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Epitome of the bad design that very much is happening at Apple these days. Sure, also some good design; but every time I see this kind of thing, just have to facepalm. As for those asking why you'd want to see a replaceable cord, 2 very good use cases: #1 pets eat cords, it happens. And #2 sometimes you want to put stuff on a shelf JUST THAT MUCH FARTHER away from where the built-in cord would reach… would be much nicer to just use a slightly longer cord in those cases. Or, in the opposite case, a shorter cord, so there isn't a big ball of extra cord laying on your desk. Point is, a removable cord is handy, and designing for that would have been easily possible to make happen and increased the "value" of the device immensely. So, a design FAIL for Apple there.
It is the little things, and when you're a company that markets as much as Apple does on "recycling" you MUST do better!

i would hazard producing a device with a removable cable would be worse for the environment than without.
 
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Oh my frigging god...

I'm starting to get a major case of the shakes now realizing my 20 year old toaster that I frequently use has a non-detachable power cable!
Don't be sarcastic. Toaster at least have a robust power cables. Apple is known for producing throwaway cables (wait I though they were environment-friendly)
 
Don't be sarcastic. Toaster at least have a robust power cables. Apple is known for producing throwaway cables (wait I though they were environment-friendly)

You should check out the cable attached to the HomePod Mini before commenting. Also... you may want to contemplate how HomePod cord handling/usage will be far different from that of a phone/laptop or other mobile device cable which will undergo attachment/detachment every day.

As an aside, I've have yet to have an Apple Lightning or USB-C cable fail - over many devices and years. They're very robust.
 
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Epitome of the bad design that very much is happening at Apple these days. Sure, also some good design; but every time I see this kind of thing, just have to facepalm. As for those asking why you'd want to see a replaceable cord, 2 very good use cases: #1 pets eat cords, it happens. And #2 sometimes you want to put stuff on a shelf JUST THAT MUCH FARTHER away from where the built-in cord would reach… would be much nicer to just use a slightly longer cord in those cases. Or, in the opposite case, a shorter cord, so there isn't a big ball of extra cord laying on your desk. Point is, a removable cord is handy, and designing for that would have been easily possible to make happen and increased the "value" of the device immensely. So, a design FAIL for Apple there.
It is the little things, and when you're a company that markets as much as Apple does on "recycling" you MUST do better!
What is wrong with you that this is such a concern? Get a life
 
Somehow push the wire all the way in and tie a knot and then use a usbc extension cable. Problem solved. :p
 
What logical reason did Apple think this small device should be connected 24hrs to electric charge. Just put a battery in it and it will last like 20hrs of sound stream. No one will be upset if it worked without a wire.
 
What logical reason did Apple think this small device should be connected 24hrs to electric charge. Just put a battery in it and it will last like 20hrs of sound stream. No one will be upset if it worked without a wire.

Seriously? Have you thought this through?

The reason they are powered 24 hours a day is so I can ask any one of my stationary five HomePods and now two HomePod Minis to play music whenever I want.

Last thing I want to do is worry about making sure all my devices are charged up.

My TVs are also connected 24hrs to power for the same reason.
 
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What logical reason did Apple think this small device should be connected 24hrs to electric charge. Just put a battery in it and it will last like 20hrs of sound stream. No one will be upset if it worked without a wire.
It's also a HomeKit Hub. If you want to control your home devices while you're away (or just check up on your home from afar) then it has to be connected to power 24x7.

That's also why an internal rechargeable battery makes no sense.
 
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Every small device I have either has to have armor all down the cord or it gets chewed through. I will not buy one of these.
 
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Why on earth didn’t they do just USB-C both ends? Annoyingly long cable.

I mean I get why they didn’t.... but still why.... I‘d have a 20 cm one.
 
Seriously? Have you thought this through?

The reason they are powered 24 hours a day is so I can ask any one of my stationary five HomePods and now two HomePod Minis to play music whenever I want.

Last thing I want to do is worry about making sure all my devices are charged up.

My TVs are also connected 24hrs to power for the same reason.

What logical reason? Its a HOMEpod not a portable bluetooth speaker.

It's also a HomeKit Hub. If you want to control your home devices while you're away (or just check up on your home from afar) then it has to be connected to power 24x7.

That's also why an internal rechargeable battery makes no sense.

Size and weight to name two reasons.

So because it has a bettery it can't be connected 24/7? Guess what all bluetooth speakers have a battery AND can be connected 24/7. The option is yours, but now you have no option with homepod speaker. Direct electricity input or it will not work.

Why do you care about size and weight of a device meant to be placed and not carried, this is not a phone or laptop.
 
So because it has a bettery it can't be connected 24/7? Guess what all bluetooth speakers have a battery AND can be connected 24/7. The option is yours, but now you have no option with homepod speaker. Direct electricity input or it will not work.

Why do you care about size and weight of a device meant to be placed and not carried, this is not a phone or laptop.

Since you're bringing up Bluetooth, it seems you're not aware HomePod is not a speaker that you can use via Bluetooth.

You should find and purchase a battery powered Bluetooth speaker and find some joy and happiness. There are no doubt at least a hundred of them put there. HomePod Mini is definitely not what you're looking for. Apple will never accede to your wishes, as frustrating as that may be, so it's probably best to move on.
 
So because it has a bettery it can't be connected 24/7? Guess what all bluetooth speakers have a battery AND can be connected 24/7. The option is yours, but now you have no option with homepod speaker. Direct electricity input or it will not work.

Why do you care about size and weight of a device meant to be placed and not carried, this is not a phone or laptop.
It’s not a Bluetooth speaker either but you seem hell bent on being outraged it isn’t.
 
So because it has a bettery it can't be connected 24/7? Guess what all bluetooth speakers have a battery AND can be connected 24/7.
Respectfully, you may have misunderstood.

As a HomeKit Hub, the HomePod must stay connected 24x7x365. When used as a HomeKit hub, it acts as part of a smart home's essential network infrastructure.

Making it portable, by giving it a rechargeable battery, would encourage undesirable use cases. For example, a user might be tempted go mobile and take take it poolside on a nice day, but then forget to bring it back indoors.

They wouldn't notice any issue at all until they were on a flight the next day and tried to connect to their smart home to turn the heating/AC to away mode. At that point the poolside HomePod battery would be flat and the user would be unceremoniously cut off from their smart home. Not good.

In the same vein, I think Apple made a big mistake in using a USB-C power brick to power the HomePod Mini. On paper it makes sense (common hardware components, shared cost, etc.) but having an separate power brick encourages not only homeowners, but their families and guest to disconnect the HomePod temporarily so they can charge their iPhone, MacBook, iPad, etc. - not realizing that in doing so they've disabled the smart home's essential infrastructure.
 
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So because it has a bettery it can't be connected 24/7? Guess what all bluetooth speakers have a battery AND can be connected 24/7. The option is yours, but now you have no option with homepod speaker. Direct electricity input or it will not work.

Why do you care about size and weight of a device meant to be placed and not carried, this is not a phone or laptop.
Some people may care about size and weight. The smaller it is the easier to place in an inconspicuous space.
 
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Respectfully, you may have misunderstood.

As a HomeKit Hub, the HomePod must stay connected 24x7x365. When used as a HomeKit hub, it acts as part of a smart home's essential network infrastructure.

Making it portable, by giving it a rechargeable battery, would encourage undesirable use cases. For example, a user might be tempted go mobile and take take it poolside on a nice day, but then forget to bring it back indoors.

They wouldn't notice any issue at all until they were on a flight the next day and tried to connect to their smart home to turn the heating/AC to away mode. At that point the poolside HomePod battery would be flat and the user would be unceremoniously cut off from their smart home. Not good.

In the same vein, I think Apple made a big mistake in using a USB-C power brick to power the HomePod Mini. On paper it makes sense (common hardware components, shared cost, etc.) but having an separate power brick encourages not only homeowners, but their families and guest to disconnect the HomePod temporarily so they can charge their iPhone, MacBook, iPad, etc. - not realizing that in doing so they've disabled the smart home's essential infrastructure.

Unless your whole home will shutdown if the "homekit" device(homepod) loses electricity, I think you will be ok. It just means you won't be able to control your home via voice commands, which is how 99.9% of people still do.
 
Unless your whole home will shutdown if the "homekit" device(homepod) loses electricity, I think you will be ok. It just means you won't be able to control your home via voice commands, which is how 99.9% of people still do.
Yes, and if you really want to use a HomeKit mini on battery, I'm sure you'll find a way. Heck, plug it into a diesel generator if you have to. You can also take a slot toaster with you to work every day, but most people don't do that.

It doesn't change that that's not its intended purpose. Comparing it to portable Bluetooth speakers is silly because it's neither portable nor a Bluetooth speaker.
 
Yes, and if you really want to use a HomeKit mini on battery, I'm sure you'll find a way. Heck, plug it into a diesel generator if you have to. You can also take a slot toaster with you to work every day, but most people don't do that.

It doesn't change that that's not its intended purpose. Comparing it to portable Bluetooth speakers is silly because it's neither portable nor a Bluetooth speaker.

My idea is that if you have this in your bedroom, then maybe you can pick it to the pool side or the garage and get the functionality with you. Now you have to:
1-Buy one for the pool, one for the garage, one for the bedroom.
2-Pull the plug out and try to find an electric outlet in the garage and the pool

see its much easier if it had a battery, it does not hurt. People here make it sound like its a bad thing if it could run on batteries.
 
My idea is that if you have this in your bedroom, then maybe you can pick it to the pool side or the garage and get the functionality with you. Now you have to:
1-Buy one for the pool, one for the garage, one for the bedroom.
2-Pull the plug out and try to find an electric outlet in the garage and the pool

see its much easier if it had a battery, it does not hurt. People here make it sound like its a bad thing if it could run on batteries.

it is a bad thing because then I would have to pay for batteries for a device that doesn’t need them.
 
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