Not sure if it’s just the mini as I don’t have the full one, but it has WAY TOO MUCH bass on my HomePod mini.
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HomePod Now Sold Out on Apple's US Online Store
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Not sure if it’s just the mini as I don’t have the full one, but it has WAY TOO MUCH bass on my HomePod mini.
the tech press compared it to cheaper but lower sound quality smart speakers.
Apple tried to market it as a music speaker ala Sonos but with Siri (smart speaker features.)
Problem was Sonos already had a huge headstart in the hi end wireless speaker market and owned that market with great reviews. And soon after Sonos added Alexa/Google ASsistant to their lineup.
The discontinuation ironic because the Homepod is now great. It has always sounded pretty good. The Siri features are better. More importantly at least to me is it now works flawless as an AppleTV speaker. And just recently we got a new ATV that lets you use the Homepod along with eARC/ARC as the speaker for other devices hooked up to (or part of) your tv.
Apple tried to market it as a music speaker ala Sonos but with Siri (smart speaker features.)
Problem was Sonos already had a huge headstart in the hi end wireless speaker market and owned that market with great reviews. And soon after Sonos added Alexa/Google ASsistant to their lineup.
The discontinuation ironic because the Homepod is now great. It has always sounded pretty good. The Siri features are better. More importantly at least to me is it now works flawless as an AppleTV speaker. And just recently we got a new ATV that lets you use the Homepod along with eARC/ARC as the speaker for other devices hooked up to (or part of) your tv.
The homepod mini has its place, but room-filling sound simply isn't one of those places.
I bought a mini to try. As a result, it's been relegated to our bathroom and I picked up a used OG homepod for that space. (And yes, it's astonishing what people are paying for used homepods now.)
I too have a few homepods from the $199 days, and I was looking forward to one last $199 sale at some point to pick up one or two more. But alas...
A co-worker pointed out that Apple never did a 2nd run/batch of them. Meaning, even the last Homepods they were selling until this weekend were from their initial production run back in 2017/2018.
The mini is OK - certainly better than an Echo dot or whatever - but if you care about sound (or even "loud") a mini just won't cut it. Hopefully Apple figures something out that can replace what you can get from a Homepod.
I bought a mini to try. As a result, it's been relegated to our bathroom and I picked up a used OG homepod for that space. (And yes, it's astonishing what people are paying for used homepods now.)
I too have a few homepods from the $199 days, and I was looking forward to one last $199 sale at some point to pick up one or two more. But alas...
A co-worker pointed out that Apple never did a 2nd run/batch of them. Meaning, even the last Homepods they were selling until this weekend were from their initial production run back in 2017/2018.
The mini is OK - certainly better than an Echo dot or whatever - but if you care about sound (or even "loud") a mini just won't cut it. Hopefully Apple figures something out that can replace what you can get from a Homepod.
Personally I find the amount of bass on the Homepod excessive. I wish they had a way to tone it down a little.
Personally I find the amount of bass on the Homepod excessive. I wish they had a way to tone it down a little.
No, the Homepod also has a lot of bass.
Personally I find the amount of bass on the Homepod excessive. I wish they had a way to tone it down a little.
I have 2 white HomePods unopened still in their boxes, and 2 that I'm using now. Waiting to finish my gameroom.
I got them when Best Buy had for $199. For some reason I thought I bought them in 2020...
But when I checked Best Buy site for my purchase history... I got them June 20th 2019! I hope they still work!
I still have 4 Sonos Ones unboxed also. I think I should be done renovating this August.
I got them when Best Buy had for $199. For some reason I thought I bought them in 2020...
But when I checked Best Buy site for my purchase history... I got them June 20th 2019! I hope they still work!
I still have 4 Sonos Ones unboxed also. I think I should be done renovating this August.
He's talking about latency on sound when you play/pause/resume, which is absolutely a thing
I don't think that's entirely true. I picked up three HomePods over the past few weeks that all came with 13.4.8 pre-installed on them, which suggests that they were most likely manufactured sometime in 2020, as it seems unlikely that Apple had a bunch of 2017/2018 HomePods sitting in the factory waiting for the latest firmware before being boxed up and shipped out.
What's odd, of course, is that the serial numbers for all three do suggest that they were manufactured in late 2017, which is why so many people seem to think that they're buying original stock. However, that's based on trying to decode Apple's serial number format, and there's no rule that says Apple has to be consistent with these. Perhaps Apple just never made enough in late 2017 to run out of that block of serial numbers so it just kept on using them. HomePods manufactured in late 2017 wouldn't even have had HomePod OS 12 on them, much less any flavour of 13.
But, who knows? Maybe Apple did do one huge production run back in 2017 and didn't package and ship them all out at the same time.
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The HomePod is perhaps my favorite Apple product and I own iPad Pro, MacBook Air, iPhone 12 Pro, HomePod mini, and Apple Watch. I own 5 of them and was hoping to buy an updated version. It was a very sad day when they were discontinued.
Only if Apple put some intelligent marketing behind them. And frankly, unless they cut the cost it probably would have sold better but still not sold great. People have a ‘good enough’ sound quality threshold and above that point most people aren’t willing to pay more even if the sound is better. And when your competitors have $30 speakers and yours are $300 then that’s a war you will lose no matter how good the speakers sound.
RIP in peace... I love my two for TV speakers. I have a powered sub hooked to an AirPort Express for extra bass via AirPlay, but I've found I never use it because the sound from the stereo HomePods is just so good.
I take your point. I consider this more of a marketing failure than a product failure. It was poorly communicated from the beginning. The press positioned it as Apple's answer to an Echo. Apple should have stopped that right away. Siri enabled anythings will never be a capable as Google Voice or Alexa devices. Apple is doing the vast majority of the work on device (voice recognition and transcoding, some onboard command processing) and sending only what is necessary to fulfill a request for information and only when necessary. Both Google and Amazon keep the mic hot and listen server-side for actions. Even with a $200 price point if people and press are comparing it to a $50 echo then of course many people will go for the echo.
Everyone has their use case. I personally will not purchase a GV- or Alexa-enabled device of any sort without a dedicated ability to disable voice (preferably in hardware). For my needs the HomePod was perfect. Getting it during a $100 off sale at Best Buy was even better.
Apple tends to run a JIT supply chain. They very very rarely keep stock on hand. So it's unlikely they manufactured a few million extra four years ago and kept them sitting around. In fact, if they somehow had done so it is more likely they would have been recycled (destroyed) to get them off the books before getting caught with inventory liabilities.
Exactly. I think it's far more likely that the normal serial number format for Apple products doesn't apply to the HomePod, for whatever reason.
Unfortunately, it's led to far too many people claiming that Apple only ever did a single production run, and they've had warehouses full of unsold stock sitting around for years. I never thought that was likely for a lot of reasons, and the only realistic way that a brand new sealed-in-box HomePod could come with HomePod Software 13.4.8 on it is if it was manufactured in mid-2020.
The HomePod may have not have been a runaway success, but it wasn't that unpopular.
Never really paid attention to the HomePod, but you certainly listed a lot of points here.
Based on those points, I certainly would not have purchased one...
And Apple rearranged their serial number practices not long ago. So the HomePod SN could have been a precursor to that program.
No the mini’s lack a bit in the sound department but it does okay for most of my music although some seem pretty flat I suppose. Just nothing special there. I did pick 2 homepods up after they were discontinued and the music, to me, is great as well as having it paired up to my AppleTV 4K. It is nice though for the mini as I can have music on my iPhone playing lay it down near them and they take over.
Perhaps but I didn’t want the competition I wanted HomePod and even the no Bluetooth or 3.5mm jack missing wasn’t a deterrent for me. But I also know everyone isn’t like me and to those people no Bluetooth 3.5mm jack or other packing features Had them move on to the competition.
I’m sure eBay will have plenty maybe at a little markup but still if you want it that may be the best option.
It's also worth shopping around at third-party retailers. Not only will some of them still have a bit of stock, but they're all naturally happy to get rid of their display models at a discount as well — and unlike a MacBook or iPad, it's not like a HomePod on display has a bunch of people pawing at it all day long. It kind of just sits there and collects dust.
I have a feeling the current iteration of the Apple TV has been on the shelf, waiting to go, for many months, if not years.
They might have some new related speaker coming out in the future. Though now I’m mostly hoping that Sonos picks up the “third-party Siri” ball and runs with it.
I had one that they apparently bricked and did not replace because it was out of warranty.
As a result, I bought a much cheaper HomePod mini to replace it. Unfortunately, it just sounded like someone had sucked the life out of it because the connecting rooms are just too big for it to work. I begrudgingly bought a white one before they went away and couldn't be happier to have great sound in the kitchen and living room when I dont want to fire up my main system. The mini is now on my nightstand where it works much better.
I agree with the shortfalls. It would have been more desirable for the masses if they gave it more flexibility. Personally, when I bought it, I knew its limitations, but I really like the sound and the ability to tell it to send music to my receiver and have it just turn on and start playing over my floor standing speakers. I also have an Airplay 2 Airport Express out in my Sunroom, so before I step out of the house, I just tell the HomePod to play music out there and I am up and running. Really a cool device, but could have been more popular with some small changes.
As a result, I bought a much cheaper HomePod mini to replace it. Unfortunately, it just sounded like someone had sucked the life out of it because the connecting rooms are just too big for it to work. I begrudgingly bought a white one before they went away and couldn't be happier to have great sound in the kitchen and living room when I dont want to fire up my main system. The mini is now on my nightstand where it works much better.
I agree with the shortfalls. It would have been more desirable for the masses if they gave it more flexibility. Personally, when I bought it, I knew its limitations, but I really like the sound and the ability to tell it to send music to my receiver and have it just turn on and start playing over my floor standing speakers. I also have an Airplay 2 Airport Express out in my Sunroom, so before I step out of the house, I just tell the HomePod to play music out there and I am up and running. Really a cool device, but could have been more popular with some small changes.
Awesome. I guess they had enough complaints to actually make this an option!
I'm going to enjoy my Homepod a lot more, I don't need its booming bass all the time.