Leaker: HomePod 'Mini' Will Launch Next Month Costing $99

[DarwinOSX]

There is no way this thing will be $99. $149 is the LOW end.

Tend to agree but I’ll get a couple.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Yeah exactly, comparing a blatantly obsolete cable to a widely used current standard make no sense. I mean, yeah, the Bluetooth standard is a bit poor... but still, having no other connectivity is the reason I don’t buy it.

Bluetooth sounds like crap and probably won’t work with the dsp since it is a radio signal. Airplay is far superior.
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Would be fantastic if you could add these small pods to a multi-speaker setup. Current HomePods only allow for a stereo link.

Apple should just buy Sonos and be done with it. They could do with some decent management.

 

[DarwinOSX]

yeah, and people were holding their iPhone 4 wrong, that's why they couldn't make calls.

not everything is a user error. the HomePods are incredibly bass-heavy, and not everyone has the ability to put them in different locations that will dramatically improve the sound.

They do have too much bass although a stereo pair seems to have more balanced bass. Need to be able to eq it but I think they prefer the beam forming and dsp to work the way they do.

 

[Kylo83]

Hate my homepods the sound never comes out where I want it, the tweeters face the wall, I try moving them but they need normal front facing sound and the eq needs changing

 

[dazz87]

This should've been the price of the regular Homepod when it first launch.

 

[Lancer]

Sign me up!

$99 US will be about $149 AU so not bad, still way more than the Google one but still affordable, this and a new Apple TV would be nice for this xMas.

 

[Abazigal]

This has probably been mentioned but.... Apple sells a watch band that is made out of recycled yarn for $99. Are they really going to price a smart speaker at the same price? Maybe that doesn't really matter, but it just seems weird.

The watch band is an optional accessory and its price tag reflects the value of having an ultra-comfortable option for wearing it to sleep for sleep-tracking purposes.

Jon Prosser has this to say about the HomePod.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1314697244973690880

If that’s Apple’s end-game, it makes sense for them to price the HomePod competitively in order to get a foothold into the home and power future products like the Apple Glasses. Even if it means lower margins on a product.

 

[grobik]

I’d be into a few of these just too add Siri functionality and tell them to play music on my Sonos speakers.

 

[TheRealNick]

Bluetooth sounds like crap and probably won’t work with the dsp since it is a radio signal. Airplay is far superior.

Airplay is superior but not supported by enough devices. There’s no easy way to connect it to my TV, for example.

Also, we have Apple presenting this amazing sounding speaker which can only play crappy sounding streaming services unless you’re going to go back to old CD ripping or buy HQ music because there is no easy way to connect, for example, a record player.

It’s an absolute joke of a product that could be make amazing with minimal changes. And those changes wouldn’t hurt anyone that still wants to use it in the way it’s currently designed.

 

[2rd]

The best reply I’ll read this weekend - spot on 👍👍👍

 

[chris_tha_god]

Airplay is superior but not supported by enough devices. There’s no easy way to connect it to my TV, for example.

I have a Marantz A/V receiver with AirPlay built in. It's great, it doesn't even turn the TV on, just goes right to my entertainment system speakers. It is "easy" but it's not a cost effective option if you don't have / need an A/V receiver in the first place.

 

[pilotpat]

Sounds weak and tinny.

I disagree. Aren't personal opinions fun?

Edit, they do sound that way at first, but after doing the Trueplay process, I find them to work pretty well for the price.

 

[kazmac]

At that price, I might pick one up.

 

[ebernet]

And still holds zero value to me if it can't even be used as a basic bluetooth speaker

The idea behind a HomePod is for it to stream directly from the Internet, or keep on playing when your phone rings if you AirPlay 2 to it. I would HATE my HomePod to stop playing every time I need two answer my phone, or to go "ding" every time I get a notification on my iPhone. It is an Apple product. They have PLENTY of Bluetooth products (AirPods, AirPods Pro, Beats headphones, Beats speakers). That is NOT what this is made for (Bluetooth). I understand it has no appeal to you, but a Bluetooth Siri Speaker has NO appeal to me...

 

[ebernet]

Yeah, because Bluetooth is so obsolete and every device that can make use of a speaker has Airplay /sarcasm

Apple isn't playing for "Every Device" Apple is playing for Apple device users. There are plenty of cheaper crappier products to fill that role....

 

[ebernet]

Your comment is so condescending. Nobody is asking for free devices but if you're going to pay more for a device it should at least be compatible with other music services and offer bluetooth support. I realise the sound quality is superb but it's so limited compared to what Sonos have to offer.

LOLOLOL
Sonos products go through a crappy app. The HomePod IS compatible with Amazon Music, Spotify, what have you. Using Airplay allows you to not interrupt the music. Oh, and, let's not forget......
SONOS does not do Bluetooth!!!!!!!

 

[greenbreadmmm]

Awesome news!

I wonder how the S5 processor compares to the A8?

I had been struggling internally with what they would put in these new pods. Figured maybe a single core a12 they could bin from faulty dual core chips.

But this is a very interesting twist!

Shows how far the S chips have come !

 

[DarwinOSX]

And still holds zero value to me if it can't even be used as a basic bluetooth speaker

Nobody cares.
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Would seem like the intention is to compete with Amazon and Google's mid-level voice assistants, but Siri is still pretty far behind those two and would need dramatic improvements before a low-cost Siri speaker becomes a viable thing.

My HomePod is ace because of the sound quality; Siri understands maybe 70% of my requests, and even those it understands then return an incorrect result and I have to override manually anyway (playing the wrong version of an album or song for instance).

I don't know why I'd want a second-rate speaker driven by a second-rate voice assistant.

I don't know why you would comment on something that hasn't even been announced.

 

[DarwinOSX]

The idea behind a HomePod is for it to stream directly from the Internet, or keep on playing when your phone rings if you AirPlay 2 to it. I would HATE my HomePod to stop playing every time I need two answer my phone, or to go "ding" every time I get a notification on my iPhone. It is an Apple product. They have PLENTY of Bluetooth products (AirPods, AirPods Pro, Beats headphones, Beats speakers). That is NOT what this is made for (Bluetooth). I understand it has no appeal to you, but a Bluetooth Siri Speaker has NO appeal to me...

Bluetooth sounds like crap and will not work with Apple's DSP. As has been said a million times...
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This should've been the price of the regular Homepod when it first launch.

That makes zero sense.