Apple Discontinued the HomePod. HomePod mini Lives On

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It seems Apple’s expensive smart speaker is going the way of the iPod Hi-Fi. When Apple introduced the iPod Hi-Fi in 2006 for $349, people thought it was overpriced and limited in functionality. It was basically an iPod dock with good speakers. You could easily make a system with similar sound for less money or simply use a smaller, cheaper, and almost-as-good sounding iPod speaker. For the price, it lacked the features people actually wanted in an iPod dock.

When Apple introduced the HomePod in 2018 for $349, people thought it was overpriced and limited in functionality. Wait. No, yes, I have that right. The same price, the same idea: fantastic sound in a compact space, and… the same commercial failure. The HomePod promised immersive sound, and it delivered. With one or more HomePod Units, you could fill a room with fantastic, high-quality music. But it was still trapped in Apple’s ecosystem, and Siri still lacked the features that would allow it to compete with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Home smart assistants. It was more of a speaker than smart speaker, and was about seven times the amount people expected to pay for a smart speaker. Even for other high-end speakers, it was priced significantly higher than the competition, even if it did sound better.

Now, Apple has discontinued the HomePod. It just wasn’t popular enough. However, it seems they may have learned a lesson. Apple hasn’t discontinued the HomePod mini.

The mini Stands Alone

As of this writing, you can still buy a HomePod in White on Apple’s site for $299. However, the Space Gray version is out of stock and won’t be re-stocked. Users of Apple’s HomePod will still get updates, but from here on out, Apple’s focusing on the HomePod mini. The HomePod Mini, which is just $99, is cheaper yet still effective. It also works better for filling a space with multiple rooms with sound, as users don’t have to drop nearly $1,000 to cover three rooms. The HomePod mini is better at accomplishing Apple’s goal of filling a space with music and Siri than the larger, more expensive HomePod was.

“HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99. We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini.”

– From an Apple statement provided to TechCrunch

Apple seems to like how the HomePod mini has sold, at least for the time being. The smaller smart speaker has impressive sound for its small size, and you can more easily fill a space with music with multiple HomePod minis. It’s just as smart as the larger version, just for a third of the price.

The question is, if the HomePod mini is the only HomePod, is it really a “mini?”

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Sources:

• Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch
• R. Lawler, Engadget