied to them. That’s about 17% of all Apple Music subscribers worldwide. Apple would be wise not to do us dirty.
 
This. Some of the very best Apple customers are HomePod loyalists. There is no risk of obsolescence until there is a suitable replacement at the very least. I’m looking to buy another, might as well do it now.
Don’t buy another one now... buy it yesterday. I’m telling you they’re running out fast, if you want it BNIB that is. One online retailer is even marking them up (forget which one but they have em listed at $314)
 
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I just ordered two white HomePods and am picking them up today. It seems Apple's going back to light colors for their products (Mac mini went Silver again, Space Gray iMac Pro is gone, and Space Gray Homepods are all sold out).

I actually had a HomePod a couple years ago but returned it for two reasons. One, I was creeped out by how powerful the mics are. I was on the other side of the house and said "Hey, Siri" at barely above a whisper and it heard me while it was in another room. Two (the actual reason I returned it) is that the price dropped $50 a few days after I bought it. However, now that it may be my last chance to own (at least a new) one, plus the fact that my iPad Pro has similarly capable mics, what's the harm in enjoying convenient home audio?

If anyone didn't already know, the 2nd gen iPad Pro 11" (I presume also the 4th gen 12.9") have the capability to activate Hey Siri while music is playing. I tested just how capable it is yesterday by playing music at full volume and summoning Siri in a quiet voice, and sure enough the music paused and Siri wakes up.
 
In the UK here managed to get a white one from Argos at the weekend and just checked now and they are out of stock but Curry's have white ones in stock if anyone interested.

I love them got a stereo pair now and they sound amazing to me.
 
I've got a stereo pair of HomePods and six HomePod minis dotted around the house and this does make me a little sad. However, I really do expect there to be a new iteration of the HomePod at some point in the future.

I don't need any more of the full size one so although I'm a bit sad about it, it doesn't really affect me.
 
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Don’t buy another one now... buy it yesterday. I’m telling you they’re running out fast, if you want it BNIB that is. One online retailer is even marking them up (forget which one but they have em listed at $314)
Yeah, the prices on used one‘s have been steadily creeping up too. It won’t be long before a used one on eBay is MORE than a new one now.

I think I’m going to buy 2 more new ones. They sound sooo much better than the Mini’s. And if Siri gets better in the future that’s just gravy.
 
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Yeah, the prices on used one‘s have been steadily creeping up too. It won’t be long before a used one on eBay is MORE than a new one now.

I think I’m going to buy 2 more new ones. They sound sooo much better than the Mini’s. And if Siri gets better in the future that’s just gravy.
I’m seeing a few BNIB for $399 on eBay. It’s pandemonium! Lol
 
I guess I missed an investment "opportunity" :)

Literally like 4 days ago there were about 6 HomePods for sale locally on Facebook/CL/OfferUp, all "mint" and ranging from $170-230

Apple: "We are done here...inventory closeout notification"
Public: "QUICK! Buy all those HomePods we didn't want more of just 4 days ago!"
 
I’m seeing a few BNIB for $399 on eBay. It’s pandemonium! Lol

Eureka! See, it was too inexpensive! Apple should have raised the price, damn, what a shame.

EDIT: eBay seller in Texas is at $499!!!!
EDIT: eBay seller in Florida is at $599!!!!
 
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I guess I missed an investment "opportunity" :)

Literally like 4 days ago there were about 6 HomePods for sale locally on Facebook/CL/OfferUp, all "mint" and ranging from $170-230

Apple: "We are done here...inventory closeout notification"
Public: "QUICK! Buy all those HomePods we didn't want more of just 4 days ago!"
I think a lot of people were kind of waiting for an update to the full sized model so while they wanted one, they wanted a new one all else being equal. Between the original model and nothing, the original actually looks pretty good, even at $300.
 
Between the original model and nothing, the original actually looks pretty good, even at $300.

Well said

I'm personally in the camp of hoping for an AppleTV HomeBar (sound bar).
Paired with some HP Mini's as wireless surrounds, it'd be right up my alley.

I need my audio solution to be wired into my TV though, as I don't use only the Apple TV on my TV.
(So maybe even that Apple solution wouldn't work for me - sigh)
 
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Eureka! See, it was too inexpensive! Apple should have raised the price, damn, what a shame.

EDIT: eBay seller in Texas is at $499!!!!
EDIT: eBay seller in Florida is at $599!!!!
I was just about to come on here and post that. Difficulty selling at 299 so what makes these people think they will sell at 499 and 599? Human nature... People generally want what they can’t have. I bought seven HomePods all at a 199 discount. Was going to wait for the next sale to get the last two but when I heard the discontinuation announcement, I had no choice and bought them at full retail even though I vowed not to. (Well at least one. Still get the 10% military discount at Apple).
 
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Well said

I'm personally in the camp of hoping for an AppleTV HomeBar (sound bar).
Paired with some HP Mini's as wireless surrounds, it'd be right up my alley.

I need my audio solution to be wired into my TV though, as I don't use only the Apple TV on my TV.
(So maybe even that Apple solution wouldn't work for me - sigh)
Yeah. I can't personally see an integrated ATV/speaker system as in my experience, AppleTV's get significant feature updates about every 3 years which is far too short a lifecycle for a decent set of speakers. I also don't really see how anything improves for Apple by integrating them. Our old ATV's go as hand me downs either to smaller tv's within the house or to other family members, and a sound bar big enough for our main tv would be way oversized for the TV's they eventually end up connected to.

I do understand the need for additional connections in most home theater/livingroom installs though. We are unusual in that the vast majority of our tv/movie viewing is done through the ATV and with the recent HomePod updates it's finally a pretty solid solution. I too was hoping for Mini's as wireless surrounds though!

It's hard to see what Apple is up to here. I understand they could choose to take the view that the original HomePod was a failure. I think it was poorly understood by the majority of folks, and Apple didn't do a good job of altering those perceptions. I can say that since the release of the Mini, interest in the regular HomePod has gone WAY up in all social channels. It's hard to believe that Apple is now completely cutting off the upgrade path of all of those new users, so I remain hopeful that something unexpected is coming.
 
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Part of the issue is that Homekit has not had great market success, which also decreased demand for the Homepod.
 
Part of the issue is that Homekit has not had great market success, which also decreased demand for the Homepod.
Is that true? I feel like beyond some very basic integrations, nobody has had much success in this space, but among the folks who have reasonably extensive setups and who don't want to use an open source/command line, HomeKit is by far the most complete offering. Google Home and Alexa certainly are nowhere near as complete when you want a setup that has complex routines and isn't primarily controlled by voice.

HomeKit is a whole lot more than voice control (and if anything, even more misunderstood than the HomePod - this in large part because it's very difficult to make any sense of HomeKit until you have a complicated enough Smart Home install to need HomeKit).
 
Well, that didn’t take long. Best Buy Online is sold out of the Space Gray HomePod. I’m gonna have to go spelunking at local Best Buy’s.

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