Leaker: HomePod 'Mini' Close to Launch, But No Second-Generation HomePod This Year

[citysnaps]

Apple wanted to make a speaker. The market wanted voice assistants.

Not me. I have no use for a voice assistant. But my five HomePods are used all the time.

 

[El Fez]

I bought both of mine used from eBay ($210 & $160 respectively). They aren't like an iPhone or laptop, they essentially just sit there with no moving parts so what can go wrong with them? Sturdy as hell and sound fantastic.

 

[Internaut]

Sounds like Apple are moving into space currently occupied by Nest Mini and Echo Dot. If true to form, expect better quality, to some degree, albeit at a higher cost. A nice device for bedrooms and so on. The Echo Dot in my bedroom/home office has effectively replaced my digital radio (and I have a speaker I can connect it to if I need better quality).

So the Apple device probably isn't for me (too tied to Alexa - and colleagues have freaked out when I shout "Alexa - red alert" in Zoom meetings), but should do well with anyone more deeply embedded into the Apple ecosystem.

 

[gnomeisland]

Not me. I have no use for a voice assistant. But my five HomePods are used all the time.

I also love mine. But I bought it primarily as a speaker with Siri as a bonus—although I've found her increasingly useful over time.

However, your love and mine doesn't change the fact that the HomePod hasn't lit the world on fire like the AirPods despite it's innovations.

 

[warpdrive]

Yup, I would consider myself an Apple Supergeek. I REALLY want a reason to buy the Homepod. Can't find one. Amazon stole this market away.

I bought one because I like audiophile gear and like to try new stuff.

It is my alarm clock in the morning and I occasionally use it as a speakerphone, and occasionally I ask it for the weather.

Otherwise it's a total waste of money in its walled garden. For my actual home integration, right now I'm running Alexa which can actually do stuff I need done.

btw: the vaunted sound quality is overrated. Way too much bass in a small room. It needs a way to customize the sound to some preferences.

 

[warpdrive]

At least the US folks get some kind of deal on these things. If you guys aren't buying it for $199 USD, these things have to be collecting cobwebs at $399 CAD and it never gets discounted in Best Buy here

 

[incoherent_1]

I love Apple and am always happy to see them compete in a space, but I have to say Sonos is by far the superior product and superior ecosystem.

 

[Zeke92]

Great news. It will piss off its customers by making obsolete the original HomePod. This is indication that there’s still lot of stock of it. Maybe the affordable? Mini drive some sales to the big one.

why would it make the original one obsolete?

 

[Marcus PM]

An Apple speaker without the wall chain would be great.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I’d love to see them add a battery so users had the option to leverage sans power chord. Literally the only reason I have yet to purchase one.

 

[dannys1]

If it's £100 i'll buy a HomePod mini for every room just for Siri.

 

[soanis]

I bought both of mine used from eBay ($210 & $160 respectively). They aren't like an iPhone or laptop, they essentially just sit there with no moving parts so what can go wrong with them? Sturdy as hell and sound fantastic.

i hear you, but there are moving parts in any speaker ever created. It’s possible that they fail, although very unlikely

 

[dannys1]

Exactly. The fact that HomePod can't just be a Bluetooth speaker is hurting its appeal.

And do HomePods still need to be plugged into the wall?

There's a reason people still buy simple wireless Bluetooth speakers from JBL, UE, etc. You can easily take them in the backyard by the pool or in the garage. And anyone can easily connect to them at a party.

I understand that HomePods sound amazing for their size. And they have Siri and HomeKit in there too. They are true "smart" speakers.

But sometimes people just want sound that's not chained to the wall.

But you've said those things exist - so what's the point in Apple doing it too. Crap sounding portable bluetooth speakers are a dime a dozen, the HomePod is at least unique - I really don't want a battery powered HomePod - I just want Siri in every room.

 

[fishman6]

I dunno. I don’t know anyone who owns Apple HomePod, and that includes a few Apple supergeeks.

Their loss then. They’d get an amazing sounding affordable speaker

 

[fishman6]

I think you're confusing value with cost. Sure it might have a high value to you, but the cost is also too high. Especially when compared to any competing device.

But given how limited the music streaming services are on what is essentially a speaker designed for listening to music, I'd argue that it doesn't have a very high value either.

I suggest/dare you give a listen to other $2-300 speakers out there then tell me straight faced that their sound is comparable.

 

[fishman6]

I bought one because I like audiophile gear and like to try new stuff.

It is my alarm clock in the morning and I occasionally use it as a speakerphone, and occasionally I ask it for the weather.

Otherwise it's a total waste of money in its walled garden. For my actual home integration, right now I'm running Alexa which can actually do stuff I need done.

btw: the vaunted sound quality is overrated. Way too much bass in a small room. It needs a way to customize the sound to some preferences.

You need your hearing checked 😁

 

[fhall1]

How about letting me use a pair of them as the general speaker output for my Mac for God's sake?

 

[DinkThifferent]

How will it make my five HomePods obsolete? They'll still work and deliver excellent sound. Why would that piss me off?

Apple will make the iPhone 11 obsolete by introducing the iPhone 12 and it will surely piss iPhone 11 owners off!

 

[diego.caraballo]

How will it make my five HomePods obsolete? They'll still work and deliver excellent sound. Why would that piss me off?

why would it make the original one obsolete?

Can you install Big Sur in a MacBook Pro 2012 or earlier? Or iOS 14 on an iPhone 6?
At some point the oldest devices stop receiving updates and functionality is crippled, since
the latest perks requires the latest software.
The Home Pod will still sound great, but maybe an improved Siri or stereo support for Mac computers
will require the latest Home Pod. Since some people bought several of them, I think that they will not be happy.
🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[DoctorTech]

Again
- 2 iphone models in 2 sizes
- homepod mini
- game controller
- apple tv
- airpods studio

November 3d, Apple will announce mac event for the 10th of November

You forgot Air Tags
I hope you are right about all the other stuff. I would really like to see a new Apple TV and I would probably get the game controller as well. I have 4 HomePods so I probably won't be in the market for a HomePod mini but I will still be happy to see it as the more people who use a HomePod, the more likely Apple is to keep improving it.

 

[chrisbru]

I will personally never buy one of these no matter what the price whilst it's not fully compatible with all major music streaming services like Spotify. I just refuse to be forced into using apple music. All my playlists and stuff is on spotify and I'm perfectly happy with it. I can either get a homepod and it would be very annoying to use spotify on it, or change to apple music which would also be more annoying.

Frankly even if spotify is included in a future update as mentioned in the article, I'm very skeptical about getting one, I mean what if there is a great app out there for smart speakers but then apple effectively bans the use of them except for their own? I just think it's a ****** practice by apple.... they can do it if they like, it's their product, but it'll never be for me after they've taken so many years to include spotify.

This was mentioned in WWDC, so its coming. Your second paragraph is a fair point, but that's why things like Sonos and Echo exist.

 

[essential]

what would a new HomePod2 do? sound better? sounds like HomePod just needs software updates to make it better.

A HomePod2 could have a physical input, allowing it to be used with more devices directly (computers, record players, TVs). Also, with a physical input, it could be used as a speaker and hub to link other wireless homepods to maybe setup a surround sound system that doesn't require an Apple TV to solve lip sync issues (similar to Sonos).

While I'd rather have some sort of Apple soundbar type device that you can use as a center channel, with HomePods and HomePod minis as surround, I could also see a single HomePod as a center channel, with other HomePods as surrounds, but you'd need a physical input (likely optical, or USB-C with a optical to USB-C dongle).

 

[DoctorTech]

Does anybody who owns a homepod know if they resolved the problem of the base staining certain kinds of wood treatment? I don't want white "coffee rings" all over my shelves...

I own 4 HomePods. I bought the first one about 2 months after they went on sale and I picked up the other 3 every time they were on a good sale at my local Best Buy (around Black Friday a year or two ago). All 3 of my HomePods sit directly on wooden surfaces (2 on desks and one on the headboard of my bed) the 4th on sits on a slate topped end table. I have never had any issues with the "coffee ring" that was reported shortly after the product launched. The photos of the coffee rings in tech blogs looked bad but I have personally not seen anything like that out of my 4.

 

[meduk1]

I'd like to have the HomePod to be used as a mic input - that way I could use it as the speaker and mic for video calls, FaceTime etc. I think I can only use it as a speaker in its current form.

 

[darkslide29]

Yup, I would consider myself an Apple Supergeek. I REALLY want a reason to buy the Homepod. Can't find one. Amazon stole this market away.

I got rid of my amazon echo devices (had one in every room) when I decided to make the switch to Apple HomeKit exclusively. Bought a HomePod for the living room for voice commands, and have been using my iPhone/ Apple Watch in other rooms. I look forward to buying this smaller one for rooms where the quality isn’t as critical.

I made the switch as I’ve been trying to escape the amazon and google ecosystem, mostly for privacy reasons. But to each their own.