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New Version of Original HomePod to Return Next Year

Apple knows there's a demand for this and that their original HomePods were well received.
They are waiting on the new protocol that supports lossless audio which will also push lossless on the airpods pro later.
 
Relentless Power said:
I’m all for whatever Apple decides to do with the return of the HomePod. I do think there’s a market segment for it, even though the competition is vast. I think the most unique feature about the HomePod is definitely the beamforming technology, it really enhances the acoustics, in all sizes of rooms with various dimensions.
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Funnily enough I think that's what will be sacrificed in order to bring costs down
 
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Ceelo187 said:
How do you do this? Never new this was possible.
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With the 2021 Apple TV 4K, you can enable ARC to HomePods through audio settings. Your TV needs to support ARC, and ensure the Apple TV's HDMI cable is connected to the ARC-enabled port on the TV.

It was a little fiddly to set up, but it works great. HomePod audio for Apple TV, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S.
 
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Have you ever seen an Apple product lineup being discontinued only to be evolved afterwards? I honestly can't remember any. Probably iPod HiFi --> OG HomePod, but that's not exactly the same category.

Why discontinued the old one if Apple is going to renew it in just 2 years? Doesn't make sense. If anything, Apple is not interested making another HomePod in a foreseeable future.
 
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iSayuSay said:
Have you ever seen an Apple product lineup being discontinued only to be evolved afterwards? I honestly can't remember any. Probably iPod HiFi --> OG HomePod, but that's not exactly the same category.

Why discontinued the old one if Apple is going to renew it in just 2 years? Doesn't make sense. If anything, Apple is not interested making another HomePod in a foreseeable future.
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Ipad Mini?.
 
Love my full fat homepods. They are just expensive for what is fundamentally a device that will probably fall off their support in time.

I have just had to replace a capacitor on one of mine after the whole thing died and its not for the faint of heart. It was nearly a £350 paperweight after just under 4 years of light use. Seems like its not uncommon as well.

Would be nice if they gave you some more control over the sound as well. Its far too base heavy at default and to bass light when you hit the reduce bass switch.
 
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Relentless Power said:
But here’s were Apple needs to improve, where they made a crucial mistake the first time, which is marketing. They failed to market the HomePod properly. I think Apple really needs to focus on the pricing segment and marketing, and there’s no reason that this probably couldn’t sell itself with those two ingredients as a focal point.
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I think you hit the nail on the head: the Homepod looked pretty competitive against "audiophile" wireless speakers from the likes of Sonos, Bose, Naim etc. that can cost from $500 up to $ludicrous. Unfortunately it was more often compared with "smart speakers" from Amazon and Google, with arguably inferior sound and end-of-argument low prices (because they were subsidised as cash registers and ad platforms).

However, I'm not sure how much of that was "bad marketing" and just plain old bad luck and bad timing: as I recall, the Apple marketing was primarily about sound quality rather than Siri - it's just that the buzz at the time was about Alexa et. al. and the Homepod looked like an Alexa clone. Since then, there's been a downward pressure on prices, and even Bose and Sonos have cheap(er) and more smart-assistamt-like devices.

Also, how can you sell a speaker to hipsters if it doesn't have phono inputs for a turntable so it can play gramophone records vinyl? (or do all hipster turntables have bluetooth?)

I'm probably not the target market for HomePod (nice pair of KRK Rokits hooked up to my Mac) - but I'll take the version with no "smart assistant" or, if that's non negotiable, I want a smart assistant with the voice & attitude of HAL or GLaDOS just to remind me that the computer is not my friend🙂
 
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It’s a bummer that Amazon is doing laps around them in the home speaker market, hopefully Apple does something better or cheaper with the next iteration
 
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MacRumors said:
Apple is likely to release a successor to the original HomePod next year that will feature a new display on top supporting new touch interactions, according to Mark Gurman.
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The good news is that it's good news. The bad news is that it's Gurman. The worst news is that this isn't even news, just a repeat of a rumor that's already been reported.
 
JustinCymbal said:
Awesome!!

I use my HomePod every day

I do notice a significant difference though in processing speed between AirPlaying music and podcasts to my HomePod mini vs. my HomePod

My HomePod is definitely slower in getting AirPlay to start versus when I AirPlay to my HomePod mini so having a newer chip would indeed be a welcome update!
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My HomeKit is nearly broken since I think the last 2-3 weeks.
Every device takes between 30 seconds to a whole minute to respond.

When I ask Siri to control something over my HomePod, she starts by waiting and not replying... then she says "this device is taking a long time to answer....." and then waiting.... and then it finally happens. It's not even an intermittent bug - it's been consistent.

Totally drives me crazy that they still haven't got the hang of this ecosystem after 8 years. EIGHT. YEARS.

My expectations suddenly became stellar when they said the HomeKit foundation had been partially rewritten in iOS 16 to be more reliable.
 
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That’s great but question need for the screen and multi touch lol since launch I’ve never used the HomePod on screen controls lol
 
kiranmk2 said:
If Siri and Homekit haven't improved then Apple will have learned nothing. It's a shame, as I hear that the Homepod sounded really good as a speaker. Matter should help things be more interoperable but I get the feeling that it isn't as good as many are proclaiming - sort of how the Amazon Echo can control Hue lights by being a smarthub but can only do the basic things like on/off, dimming and colours - all the more funky things still need the Hue bridge (and app).
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I find HomeKit to be better then Alexa and google. Siri might not be the best for random internet questions but it’s definitely faster at activity smart devices and scenes then the others
 
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Assuming the price is right a display would make this HomePod actually worth having since you could use it as a home hub for all the new accessories with that new open standard Apple's using to replace HomeKit.
 
iSayuSay said:
Have you ever seen an Apple product lineup being discontinued only to be evolved afterwards? I honestly can't remember any. Probably iPod HiFi --> OG HomePod, but that's not exactly the same category.

Why discontinued the old one if Apple is going to renew it in just 2 years? Doesn't make sense. If anything, Apple is not interested making another HomePod in a foreseeable future.
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Maybe the original polycarbonate MacBook which succeeded the iBook. MacBook was discontinued in 2012 and a new evolved model released in 2015. Interestingly we’re coming on 3 years since the retina MacBook was discontinued in 2019.

That said, Apple treats their accessory lines differently than their macs. Even though AirPods are insanely popular, they don’t get yearly updates.

Rogifan said:
Why are they bringing this back? Who is it for?
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Apple Music subscribers for one.
 
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Buried in this article is the news the S8 chip will have the same basic spec as the S7 and S6 which had the same basic core and no speed differences between them. That implies the Apple Watch's this fall will have the same speed processor for the 3rd year running, I'm not sure I'm thrilled by that.
 
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