The Best Early Black Friday HomePod Deals

[MacRumors]

We're getting closer to Black Friday on November 24, and in this article we're taking a closer look at all of the best early Black Friday HomePod and HomePod mini discounts you can get right now.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Of course, there is a chance that we could see better deals on these iPads arrive as Black Friday gets closer. This is a risk anyone has to take while shopping during the holidays, so with that in mind, many of the deals shared below are currently their best prices ever seen. More information on these sales can be found in our Black Friday Roundup.

Best HomePod Deals

• HomePod (2nd Gen) for $279.99 at B&H, down from $299.00

Best Black Friday Deals

• The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals
• The Best Early Black Friday AirPods Deals
• The Best Early Black Friday iPhone Deals
• The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals
• The Best Early Black Friday Apple Watch Deals
• The Best Early Black Friday MacBook Deals

Anyone shopping for the second generation HomePod should look at B&H Photo's sale, which still has the best deal around online this season. You can get both colors for $279.99, down from $299.00. Although this isn't a particularly big markdown on the 2023 speaker, it remains the best deal we've tracked to date.

HomePod (2nd Gen) for $279.99 ($19 OFF)​

The new HomePod is a high-end speaker focusing more on sound quality, while the HomePod mini is aimed at people who just need an accessible and user-friendly smart speaker. If you want a more in-depth breakdown of all the differences between the two products, be sure to visit our buyer's guide.

We aren't tracking any notable discounts on the HomePod mini yet, but will update this guide when those deals start appearing.

We've begun tracking all of the season's best deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, so be sure to bookmark the page and visit it throughout the season as you do your online shopping. Our roundup mainly focuses on Apple products and related tech accessories.

Article Link: The Best Early Black Friday HomePod Deals

 

[LawJolla]

1st gen HomePods frequently hit $200 at BestBuy.

Curious that 2nd gen remains so high.

 

[akazabam]

OWC HomePod Minis are definitely refurbs of some sort. I have a few, and they work just fine, but in addition to the "bulk packaging", they had to be hard reset (long press through the red lights and three beeps at first boot), which should not be the case.

For the full size HomePod 2nd gen, they are $250 refurb straight from Apple. I have one of those, and if I didn't know better, I'd think it was new.

 

[MrMojo1]

OWC has an ultra-rare discount on Apple's HomePod mini, priced at $78.99, down from $99.00. OWC says that these are brand new HomePod mini speakers, but they are not shipped in their original retail packaging and instead come bulk packaged with a 90 day OWC fulfilled limited warranty.

OWC has been listing that price for awhile now so it's not a 'rare discount'. Also, read the reviews as many buyers found out that their Minis were refurbished units, not new, bulk units.
The Minis are a hit or miss item... Siris stink and Airdrop doesn't work well when trying to transfer songs/audiobooks to the unit from the iPhone. The newest update fixed some of the issues but not all.
Better to just tap the Mini unit with the iPhone to transfer than letting Airdrop handle it, which it can't many times.
Otherwise, the Minis' sound is fine.

 

[CarAnalogy]

By the way, even after installing the "Siri responsiveness" bug fix yesterday, it's still so slow to respond it feels broken in comparison to the Alexas I have. So if you really don't have a HomePod yet and still want one, don't expect much from that.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

1st gen HomePods frequently hit $200 at BestBuy.

Curious that 2nd gen remains so high.

Probably selling well

 

[randolorian]

Those are the smallest wrapped gifts I have ever seen.

 

[mikejd1]

i'd still go Apple Certified refurbished for HP2nd gen for 250 than that 279

 

[ProfessionalFan]

i'd still go Apple Certified refurbished for HP2nd gen for 250 than that 279

I wouldn't be shocked if we see it new for 250 on the actual Black Friday somewhere.

 

[Christoffee]

By the way, even after installing the "Siri responsiveness" bug fix yesterday, it's still so slow to respond it feels broken in comparison to the Alexas I have. So if you really don't have a HomePod yet and still want one, don't expect much from that.

I’d like to ditch my Alexas for HomePods, but using Siri through CarPlay is such a pain. It misunderstands the words I say, even when they are understood it does not know what to do with those words, and the constant “I can’t show you that while you’re driving” (and presumably not on any HomePod I have) all make it an impossible buy.

 

[JackGrealish]

I’d like to ditch my Alexas for HomePods, but using Siri through CarPlay is such a pain. It misunderstands the words I say, even when they are understood it does not know what to do with those words, and the constant “I can’t show you that while you’re driving” (and presumably not on any HomePod I have) all make it an impossible buy.

Hoping that Apple takes some serious steps forward with Siri using their investment in AI, it is leaps behind the competition.

 

[wegster]

I’d like to ditch my Alexas for HomePods, but using Siri through CarPlay is such a pain. It misunderstands the words I say, even when they are understood it does not know what to do with those words, and the constant “I can’t show you that while you’re driving” (and presumably not on any HomePod I have) all make it an impossible buy.

I borderline despise Siri as launching as a novelty, waiting to see how it progressed and then effectively stagnated with no significant improvements going on a decade while others (Google, Amazon, probably even Cortana and Samsung’s stupid thing if it’s even still around..), and fighting every morning to ‘turn of all alarms’ (only set on my phone) will almost guarantee ‘the wrong Siri’ will hear and show ‘her’ stupidity by not being able to figure out where, pray tell, are the alarms? 🤬🤮

Having said that, and having <too many> Echos all over, the minis have a surprisingly good range of hearing, will default ‘turn off the lights’ to the room the mini is in, understands ‘turn off the X lights AND Y lights’ and have not sucked overall. Home/HK has some annoyances like the gimping of conditionals for automation, and it’s stupid on being unable to specify precedence on ‘border routers’ to default to the wire AppleTVs > Minis, but being fair, the Minis have pissed me off less than the various Alexa/echo devices. YMMV as usual.

 

[svish]

Good to see discount on HomePod

 

[Deadman64]

OWC HomePod Minis are definitely refurbs of some sort. I have a few, and they work just fine, but in addition to the "bulk packaging", they had to be hard reset (long press through the red lights and three beeps at first boot), which should not be the case.

For the full size HomePod 2nd gen, they are $250 refurb straight from Apple. I have one of those, and if I didn't know better, I'd think it was new.

Agree. I just got the two I ordered last night. OWC is honestly scummy for saying these are new. I also had to hard reset like it was paired to someone else’s network. I looked up the serial numbers and of course Apple says that coverage has expired.

I’ve chatted them and they are “looking into it”. Not exactly sure what I expect, just feel a little deceived. Besides that pairing was a pain vs. usual new Apple products, they appear to be working.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

OWC HomePod Minis are definitely refurbs of some sort. I have a few, and they work just fine, but in addition to the "bulk packaging", they had to be hard reset (long press through the red lights and three beeps at first boot), which should not be the case.

For the full size HomePod 2nd gen, they are $250 refurb straight from Apple. I have one of those, and if I didn't know better, I'd think it was new.

Agree. I just got the two I ordered last night. OWC is honestly scummy for saying these are new. I also had to hard reset like it was paired to someone else’s network. I looked up the serial numbers and of course Apple says that coverage has expired.

I’ve chatted them and they are “looking into it”. Not exactly sure what I expect, just feel a little deceived. Besides that pairing was a pain vs. usual new Apple products, they appear to be working.

Isn't it illegal to sell something as "new" when it isn't?

I thought thats why companies like Best Buy have Open Box sections for the returns.

 

[Deadman64]

Isn't it illegal to sell something as "new" when it isn't?

I thought thats why companies like Best Buy have Open Box sections for the returns.

That’s what I was thinking as well - this isn’t exactly a random small website either (or at least I don’t think) considering MacRumors is linking them.

I told them that for the price I agreed to pay my understanding was that it was new and came with the Apple 1 year warranty which has value.

 

[mjs916]

1st gen HomePods frequently hit $200 at BestBuy.

Curious that 2nd gen remains so high.

The first gen is still available and is $200?

 

[mjs916]

That’s what I was thinking as well - this isn’t exactly a random small website either (or at least I don’t think) considering MacRumors is linking them.

I told them that for the price I agreed to pay my understanding was that it was new and came with the Apple 1 year warranty which has value.

Exactly. The 90 day warranty screams refurbished and not “are brand new HomePod mini speakers, but they are not shipped in their original retail packaging”.

WTF is that?

 

[Deadman64]

Exactly. The 90 day warranty screams refurbished and not “are brand new HomePod mini speakers, but they are not shipped in their original retail packaging”.

WTF is that?

I know lol. I’m still waiting on support to get back to me.

 

[wegster]

I know lol. I’m still waiting on support to get back to me.

Their facebook is active. Post there calling them out.

 

[Deadman64]

Their facebook is active. Post there calling them out.

They responded with the following:

“This is a follow-up email regarding the Apple HomePod mini you purchased from us about the expired Apple warranty. According to the team, these items are 100% new however, they will not carry an Apple warranty which is why we provided our very own 90-day OWC warranty.”

 

[wegster]

They responded with the following:

“This is a follow-up email regarding the Apple HomePod mini you purchased from us about the expired Apple warranty. According to the team, these items are 100% new however, they will not carry an Apple warranty which is why we provided our very own 90-day OWC warranty.”

lol - if they were new then why did they require a hard reset to enter setup mode, etc. ?

I’ve bought a bunch fro mOWC over th years but this seems sleazy - personally, I’d keep poking publicly on FB until they fess up.