No latency and will work with a zillion types of sources
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What's Next for HomePod: Larger Model With S8 Chip, Matter Support, and More
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No latency and will work with a zillion types of sources
As much as it comes up, I don't see Apple making an actual television. 95% of the cost is the panel, which they don't make. They'd be buying panels from one of the established TV makers, in order to put them in a shiny Apple enclosure with an Apple TV glued inside. There's not a huge win there over just buying an LG or Sony TV and plugging an Apple TV into it. Also, the replacement cycles for the screen and the smarts are quite different. You might keep a really great screen for 5-10 years, while you're likely to want to upgrade the computer driving it (i.e. the Apple TV) more often.I'm digging the move to creating more home theatre options as well! An actual Apple TV TV? Sound Bar? Yes please!!
On the other hand, a "HomePod Home Theater", where you get an Apple soundbar that could either be the front L/C/R channels, or could be the center channel while you use dedicated HomePods for the L/R channels (as well as the surrounds), could be an awesome setup. At this point they'd have a hard time prying me away from my Sonos setup (regardless of how much I like the Apple ecosystem), just because the Sonos gear is here, and works great, and was spendy. So they'd have to give me an incredibly compelling reason to replace it. But for a lot of other people, a HomePod Home Theater would be an awesome thing.
What would he really cool are HomePods that would allow HomePod Minis to connect directly to them and act as rear surround speakers.
I just want to be able to play music from my local itunes library from the homepod (instead of having to push from the computer).
"Hey Siri, play playlist sting favorites on bedroom kitchen and living room"
"Hey Siri, play playlist sting favorites on bedroom kitchen and living room"
Thank you. Idk why I just thought of that now. I’ve wanted this for a while but was always thinking it would happen over AirPlay. But if the HomePods could “broadcast” the audio track that would probably work.
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We can peer back in time with James Webb and see the earliest galaxies and yet we can’t even get Spotify on HomePod. Absolute joke. And shame on Apple for limiting Bluetooth. I love my original but I hate the restrictions and I hate that Spotify isn’t supported. Couple that with Siri being hardly any more intelligent now than at the time of her inception (aside from some movie and sports data) - Apple can knock right off. The idea of minis around the house is nice except everything above is an issue.
I probably don’t use Siri as much as others. Maybe so I won’t be disappointed or maybe it’s just what I’m used to. Out of curiosity, what is something you want Siri to do on a HomePod that she can’t?
The original HomePod failed because it was too expensive for the mass market. If apple wants this next version to be more successful, it has to lower the price. Just my (humble) opinion.
Yes.... Hopefully the new Apple HomePod SoundBar (with AppleTV and integrated camera for FaceTime calls projected onto your large screen TV).
And of course, support for two HomePod Minis as the surround speakers.
Heck, why not support for 4 HomePod Minis. Full Dolby Atmos Support (7 Speakers)!!!
I think the ship has sailed on HomePod and similar devices for Apple. Amazon has cornered that market and Alexa is so much better than Siri it’s not even funny.
I think if Apple really wanted to succeed they would need to revamp Siri at the very least, and offer cheaper HomePod models that don’t carry the mini (aka cheap) stigma that I would imagine is harmful to a luxury brand that is trying to sell on being higher quality than the competition. Otherwise it’s just going to be an Apple fan product and not much else, like the Apple TV.
I think if Apple really wanted to succeed they would need to revamp Siri at the very least, and offer cheaper HomePod models that don’t carry the mini (aka cheap) stigma that I would imagine is harmful to a luxury brand that is trying to sell on being higher quality than the competition. Otherwise it’s just going to be an Apple fan product and not much else, like the Apple TV.
It is impossible to overstate how good the OG HomePods sounded when stereo paired together. Nearly everyone who visited my home were blown away by the audio quality when they first heard it. Extremely sad that they decided to discontinue it, hopefully it'll be back soon.
OG didn't do enough for the price. Hopefully they figure it out and add AppleTV capabilities along with INPUT from other devices.
Don’t agree…I have 2 in stereo pair and the sound quality is considerably better than the tv sound….an lg tv I paid £1800 for. So £600 which corrects the sound quality that matches the picture quality is well worth it…
I like the surround sound idea. I have 3 minis as well as the the 2 originals. Would love them to be able to talk to each other as well as being able to add the new version
Biggest thing for me but unlikely is have a battery powered version that’s is powered in a dock…they could do MagSafe for example
the biggest disadvantage for me and HomePods is not being able to move them around without unplugging. This needs to change
Also different colours
Biggest thing for me but unlikely is have a battery powered version that’s is powered in a dock…they could do MagSafe for example
the biggest disadvantage for me and HomePods is not being able to move them around without unplugging. This needs to change
Also different colours
The most basic day to day things that aren’t even that serious like “how long do I cook boneless chicken thighs in an instant pot.” And I don’t know what siris exact response for that is, but those are the types of things I’m talking about (btw I know for a fact Alexa gives me the answer I’m looking for). There are many times I think, let me give Siri a shot, just knowing it’s gonna fail. And then it does. I use a combination of siri and Alexa probably 50+ times a day. And Alexa is FAR more practical in a massive number of scenarios. Many people use voice assistance for more than smart home commands and setting reminders. I’m an Apple fanboy, so I’d rather siri be better - trust me. But she’s (it’s) not. By far.
Put Alexa in that thing and Apple would have a real winner.
Alexa is dumb as a post, but she does what I need her to do, and she does it in expensively. She wakes me up, reports the weather, turns my lights on, adjusts my thermostat, and plays my music. Unfortunately, she can never seem to answer any questions I throw at her.
Google, on the other hand, has consistently amazed me with its AI implementation. Siri is somewhere in the middle.
Alexa is dumb as a post, but she does what I need her to do, and she does it in expensively. She wakes me up, reports the weather, turns my lights on, adjusts my thermostat, and plays my music. Unfortunately, she can never seem to answer any questions I throw at her.
Google, on the other hand, has consistently amazed me with its AI implementation. Siri is somewhere in the middle.
A positive is that least it sounds like it costs. Not that you can’t a $300 speaker that sounds better. But I don’t think anyone who was okay with the price has strong opinions against the way it sounds. I could always appreciate the idea of something sounding even better than it does, but I’m happy with the quality.
HomePod Mini is easily the worst Apple product I've ever had... and I've had a lot over 20 years. I think Apple should work on making a Mini that actually works first before trying to come out with another bigger more expensive speaker. I despise my HomePod Mini and the only reason I haven't smashed it into pieces is I use it for Homekit gateway so I can control things outside my home network. That is about the only thing it actually does as promised. It certainly isn't a good speaker or Siri assistant.
That’s so interesting to hear. I guess it boils down to the personality and types of questions you ask. Or maybe it’s just I know what things I can and can’t ask Alexa. I find she has the answer to my question 90% of the time. Never used google so can’t speak to it.
The vast majority of home audio a multi device environment. Sonos IKEA SYMFONISK picture frame an example. Amazing sound with cool hidden picture frame. The Apple one maybe two speaker is not going to get it done. Simple as that.
My understanding is, Apple put in the necessary hooks, a while back, so that Spotify could add HomePod support, like they'd been complaining about so loudly, and... Spotify has not taken any further action. Like maybe it was more fun to complain than to actually implement the thing they kept saying their users wanted.
I for one am interested in a slightly larger-than-the-original HomePod. I was very close to buying the original, but Apple blew it in a number of ways. The first was the initial lack of support for a true stereo pair. They also had a number of software glitches, then there was the revelation that audio recordings were being captured and listened to (to improve Siri!), and the unit was slightly overpriced.
They crammed a lot of tech into a pint sized package, and that's part of the problem. A slightly larger unit should be easier and less expensive to manufacture, and have less heat issues. If they make a new one, and can break the $250 barrier (which is still on the high side for a small powered "bookshelf" style speaker) then I might just pick up a pair.
My only concern, still, is having an always-on "smart" assistant listing to everything going on in my house. I have serious trust issues with "smart assistants" which is also why we have no Amazon or Google listening devices either. Those two other companies are completely untrustworthy. Apple has previously been better in that department, however they have been eroding that trust lately (past few years). Speech recognition needs to be done on-device. I need assurance audio isn't going to the cloud.
They crammed a lot of tech into a pint sized package, and that's part of the problem. A slightly larger unit should be easier and less expensive to manufacture, and have less heat issues. If they make a new one, and can break the $250 barrier (which is still on the high side for a small powered "bookshelf" style speaker) then I might just pick up a pair.
My only concern, still, is having an always-on "smart" assistant listing to everything going on in my house. I have serious trust issues with "smart assistants" which is also why we have no Amazon or Google listening devices either. Those two other companies are completely untrustworthy. Apple has previously been better in that department, however they have been eroding that trust lately (past few years). Speech recognition needs to be done on-device. I need assurance audio isn't going to the cloud.