The HomePod 2 has been teased again to launch in 2023, but even with the few details we’re not convinced this speaker will do any better than its failed predecessor.
Apple’s attempt at one of the The best smart speakersthe original HomePod, was a very impressive device. It featured amazing sound quality, an attractive design, and a decent voice assistant. but its high price seemed to put many people off, and after only three years on sale it was discontinued. the HomePod Mini has remained, but you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know it existed, as Apple doesn’t seem to mention it very often.
However, that could change in 2023 Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (opens in new tab) – who has a solid track record of Apple leaks – and claims a new HomePod should be “coming pretty soon”.
While there’s always a touch of excitement about an upcoming Apple product launch, we can’t help but feel it HomePod 2 should be another disappointment for the tech giant.
The problem with the HomePod 2
One big advantage the new HomePod is expected to have over the original is a cheaper price point. When the first HomePod launched, it cost a whopping $349 / £319 / AU$499, which was more expensive than its competitors’ most luxurious offerings, like the $229 / £219 / $349 Google Nest Hub Max and the $199.99 / £189.99 / AU$329 Amazon Echo Studio.
That means even if it’s priced more in line with those other premium smart speakers, a price tag of around $200 / £200 / AU$300 is probably still out of many people’s budgets. What’s more, the HomePod 2 will also be a tough sell when it’s up against the much cheaper devices from Amazon and Google – speakers priced at around $50 / £50 / AU$80 (or even less if they’re on sale ) costs.
Sure, it’ll be more sonically capable, but not everyone appreciates the audio finesse enough to spend four or five times more for something that’s otherwise very similar functionally to the cheaper speakers.
Another hurdle the HomePod 2 is unlikely to overcome is its reliance on Apple’s ecosystem. With other peripheral Apple gadgets like the Apple TV becoming increasingly difficult to use without an iPhone or iPad, we expect the HomePod 2 will share the original’s dependency on Apple’s phones and tablets (you’ll need an iPhone or iPad to set up HomePod).
Also, we found that the HomePod offers a lot of support for apple musicbut was much less practical for people using one of the others The Best Music Streaming Serviceslike Spotify – You had to AirLink the music to your speaker instead of being able to run it natively, which meant aspects of the setup were sluggish. There’s currently no reason to think the HomePod 2 would be any different in this regard.
If you’re all-in in the Apple ecosystem this won’t be a problem, but people who only own a few Apple devices or none at all wouldn’t be motivated to buy a HomePod 2 via a system-agnostic option from Amazon or Google, or even something like that Sonos One. That is, unless Apple decides to make it a more agnostic speaker, but don’t hold your breath.
Finally, with the HomePod 2, there’s the unfortunate possibility that the smart speaker train has already left the station. That’s not to say the fad is dead – smart tech likely won’t be more widespread until the release of objecta unified smart home platform – but we assume that many people who want a smart speaker already have one and are therefore already hooked into one of the existing systems.
If you already have an Amazon Echo, you’ll likely get another Alexa-powered device when you buy a second smart speaker, as it’s easier to integrate into your setup and offers more advanced features than something that runs on Siri or Google Assistant. Since very few people are likely to have a HomePod, Apple needs to make a compelling presentation if it wants to entice people to get its speaker over one of the brands they’re already invested in.
We’ll have to wait and see what Apple’s HomePod 2 has in store for us when and when it releases, but for now the odds are against it. Just like the original, this new HomePod will likely find a following among Apple diehards and audiophiles, but to be a success it needs to win over a wider range of people the previous iteration failed to win over; and if it fails again, we can’t imagine Apple giving the HomePod line a fourth chance to hit the big time.
If you’re excited about the latest Apple news, check out our article on what’s new super powerful MacBook Pro and Mac mini.
