iFixit Tears Down Second-Generation HomePod

[B4rbelith]

Same one of my two OGs won’t power on.. think the same with diode.. anyone know someone who can repair it for less than a new one would cost?

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track44.moe

 

[beanbaguk]

I still struggle with the design of an omnidirectional speaker array in a device that has to be plugged into a wall

Sound bounces off walls, so if done correctly using audio processors, this can actually be excellent.

In fact, Dolby Atmos relies on the principle of sound reverberating off ceilings and floors. It's very common practice.

Example:

 

[beanbaguk]

Neat! Can't wait to see the teardown of the HomePod Pro.

You are looking forward to seeing the breakdown of a product that doesn't exist?

 

[beanbaguk]

and some people don't want to be reminded how humid your day is.
which I think, is why I turned that off or never used that since this feature was introduced.

You can't turn it off.... 🤨

You can ignore it however...

 

[Danfango]

No doubt, but performance without a heatsink quickly deteriorates.
View attachment 2156190
(from https://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infin...N.pdf?fileId=5546d46258fc0bc101598b13dd7d2d56)

Also the chip is soldered in a small PCB board that seems dubious that could be effective removing the heat away from the amplifier.

People using the IR4xxx in real life has to use aluminum attachments to the PCB:

View attachment 2156192

From https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/ir4301.356497/

Reasonable analysis from the Application Notes and completely fair. Worth noting that the peak power is impossible to sustain in these applications. The system is entirely non-linear until you hit the LPF which makes it hard to rationalise the switching dynamics and total PD of the output MOSFETs. But yes the THD will suffer most likely when the low-side/high-side current detection starts seeing MOSFETs starting to heat up.

The PCB designs in that link are however, crap and are built by people who have no idea what they are doing. It looks like a simple 2-layer design kicked out by JLCPCB/PCBway etc. There is no thermal via stitching, the layout is completely wrong and just has a simple ground fill on both layers. If it's JLC's usual process it'll be 1oz copper. You tend to use 2oz when there's a heatsink on board and structure it so there's a fair bit of board without a solder mask on it. Basically half of that entire board's heat sinking capability they designed does nothing at all which will invalidate any test results they have. This is mentioned in the app note as well for ref.

 

[FlyingDutch]

I still struggle with the design of an omnidirectional speaker array in a device that has to be plugged into a wall

I definitely don’t want a battery in my home speakers

 

[FlyingDutch]

Why not just buy a Sonos which has great sounds and is compatible with multiple platforms.

Go and buy whatever you prefer. I want the HomePod

 

[nylonsteel]

ifixit - what a cool job to have to tear stuff apart with presicion - and hopefully successfully put if back together again

 

[xserret]

Nice to see an easy disassemble !
More important they this to a a thing it's not suposed to have any spurious internal vibration

 

[Poindexter333]

What I want answered, as I haven’t seen discussed during any tear down, are all of the points of failure in the hardware in the original HomePod. Be it a capacitor or resistor, whatever, did they take that into account, all those massive failures grouped around specific devices, and did they update the hardware so we wouldn’t lose our $300 investment on a half a penny SMD capacitor!!!

 

[goonie4life9]

I know it’s a marketing distinction, but I don’t think smart speakers are the type of device you update unless there’s a must have feature. These already sound great, so I’m not sure any “smart” features that could be refund or added would really be a compelling reason for consumers to upgrade. We may see a few updates in the next couple of years to further reduce costs (hence enticing people like me who at the right price would absolutely pick one up). I can’t imagine Apple considers an upgrade cycle anything comparable to other product categories. I can see these having unusually long lifespans especially in the older demographic I imagine these are actually being bought by.

Au-contrarie, mon fraire! Apple has a clear upgrade plan for the HomePods. It may not be yearly, but with processor with very old Wifi and fewer tweeters and microphones, Apple has telegraphed exactly what they plan to do. That is how you maintain a solid product pipeline with near or above 40% margins.

 

[imola.zhp]

Improved repairability is great for everyone, lets just hope they don't need it.

All of the hyperbole about the differences between the new and the OG crack me up. Once Apple stops letting the OG update to the latest software it wont matter if it sounds ever so slightly better than the OG, it will essentially be obsolete.

 

[NT1440]

Au-contrarie, mon fraire! Apple has a clear upgrade plan for the HomePods. It may not be yearly, but with processor with very old Wifi and fewer tweeters and microphones, Apple has telegraphed exactly what they plan to do. That is how you maintain a solid product pipeline with near or above 40% margins.

…only if you think faster wifi on a device that won’t benefit at all from it given it’s use-case, is somehow incentive for people that couldn’t tell the difference between a processor and a toaster to upgrade.

 

[NT1440]

What I want answered, as I haven’t seen discussed during any tear down, are all of the points of failure in the hardware in the original HomePod. Be it a capacitor or resistor, whatever, did they take that into account, all those massive failures grouped around specific devices, and did they update the hardware so we wouldn’t lose our $300 investment on a half a penny SMD capacitor!!!

From what I recall, the custom power supply seemed to be the failure point. The specific component I can’t remember but likely a capacitor like you mentioned.

 

[goonie4life9]

…only if you think faster wifi on a device that won’t benefit at all from it given it’s use-case, is somehow incentive for people that couldn’t tell the difference between a processor and a toaster to upgrade.

It's not about what the customer wants or needs, but rather what can be advertised. Even if people won't notice a difference, being able to advertise something like "revolutionary WiFi and Bluetooth that allows for even more responsive, seamless integration," will catch a lot of people.

 

[G5isAlive]

I’m pretty sure that he meant most people will likely sit one on a shelf or a mantlepiece or on the floor so he is saying that it’s a shame half of the sound is going to be directed into the wall or carpet rather than put out into the room like regular front facing conic loudspeakers do, which will affect sound clarity.

What percentage of people are going to place one in the centre of a room and string an extension cord to it?

If not, then what percentage of people actually have floor mounted power sockets or ceiling ones for that matter?

I really feel that people are purposefully trying to misunderstand others’ comments and score points rather than just give straightforward answers to what appear to be honest questions or opinions.

Nope. On the contrary, I think some people seek out any reason to complain about a product just because it isn't exactly what they want. In this case, the HomePod is not a regular conic front facing speaker. Period.

In the case of placement, I have no idea (or do you) where the majority of people put their HomePod. We can make assumptions they treat them like regular conic front facing speakers, and use them if they chose with a back firmly against the wall, or they can offset them any distance they care to, or put them on their desk facing the middle of my office. I have 5 HomePods in a variety of placements and really do like the flexibility the computational audio provides for spatial audio. If what I want is regular front facing conic speakers.. guess what I buy? Regular front facing conic speakers (Sonos comes to mind if you want wireless). I dont fault Apple for not making regular front facing conic speakers.

I do agree with you on one thing, some people are trying to purposefully ignore any nuance in a discussion to score points. Congrats.

 

[compwiz1202]

You don't want to put eight D batteries in your boombox for some tunes?

And you pretty much wanted stock in Duracell or Energizer for how often you needed to change them.

 

[NT1440]

It's not about what the customer wants or needs, but rather what can be advertised. Even if people won't notice a difference, being able to advertise something like "revolutionary WiFi and Bluetooth that allows for even more responsive, seamless integration," will catch a lot of people.

Catch them for upgrades, or first time buyers? I can see how a marketing push may influence new buyers, but you’d be hard pressed to convince an owner of one of these devices that it needs faster wifi…because it doesn’t for what it does.

 

[montuori]

On the contrary, I think some people seek out any reason to complain about a product just because it isn't exactly what they want.

It's hard to disagree with that.

In the case of placement, I have no idea (or do you) where the majority of people put their HomePod.

The self-correcting nature of the HP is undervalued. I'd rather one mono HP than a far more expensive stereo pair that has been situated incorrectly (which, due to architectural constraints, most are) or where I'm not aligned with the ideal listening position (a pretty small target at the best of times; there's a reason big venues sum to mono).

 

[goonie4life9]

Catch them for upgrades, or first time buyers? I can see how a marketing push may influence new buyers, but you’d be hard pressed to convince an owner of one of these devices that it needs faster wifi…because it doesn’t for what it does.

That’s not what Apple is going for. They are trying to catch anyone who is wowed by “new, incredible, best ever, faster, more responsive, etc.” using Apple’s tried-and-true PR. Just look at how they’re advertising the iPhone 14. It is called the “All New iPhone 14,” as if there was an old iPhone 14. They’ll continue this right up until the day they announce the iPhone 15.

 

[NT1440]

That’s not what Apple is going for. They are trying to catch anyone who is wowed by “new, incredible, best ever, faster, more responsive, etc.” using Apple’s tried-and-true PR. Just look at how they’re advertising the iPhone 14. It is called the “All New iPhone 14,” as if there was an old iPhone 14. They’ll continue this right up until the day they announce the iPhone 15.

But explain to me how that marketing strategy would apply to a device category with the shelf life of a speaker?

 

[montuori]

They are trying to catch anyone who is wowed by “new, incredible, best ever, faster, more responsive, etc.” using Apple’s tried-and-true PR.

And? This describes -- literally -- every piece of advertising ever.

 

[goonie4life9]

But explain to me how that marketing strategy would apply to a device category with the shelf life of a speaker?

And? This describes -- literally -- every piece of advertising ever.

I’m talking about the re-release of the HomePod. Apple discontinued the original HomePod because it had too much and there was no clear upgrade path. By remove tweeters and microphones and using a processor with past-generation WiFi and Bluetooth, Apple created a clear upgrade path.

 

[NT1440]

I’m talking about the re-release of the HomePod. Apple discontinued the original HomePod because it had too much and there was no clear upgrade path. By remove tweeters and microphones and using a processor with past-generation WiFi and Bluetooth, Apple created a clear upgrade path.

That’s….wow. I’m not even sure how to entertain that line of thinking.

No one is suffering any performance issues from “last generation wifi”. 802.11n is far and away fast enough for anything the HomePod does. The notion that you’ll get people buying speakers, things that average people buy like twice a decade at the extreme edge, to buy for a spec on a page that will have no demonstrable or tangible impact on the usage of device is a real stretch.

 

[montuori]

Apple discontinued the original HomePod because [...]

You have no evidence why Apple discontinued the HomePod. It's all speculation.

I appreciate the cynicism and all but I'm willing to put money on Apple continuing to support the just released model (if not the original) through 2030. Sure, they're going to improve it and yes, they're going to sell the incremental upgrades as the Next Best Thing but I'm smart enough to see through that and I'm sure you are too.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong. But honestly, who actually cares what version of WIFI is in play in a speaker? I care that I can send data to it and that it sounds fantastic. It's not going to sound any less good because they sell an upgraded model. Never, in my experience (and I started my programming career on an Apple II), have they deliberately crippled their hardware retroactively. Some of it has been absolute crap but, eh, so has some of my work; it's never been on purpose.