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New HomePod Can't Be Stereo Paired With First-Generation HomePod

This stuff kind of sucks. We have stereo paired HomePod minis in our bedroom but just one HomePod in our living room. We’ve recently (as in this weekend) given up on HomeKit/Matter for our smart home solution and went with Alexa - Apple is just so far behind in the Siri/Smart home game.

Now this? Instead of us buying tbis HomePod to stereo pair with our first gen HomePod, we won’t buy this at all and will continue to find ourselves seeking other companies for smart home and speaker solutions sadly.
 
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This is quite cool. Will there be another product release tomorrow?

Temperature and humidity is the reason to get the new HomePod. Yeah baby!

Does the new HomePod sound much better, I 🤔. This time I would buy 2 to get the stereo pair.
 
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Why is this surprising? This is a limitation even with the best home-speaker manufacturer Sonos. (Of course they give 15% or 30% upgrade discounts).
 
Lampekap said:
Isn't it amazing how only Apple can make your current hardware obsolete? Is there a single Apple product that is either not repairable or chip /OS version dependant, meaning not supported after they no longer want it to be supported?
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I remember how sometimes I would boot into my Boot Camp Windows 7 install just to run the exact same program that couldn’t be run on macOS because it was too old a version. Same computer.

I know developer support plays a role in this, but nonetheless I felt that situation exemplified perfectly the state of Apple and “legacy” support. I say “legacy” in quotations for obvious reasons. Apple’s idea of old and mine are two different things.
 
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Because they’re not compatible. Everything isn’t some conspiracy. Tim Cook isn’t meeting a bunch of CEOs in his basement trying to come up with better ways is the fleece people out of their money.

If you don’t want it, or it’s not for you, then don’t buy it. I will probably buy two of them and I’m sure they will sell better than the old ones at least.

The real problem is Siri is terrible so not many people are going to spend $300 on a Siri speaker. That was the problem with the last one and Apple hasn’t fixed that. This just makes confused Siri sound better.
 
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Its not as if it couldn’t be paired for stereo to the older unit while it was still under development, it’s that they intentionally blocked it.

And who do you think is to blame for that?
The Marketing Department or Engineering Department?
 
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MacWiz_007 said:
Called it! Thanks again, Tim Apple. Can't wait to hear the die hards defend this one! 🤣
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I would call myself a fan, but not a die hard fan. However, that really has nothing to do with the "defense" since it is really pretty simple...you don't want to stereo pair two speakers that aren't identical. It can produce anywhere between "not great" results to downright bad results that even people who know nothing about audio can hear. Even in an alternate dimension where someone else made the hardware decisions and Apple was making the software, they STILL wouldn't have made them pair even if they had no possible financial gain because it is a very Apple thing to think about the usability experience. You don't have to be a "fan" let alone a die hard fan to know pairing different physical stereo speakers is a bad idea AND that Apple is known for caring about the usability experience for their users (hence the owning the hardware and software).

However, WHY they choose to change the tweeter count in the speakers (likely the main reason you can't stereo pair) is certainly up for debate. The "fun" reason is Apple forcing people to buy more products...blah blah blah...because it creates drama and some people LOVE the drama. I enjoy reading all of the "money grab" comments with no technical context, it's like watching reality TV, just plain fun. Are people right or wrong? I don't even care, because it's entertaining. I personally believe the reason is likely a more complicated blend of money (for sure), current and future product roadmap reasons, supply chain, software, etc...
 
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MacRumors said:


Following Apple's new full-size HomePod announcement, many owners of the original HomePod are wondering if it's possible to pair the new HomePod with the first-generation smart speaker of the same name. The short answer is no.

HomePod-2023-Gallery-1.jpeg

Creating a stereo pair with the new HomePod requires another second-generation HomePod. In the footnotes from Apple's press release:
That's not to say the two devices can't be used together at all. If you have a new HomePod and first-generation ‌HomePod in the home, they can be used to play your music in different rooms, and features like Intercom will work across both devices.

In another notable development, a software update appears to be on the way for the HomePod mini that will add two key features currently exclusive to the new HomePod – temperature and humidity sensing in indoor environments.

The new ‌HomePod ‌costs $299 and is available in both white and midnight color options. In-store availability and deliveries to customers will begin Friday, February 3 in select countries.

Article Link: New HomePod Can't Be Stereo Paired With First-Generation HomePod
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How quickly we forget the 1st commandment of Apple products - Thou shalt not buy first gen Apple products!
 
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That makes sense. Although it will still be a race to the bottom with people believing it's Apple being mean.
 
Lampekap said:
Isn't it amazing how only Apple can make your current hardware obsolete? Is there a single Apple product that is either not repairable or chip /OS version dependant, meaning not supported after they no longer want it to be supported?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the eco-system.
 
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People waiting for pre-order or delivery? Mine arrived already... 🤣🥳
What do they call Space Gray now.... Midnight?
They shipped mine with 2 extra tweeters and 2 extra microphones, how nice of them!

jokes aside... I won't be purchasing smart speakers moving forward... they obviously EOL them rather quickly considering its a .... speaker. My HomePod and HomePod mini sound great and work fine, but I personally won't be replacing them in the future with newer versions of either.
 

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SmugMaverick said:
Its like they're some desperate company in need of the cash, I could almost forgive them if that were the case.

The disgusting little things they do to screw over their customers is bordering hilarious now.
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Stagemanager style. Next is backtrack damage control where they announce they love their customers so much they found a way to make it backwards-compatible after a lot of complaints AFTER of course they sold millions of units so customers cannot return them.
 
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Arsenikdote said:
I would call myself a fan, but not a die hard fan. However, that really has nothing to do with the "defense" since it is really pretty simple...you don't want to stereo pair two speakers that aren't identical. It can produce anywhere between "not great" results to downright bad results that even people who know nothing about audio can hear. Even in an alternate dimension where someone else made the hardware decisions and Apple was making the software, they STILL wouldn't have made them pair even if they had no possible financial gain because it is a very Apple thing to think about the usability experience. You don't have to be a "fan" let alone a die hard fan to know pairing different physical stereo speakers is a bad idea AND that Apple is known for caring about the usability experience for their users (hence the owning the hardware and software).

However, WHY they choose to change the tweeter count in the speakers (likely the main reason you can't stereo pair) is certainly up for debate. The "fun" reason is Apple forcing people to buy more products...blah blah blah...because it creates drama and some people LOVE the drama. I enjoy reading all of the "money grab" comments with no technical context, it's like watching reality TV, just plain fun. Are people right or wrong? I don't even care, because it's entertaining. I personally believe the reason is likely a more complicated blend of money (for sure), current and future product roadmap reasons, supply chain, software, etc...
Click to expand...
I understand what you are saying, trust me, but if I did want to pair them, I couldn't. That is my point. 90+% of the people on earth would never hear the difference anyway. No worries, I will stick to my dumb Acoustat Model 3's and B&W's. Also, the 1st gen version will be on the obsolete list in no time and yet the defenders will still defend. It's what they do.
 
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Media Pimp said:
Unless they made the 2nd gen HomePods to sound EXACTLY like the 1st gen (they didn't), this makes absolute sense . Why would one want to setup a stereo pair for two speakers that sound different?
Click to expand...
HomePods adjust their sound based on room acoustics in order to have the same(-ish) frequency response regardless of placement. So it actually would make sense, unless Apple decided that the 2nd gen should have a substantially different sound signature.
 
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