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What's Next for HomePod: Larger Model With S8 Chip, Matter Support, and More

CarlJ said:
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.
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It would not surprise me if it came down to money somehow.
 
The whole HomePod space would likely do much better for Apple if they just improved Siri. Put another way, their HomePods are never going to compete well until Siri is close to or better than the competition, no matter how good the audio sounds. And by extension much of their HomeKit market. Sadly Siri has a long way to go.
 
I like the idea of the HomePod, but after owning both the original HomePod and the HomePod Mini, the reality of them sucks. Until Apple vastly improves the Home app and can connect a pair of HomePods as a stereo set, and have them stay paired for longer than a week, I’m not interested. I threw my Sonos speakers away for the same reason. WiFi speakers are just too unstable and require too much fiddlefarting to keep them working correctly. I want my speaker to just work every time I use them and WiFi speakers are incapable of providing this level of stability.
 
I have a OG stereopair attached to my ATV and I’m not impressed by the sound. Far too bass heavy for music. Some songs are even distorted.
Luckily they added the “Reduce Bass” option in later versions.

There’s no focus on voice for TV. When whatching the (amazing) dino docu on ATV+, David Attenborough’s voice disappears in the background while the music doesn’t captivate.

I just got the MacBook Pro 14 inch and I find the sound much more subtle and spatial, especially in the midranges, than the HomePod.
 
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I am so disappointed they stopped selling the original HomePods. I had two on my kitchen bench in stereo and the sound they put out was sublime. Truly impressive bass for such tiny units. Then one died and due to it being out of warranty it would have cost me the same price as a new one to replace. So I am eager to see what the new larger models are all about. I will buy two if they have similar bass response and volume as the original HomePods.
 
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It's such a no-brainer to make a competitor to the Google Nest Hub and smaller devices like the Lenovo Smart Clock with Google Assistant. I have one of the former and two of the latter, and larger homes would have a lot more. A plug-in, non-portable, expensive yet medicocre speaker is such a niche product. Something like the Bose Soundlink Revolve is far more versatile than the Homepod, being battery operated, with analog and computer inputs in addition to Bluetooth, and it's what I have.
 
CarlJ said:
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.

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.
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Ya fair enough. But might still be nice with some sort of apple design/style and would have a killer tv menu at the very least. They can also likely charge a premium for their tvs vs LG Samsung and Sony because apple is considered a premium brand despite using the same panel and there processors would likely crush those other tv makers.
 
DaveN said:
A mini media system… A small box that combines Apple TV with a video camera and in/out connections to your tv and one or two media players. Then wired or wireless connections to HomePods. That would give you full media access and output to your HomePods from the tv and other media players you have along with streaming service via the enhanced AppleTV. It also gives you video calls with. Center stage.
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I image if the Apple TV gets FaceTime support it will be be through using the iPhone as a webcam (like in Ventura), maybe partnering with Belkin for a TV mount

Just ordered a third HomePod mini, sounds like that’s not going to change much for a while - went with blue
 
MallardDuck said:
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"
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You need Apple Music for that my friend.
 
iBreatheApple said:
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.
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This has been said a hundred times, but it’s Spotify’s choice not to support HomePod. Apple opened the HomePod up for third party music players long ago.
 
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I have been using three of the og homepods for 4 years and despite its great sound quality, Siri itself is a terrible experience if you own many smart devices and use the assistance daily :( I realised that when I switched to Google home products. Such a terrible feeling when you think you do the right thing by sticking to one ecosystem.

Now I placed the homepods behind my monitors as my desk speakers to play music or use them as external speakers when playing content on the macbook/ipad...That's all they'll be doing and feel like they are meant to do.
 
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I ordered the original homepod from Germany because it was not available in Sweden. I paid 570 € but it was worth it. Great sound for my small living room and never had problems with Siri ( in English). But the mini is something I will never consider.
 
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I love my set of Honepod Mini's, but I do wish they had had a little bit more bass and volume.
 
Karma*Police said:
Sounds like a big fail. If people didn’t buy the great sounding and reasonably priced HomePods in enough volume for Apple to continue it, what makes them think people will buy a dedicated speaker with a display and camera when pretty much every Apple computing device already has that?

Also, considering the discontinuation of iPod HiFi and HomePod after just a few years, there’s a HUGE trust issue, and people would be crazy to buy this new contraption. Apple should just license Siri so its customers can have a good selection of “smart” speaker options that integrate into the Apple ecosystem.
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Well I was about to buy two HomePods before they were discontinued, so I am very likely to buy that new version.
Also I think Apple has better market analysis than you do.
 
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If they also add a separate subwoofer like Sonos Sub G3, I may consider to go back to HomePod.
A HomePod (or two) does sound mediocre. It needs some more low end to back up.
 
Daimaou said:
I threw my Sonos speakers away for the same reason. WiFi speakers are just too unstable and require too much fiddlefarting to keep them working correctly. I want my speaker to just work every time I use them and WiFi speakers are incapable of providing this level of stability.
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Sounds like you have network problems. Or at least a network environment that is unusual (whether you’re aware of it or not). I’ve had Sonos speakers (a 5.1 system, started with a Beam, upgraded to an Arc), for nearly 3 years now, and I’ve never had them fall off the network or fail to stay in sync. The setup Just Works, more reliable than even Apple. Per Sonos recommendations, the Arc is connected to the house network via Ethernet, and the surrounds and Sub are connected via WiFi. And there are a whole lot of other people with similar experiences out there. There’s a lot of assertions in your statement, presented as universal truths, and they are... not.
 
Make it $199, with the same sound or better as original HomePod, automatic buying at least 2 for me.
 
Please make one that works with your Mac and is lag free?
Not everyone uses speakers as standalone music speakers, but would like them to work as computer speakers.
 
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