I'm still rocking the OG HomePod, fantastic product. Ya'll crack me up sometimes haha
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New HomePod Can't Be Stereo Paired With First-Generation HomePod
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Do yourself a favour and buy some real speakers. Way better investment, and you don't have to get involved in this kind of smart accessory nonsense.
To be fair, Amazon does this too. You can't pair two different Echo models (even Dots) that are not the same generation.
However, the difference is Echos are basically free or $5 with your next toaster purchase from Amazon and HomePods are $299. 🤣
HomePod (and Apple TV) are Apple's two most underrated products, IMO. I hope someday they'll put more effort into them.
Apple needs an executive in charge of home devices like Apple TV, HomePod and a new AirPort router.
Tony Faddell wanted to sell Nest to Apple. He tried multiple times and Schiller and Cook turned him down.
What a mistake.
However, the difference is Echos are basically free or $5 with your next toaster purchase from Amazon and HomePods are $299. 🤣
HomePod (and Apple TV) are Apple's two most underrated products, IMO. I hope someday they'll put more effort into them.
Apple needs an executive in charge of home devices like Apple TV, HomePod and a new AirPort router.
Tony Faddell wanted to sell Nest to Apple. He tried multiple times and Schiller and Cook turned him down.
What a mistake.
I thought they wanted to sell these to people.
They did, they just don't care about customers who jump to buy Gen 1 of anything and you should know that by now. Did you really expect a multiple years old product to be compatible with the new one??? Different speakers, so different balance. Sound would be all out as opposed to straight forwardly pairing two of the same thing. Different hardware and protocols for pairing too with the U1, S7, and Matter. Sorry, but you should've seen this coming. Lesson learned?
Nah, Nest sucks. Some nice ideas but ultimately meh overall. Better products have won out - barely see them around anymore. Everyone I know that had a Nest has replaced it with something else.
Can I group this 1 new HomePod with my 2 HomePod mini’s?
Currently I can only group the minis and then select the OG HomePod as my 3rd speaker but this shows under “Temporary Audio Output”.
I would like to make it a permanent group for my ATV eARC output.
Currently I can only group the minis and then select the OG HomePod as my 3rd speaker but this shows under “Temporary Audio Output”.
I would like to make it a permanent group for my ATV eARC output.
It's also mandatory to buy two quality speakers. Since this article isn't about anything even resembling quality speakers, it doesn't really matter much whether they are identical.
Don’t get the negativity towards the HomePods. I have a pair hooked up to an LG C1 and the sound is awesome. I have had sound bars and Bose systems and they are not any different. Especially with Xbox series x and Apple TV. I don’t need to buy one or two. If they could have sorted mini connection with them it might have been different
If I had one major issue it’s that you cannot change the doubt balance easily
If I had one major issue it’s that you cannot change the doubt balance easily
It's insane that people expect to be able to pair 1st gen HomePods with 2nd gen HomePods. Do you expect that you could stereo pair a HomePod and a HomePod mini too? They are different acoustically. SO many damn whiners.
If you don't hear the weird glitches, hiccups, and mucked up audio effects, you're either bizarrely lucky to get HomePods that work properly, or you're a little deaf.
So I take it you have never listened, at least not for a longer time, to paired OG HomePods? Because they are excellent for the size and the price. Of course you can get better sound from a great dedicated amplifier and bigger speakers, but you‘ll pay a lot more.
My UE Boom speakers can pair between them. Have 1st and 2nd generation, work even with 3rd i tink. And majority of people wouldnt even notice the difference.
I see no reason to upgrade from my current pair of gen 1 HomePods. Since Apple is moving to spatial audio in Apple Music, I would like to see them move beyond stereo pairing of HomePods to Apple TV for even more immersive sound if it is possible (e.g. two HomePods and two minis connected at same time for incredible spatial audio and surround sound effects, etc).
If the device is free, YOU'RE the product. You pay with your data and privacy.
I really wish my Nest thermostat was HomeKit compatible. 😥
It’s 2nd gen in name only.
O wow! An indoor humidity and temperature sensor! And less tweeters, what innovation!
They’re only releasing these because they know they screwed up discontinuing the last one’s.
And no I don’t expect to stereo pair a HomePod with a mini.
St least the introduction video this time is really cool. Love it as I love the kind of music that comes with this video.
Before y'all get mad at this, I think I can kind of explain why this is the case, but before you think this is a defense, I highly encourage you to hear me out, as I promise I'm not happy with Apple on this subject:
Apple's audio drivers (at least for non-mac devices, far as I can tell) are really, really, and I mean REALLY bad. Horrible. Awful, obnoxious, outright aggravating.
Let's say I have a homepod mini stereo pair in my kitchen (I do), and I try to have my iPhone/iPad connect to these (I have), but for some reason, it fails to do so for whatever reason, and just hangs with that spinning wheel.
If I attempt to instead go back to my iPhone/iPad's integrated speakers, the device will continue to hang out with the spinning wheel, instead of just using the integrated speakers as audio output.
If I go through this same process on my Windows PC with connected audio devices, it will just #@$!ing switch to the audio output I ask for without acting like it does not know what to do.
So I'd bet this limitation isn't necessarily Apple trying to sell new HomePods, but because the'yre not invested in how these things actually work. It's that "they just connect to your new device and it's magic!" except that it doesnt always work that way.
That was my first thought. There doesn’t appear to be anything to click on like there is with the new Macs. If they gave me $50, I’d consider upgrading.
Not sure I'd use the term baffling, but disappointing seems right. Same price as last gen, less tweeters, less microphones, 802.11n wifi and not backwards compatible with older models. I guess we're just supposed to be grateful when Apple mails it in and gives a product line some over due attention.
I hope they at least have fixed some of the hardware issues the first generation suffered from.
