HomePod Pre-Order Thread

[BMox81]

Thought I'd make a thread up for those people like myself who will be ordering when it becomes available.

I've actually had the Sonos One for the last couple of weeks and while it was a really nice speaker, I've decided to return it as I think the £150 extra to have everything under one ecosystem in our house was the deciding factor. Plus if it's even better sounding than the One (which sounded brilliant btw)/Play 3 as it's meant to be, then I'll be a very happy chappy indeed.

Anyone actually excited about getting one? Seems to be going under the radar at the moment.

 

[44267547]

Thought I'd make a thread up for those people like myself who will be ordering when it becomes available.

I've actually had the Sonos One for the last couple of weeks and while it was a really nice speaker, I've decided to return it as I think the £150 extra to have everything under one ecosystem in our house was the deciding factor. Plus if it's even better sounding than the One (which sounded brilliant btw)/Play 3 as it's meant to be, then I'll be a very happy chappy indeed.

Anyone actually excited about getting one? Seems to be going under the radar at the moment.

It's under the radar, because there is not much media surrounding it since it's debut during WWDC in June. But given the price point, it's going to be a select crowd that will be purchasing the HomePod. With its launch likely to be around the first or second week in December, I expect it to sell very quickly being with the Holidays upon us.

 

[BMox81]

It's under the radar, because there is not much media surrounding it since it's debut during WWDC in June. But given the price point, it's going to be a select crowd that will be purchasing the HomePod. With its launch likely to be around the first or second week in December, I expect it to sell very quickly being with the Holidays upon us.

Which is very weird as all I seem to be seeing ads/articles is stuff about smart speakers.

Are you intending on getting one?

 

[44267547]

Which is very weird as all I seem to be seeing ads/articles is stuff about smart speakers.

Are you intending on getting one?

I intend to. I'm curious to see what Apples availability will look like and shipping times for the HomePod come December. It's going to do very well overall.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

The jury is still out for me on this one. Details about what it will do and what functionality has been added since the keynote announcement is crucial.
If Apple intend to pitch it purely for music then my current music set up at home more than meets my requirements and I can see it being a niche market rather than appealing to people looking for a product similar to Google's and Amazon's.
I was hoping that it would also serve as a virtual assistant as well as being a music speaker and deliver functionality similar to the iPhone. Calls, messages, reminders, alarms, improved Siri etc. But I get this feeling that I will be disappointed in that area. Details as to what it can and cant do seem very sketchy.

 

[BMox81]

The jury is still out for me on this one. Details about what it will do and what functionality has been added since the keynote announcement is crucial.
If Apple intend to pitch it purely for music then my current music set up at home more than meets my requirements and I can see it being a niche market rather than appealing to people looking for a product similar to Google's and Amazon's.
I was hoping that it would also serve as a virtual assistant as well as being a music speaker and deliver functionality similar to the iPhone. Calls, messages, reminders, alarms, improved Siri etc. But I get this feeling that I will be disappointed in that area. Details as to what it can and cant do seem very sketchy.

I guess this is where we differ in that this is my first venture into getting speakers sorted for the house whereas you've got your setup all sorted and not prepared to get rid of what you have already.

I could see Apple struggling if that's the general consensus, but I think there will be quite a lot of people happy to downsize setups to accommodate the HomePod into their homes.

I do think they are pushing it initially as the music device with the desire to get Siri up to par with Alexa eventually. And it will do some things at first like reminders, timers. clocks, news, etc....

 

[Bazooka-joe]

I guess this is where we differ in that this is my first venture into getting speakers sorted for the house whereas you've got your setup all sorted and not prepared to get rid of what you have already.

I could see Apple struggling if that's the general consensus, but I think there will be quite a lot of people happy to downsize setups to accommodate the HomePod into their homes.

I do think they are pushing it initially as the music device with the desire to get Siri up to par with Alexa eventually. And it will do some things at first like reminders, timers. clocks, news, etc....

I would be interested to see how the HomePod will work from a family prospective and whether it will acknowledge commands from members of the family as it’s not actually a personal device unless someone is living on their own.
Hopefully we will start to see more information co I got through from Apple over the next three or four weeks.

 

[BMox81]

I would be interested to see how the HomePod will work from a family prospective and whether it will acknowledge commands from members of the family as it’s not actually a personal device unless someone is living on their own.
Hopefully we will start to see more information co I got through from Apple over the next three or four weeks.

Well from having used the One for a couple of weeks and using Alexa with that and an Echo Dot, I imagine it would be quite similar?

Yeah it would be good to get a definitive date as to when they are going up for pre-order-you’d imagine it would have to be soon so to get them ready to ship for in and around early December.

 

[ThankYouRob]

I've actually been considering getting the Sonos One instead of the HomePod, I'm no audiophile but I love music and we listen to it a lot in our house. Regardless, the One or the HomePod will definitely be replacing our Google Home this Winter, that's a fact. I do really like the Home, the casting to 2 other soundbars we have with built in Google Cast, is very cool and a feature I am REALLY looking forward to with Airplay 2. We're about a 90% Apple household (Macbooks, 3 Apple TVs, iPads, iPhones), so getting the HomePod would complete that...of course the price point though. Ugh.

 

[BMox81]

I've actually been considering getting the Sonos One instead of the HomePod, I'm no audiophile but I love music and we listen to it a lot in our house. Regardless, the One or the HomePod will definitely be replacing our Google Home this Winter, that's a fact. I do really like the Home, the casting to 2 other soundbars we have with built in Google Cast, is very cool and a feature I am REALLY looking forward to with Airplay 2. We're about a 90% Apple household (Macbooks, 3 Apple TVs, iPads, iPhones), so getting the HomePod would complete that...of course the price point though. Ugh.

As I said, my brief experience with the Sonos One was a positive one, so if you wanted to get that then you’d be getting a lovely speaker.

But like yourselves, we have a MacBook, 2 Apple TV’s, iPhones and iPads so the HomePod will complement those nicely.

Yeah the price is a bit more than the One, so I guess you then have to weigh up the costs if you intend on getting more than one for your house, which in that case the Ones might be better value.

Having tried the One myself though, I believe that extra £150 will be worth the outlay.

 

[jjk454ss]

I went to Best Buy today and ended up picking up to Sonos speakers. I have an open them, I know I could open them and still return them, but I’m debating if I should return them and wait for the HomePod. I’m going to do some more research, but does anybody know how well the HomePod will work for making a whole home soundsystem? I’d like to have probably three different speakers in different locations. Obviously I don’t want to buy three HomePod’s, will I be able to use a HomePod as a main unit and a couple less expensive speakers as satellites? Kind of like if I have a Sonos three in one room, and a couple Sonos ones in other rooms to all play the same thing at the same time?
[doublepost=1510364492][/doublepost]It looks like it’ll do what I want, but I will need Airplay 2 compatible speakers. I wonder how long before there is some inexpensive options though.

 

[scouser75]

Will the Homepod work with Android devices? If so, and if it does A LOT more than what Apple highlighted a few months ago, then I'm considering one for my wife for Christmas.

 

[johnhackworth]

I'm definitely ordering one for the kitchen. We have a few hifi systems from very basic to quite high-end so I'm quite fussy about sound quality. I'm hoping that Apple have done a good job with the sound quality - with all the talk about the HomePod sensing and adjusting itself to its acoustic environment I'm quite optimistic on that score.

I'm not too bothered about the smart aspects of the HomePod - I'm buying it principally as a speaker to listen to whilst cooking.

Quick (possibly dumb) question - I'll be able to Airplay music to the HomePod from a phone without an Apple Music subscription - is that correct?

 

[Julien]

....I'm not too bothered about the smart aspects of the HomePod - I'm buying it principally as a speaker to listen to whilst cooking.

Quick (possibly dumb) question - I'll be able to Airplay music to the HomePod from a phone without an Apple Music subscription - is that correct?

Why spend all this money when all you need is a BT speaker? There are literally 100's if not 1000's to chose from.
[doublepost=1510492008][/doublepost]

Will the Homepod work with Android devices?....

I will put this somewhere between 0% and a 0.00000001% chance.

 

[MTD's Mac]

Why spend all this money when all you need is a BT speaker? There are literally 100's if not 1000's to chose from.
[doublepost=1510492008][/doublepost]
I will put this somewhere between 0% and a 0.00000001% chance.

I'm in the same boat, I use my Apple Watch for Siri commands, but know this will be a great speaker with Apple ecosystem compatibility. This makes it potentially better than any other Bluetooth speaker on the market.

 

[effort]

Here’s hoping we see some updates this week, lol.

 

[scouser75]

Why spend all this money when all you need is a BT speaker? There are literally 100's if not 1000's to chose from.
[doublepost=1510492008][/doublepost]
I will put this somewhere between 0% and a 0.00000001% chance.

So no chance of playing music or radio using tunein via Android? If not, it'll have to be a Sonos or Amazon Echo for me.

Oh well, at least I won't voluntarily be mugged by Apple so will save myself a bit of cash ;-)

 

[effort]

Nothing so far, 9to5mac thinks that they could begin pre-orders next Friday as it coincides with Black Friday, "the biggest shopping day of the year," with a release a week later on Dec. 1. (https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/14/homepod-siri-speaker-launch-details/)

Quick question, I know the device isn't out yet and hasn't seen very much testing but will HomePod be able to work as a wireless speaker for streaming Netflix, Hulu, etc. from an Apple TV through AirPlay? Or, do we only know it to be exclusive for Apple Music streaming?

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Nothing so far, 9to5mac thinks that they could begin pre-orders next Friday as it coincides with Black Friday, "the biggest shopping day of the year," with a release a week later on Dec. 1. (https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/14/homepod-siri-speaker-launch-details/)

Quick question, I know the device isn't out yet and hasn't seen very much testing but will HomePod be able to work as a wireless speaker for streaming Netflix, Hulu, etc. from an Apple TV through AirPlay? Or, do we only know it to be exclusive for Apple Music streaming?

The problem is that we know every little about it and what it can do and cant do.

 

[ersan191]

I’m going to pick one up and keep my expectations low, I have 7 or 8 echo’s scattered around my house and I don’t see HomePod replacing them right away - I hope that in time they will reach feature parity.
[doublepost=1510710725][/doublepost]

Nothing so far, 9to5mac thinks that they could begin pre-orders next Friday as it coincides with Black Friday, "the biggest shopping day of the year," with a release a week later on Dec. 1. (https://9to5mac.com/2017/11/14/homepod-siri-speaker-launch-details/)

Quick question, I know the device isn't out yet and hasn't seen very much testing but will HomePod be able to work as a wireless speaker for streaming Netflix, Hulu, etc. from an Apple TV through AirPlay? Or, do we only know it to be exclusive for Apple Music streaming?

It will absolutely work as a speaker for Apple TV as it supports AirPlay 2 - even old airplay speakers have this feature.
[doublepost=1510710876][/doublepost]

Quick (possibly dumb) question - I'll be able to Airplay music to the HomePod from a phone without an Apple Music subscription - is that correct?

Yes, you will.
[doublepost=1510711480][/doublepost]

I would be interested to see how the HomePod will work from a family prospective and whether it will acknowledge commands from members of the family as it’s not actually a personal device unless someone is living on their own.
Hopefully we will start to see more information co I got through from Apple over the next three or four weeks.

All of its rivals now have voice recognition, I do hope it launches with the feature - really itching for more information soon.