Coming up to a week ago, Apple announced the launch dates for the long-awaited HomePod. Of course, HomePod was originally announced in June 2017 at WWDC and was slated for a December release, but it was later pushed back to early 2018, which translates to February 9th. This has been one of the weirdest product launches Apple has pulled off in recent history, and as a result, the device has received some criticism. Let’s take a quick look at HomePod’s journey from Cupertino - to San Jose - to your Living Room, and see if this criticism is justified.
Part 1: Late to Market?
Firstly, the HomePod is criticised for being late to the market. Both Amazon and Google have had assistant-cylinders available for quite some time now, the Echo has been on sale since late 2014. It did emerge, however, that HomePod was in development, primarily as a speaker, within Apple long before Alexa was announced by Amazon. If this is accurate, then the argument of Apple no longer leading the way is not quite true - Apple engineers were experimenting with this project a long time before the competition was. There was even a joke within Apple that someone on the inside had been selling secrets to Amazon upon the unveiling of the original Echo. The period of time between the initial speculation and the unveiling of HomePod was actually relatively short, compared to the Apple Watch for example - which was years - the first rumours of Siri-in-a-can started around the late Summer of 2016. There was lots of speculation surrounding the design of this device, early rumours said that HomePod would look like a 2013 Mac Pro covered in a speaker mesh, and this turned out to be incredibly accurate. A big question that remained unanswered however was whether or not it would have a screen to display information, particularly after Amazon debuted the Echo Show. Phil Schiller even said in May 2017 that smart home devices needed a screen if they were going to be useful, fuelling rumours that the Siri-cylinder would indeed have a screen. We now know that HomePod does not have a screen capable of displaying information like the Echo Show does, but given Schiller’s comments, it’s safe to assume Apple is at the very least exploring a HomePod with a display. Above all else, however, was whether or not Siri’s capabilities on the device would be any better than Siri on iOS. As far as we know, Siri is mostly unchanged on HomePod.
Part 2: It’s here, but it isn’t.
As expected, the HomePod was formally unveiled at WWDC in June 2017. The best part was the name had not leaked online prior to the keynote. The device matched rumoured descriptions, had no proper screen, and normal Siri. Apple touted the device as a premium speaker with a smart assistant built in, bridging the gap between devices such as the Echo and speakers like Sonos. It’s worth noting that the Alexa-enabled Sonos One didn’t exist at this point. WWDC had very limited demos of the device - it was only capable of playing music - Siri clearly wasn’t ready yet. Initial impressions of the sound were incredibly positive. However, the fact Apple had surprised us and focused on audio quality and made no mention of any Siri improvements was (and still is) incredibly worrying. Are they genuinely incapable of improving Siri? If any device was going to warrant a major Siri-overhaul, it was this. I for one had mixed feelings about this product, whilst I wanted one, I wasn’t sure if Apple had taken the best approach. The final kick in the teeth, however, was the launch date. Apple had finally announced they were entering the smart speaker market, but the device wouldn’t be launching until December 2017 - a whole 6 months away.
Part 3: It’s still not here.
By late 2017 Apple’s September keynote came and went with no mention of HomePod, we had not one but two iPhone launches and Sonos had released the Sonos One - a brilliant sounding speaker with a brilliant voice assistant built in, courtesy of Amazon, and the Christmas period was fast approaching with no sign of a HomePod launch. In November Apple announced that the device was delayed until early 2018 as they ‘needed a little more time to get it ready’ - an excuse they had used a year earlier when the AirPods were delayed. Would there be a Spring keynote? Would it be a random release just like the AirPods? This gave critics lots to talk about - HomePod was already announced 3 years after the Amazon Echo, and now Apple had missed the holidays and it would be launching in 2018. You got to remember though, Apple is rarely the first to market, instead of rushing a product, they perfect it, and launch it when it’s ready. Hopefully, this will be the case with HomePod.
Part 4: It’s here, and we (mostly) know when you can order one.
A few days ago I was helping a customer at work getting a replacement for his cracked Apple Watch when I loaded up Safari on an iMac. Apple’s website is the homepage and I saw the launch dates for HomePod on the front page. I was immediately very excited as I had decided quite a while ago I would be buying one. Preorders would start the coming Friday (26th January) and it will be available in just under 2 weeks on 9th February. This information did not come as a surprise as lots of HomePod information was unearthed in the final iOS 11.2.5 beta and Apple had just received FCC approval for the sale of HomePod, so we knew a launch was imminent. We knew that the 26th would be pre-order day, but Apple did not specify a time. I woke up for 8:01 am (UK time), just in case that was when pre-orders would go live, following the majority of Apple’s launches. I had been told through my job that it would be 1:30 pm, but no major websites would agree with this so I didn’t want to rely on it. It did turn out to correct, so I’m thankful for that information. Despite being ready to go at 1:30 pm, it didn’t turn out to be necessary, as here we are over 24 hours later and at the time of writing launch day delivery is still available. After a few initial Apple Store errors, I ordered a white HomePod, and I will review and unbox it on this site and on iCollectApple starting February 9th. Initial reviews agree with what people said at WWDC, apparently the audio sounds great.
Does it deserve the criticism?
Sure, Apple is releasing this product over 3 years after Alexa first arrived on the scene, and 18 months after Google’s Home arrived. Both Amazon and Google have multiple assistant devices on sale, varying in both size and capability, but Apple is releasing a single model. I’d imagine Apple will eventually release a smaller model, provided the sound quality is still up to scratch, seeing as this is how Apple is marketing the device. This would make the HomePod more accessible and improve its market share, but this will give competitors yet more time to improve their already massive head-start. Whilst it’s definitely too early tell, anyone arguing that the HomePod will be a flop because Apple has released it too late, needs to take a look at iPod, iPhone and iPad and realise that Apple doesn’t have to be first to market in order to redefine a category.
In regards to sound quality, HomePod’s only genuine competitor is the Sonos One, seeing as that is the only smart speaker with audio quality to match. HomePod should win this one seeing as I’ve been told the sound is on a par with the Sonos PLAY:3, which sounds significantly better than the One.
Another big area for critique is the performance of Siri versus Alexa and Google assistant. Personally, from my own experience, Google has the most accurate and fastest voice recognition, Alexa has the greatest range of capabilities, and Siri is most contextually aware. It’s great that Siri understands what you’re trying to say, but it isn’t much use if s/he can’t perform the required action. Seeing as Siri has had seemingly little to no improvements before moving into the HomePod, this is already a defeat for Apple in this market. Siri does get better with most major iOS updates, however, so hopefully, s/he will improve on HomePod too.
If you’re thinking of HomePod as a direct rival to the £100 Amazon Echo and Google Home, it’s easy to say Apple has entirely missed the boat on this one. HomePod costs £319 and the assistant functionality is arguably limited compared to its cheaper rivals. The thing is, Apple never intended it as a direct competitor to these products, rather a competitor to high-end speakers with Siri built in. As iMore’s Rene Ritchie tweeted, AirPods are Apple’s vision of the best way to listen to music on the go, and now HomePod is the best way to listen to music at home.
HomePod is a very complex product, and no one is entirely sure where it fits in, so the criticism it is getting is mostly unfair. I for one am really excited to see what it’s like, even more so seeing as it’s Apple’s first new product category since the Apple Watch in 2015, and only the second to be introduced during Tim Cook’s time as CEO. My only criticism of HomePod is how botched the process of unveiling it and actually getting it on sale has felt - something very unusual for Apple. Give it 2 or 3 years and I think you might find that HomePod will have re-defined what you come to expect from the smart speaker category.
:))