HomePod sales have fallen well below expectations, according to one of the best Apple analysts in the game.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors today that Apple is considering making a low-cost version of the HomePod in order to give disappointing sales a boost.
This week on The CultCast: HomePod sales are already stumbling — is it doomed? Plus: Face ID could replace passwords on your favorite websites; the death of Touch ID scheduled for this fall; and our hands-on reviews of an $80 tech-packed coffee cup, a beautiful new HomeKit smart lock, and the all-new Mavic Air drone.
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Apple has been forced to cut HomePod orders as inventories continue to build up in its retail stores, according to a new report.
The $349 speaker enjoyed a promising start when it made its debut in February, but demand has fallen quickly as smart speaker shoppers turn to more affordable options from the likes of Amazon.
Ikea’s new Eneby speaker may not pack the smarts of a HomePod or an Amazon Echo, but it’s great-looking and it’s pretty cheap. The new range of Ikea Bluetooth speakers starts at $49. If all you want is a nice, easy speaker for the living room, kitchen, or even the backyard, you should take a look.
The first beta of iOS 11.4 brings back some big features Apple tested in previous betas, but then subsequently removed.
Check out our video below to see iOS 11.4 in action. We run through what’s new and what you can expect if you give the beta a whirl.
HomePod owners no longer need to be a developer to test AirPlay 2.
Apple seeded the first public beta of iOS 11.4 to testers today, allowing anyone who signs up for the beta testing program to play with some of the new features coming out later this spring.
Apple wants to hire 142 people for Siri-related jobs, almost twice as many as this time last year. Clearly, the company is serious about turning around its troubled voice-driven digital assistant.
Apple’s software update released yesterday for the new HomePod may have altered the sound quality on its smart speaker.
Many angry HomePod owners that installed the update yesterday have taken to Twitter and Reddit claiming Apple’s fine-tuning of the speaker with the update has totally ruined how some songs sound.
The software update Apple just released for the HomePod doesn’t include AirPlay 2, the most anticipated new feature. In fact, this new version doesn’t seem to have any enhancements, though maybe that’s to be expected from a smart speaker that just launched last month.
A new video reveals the creative process behind Spike Jonze’s brilliant short film “Welcome Home,” which paints the HomePod as a miracle device.
Not just one of the best Apple ads in ages, it’s one of the best adverts anywhere. The HomePod commercial stars English singer FKA twigs as a city dweller whose drab apartment is transformed into a colorful wonderland by an Apple smart speaker.
Siri is in trouble. Apple’s AI assistant is way behind the competition, and a new report indicates that Cupertino’s coders can’t agree on how to fix Siri — or even if it should be fixed.
Anonymous sources, supposedly from inside the Apple development team, say there’s no strong vision of what Siri should be.
HomePod’s arrival makes the smart speaker market even more confusing for the average consumer. Amazon and Google are dominating right now, but HomePod’s closest rival is actually the Sonos One.
It’s in a similar price range, it’s about the same size, and both speakers focus on sound quality above everything else. I’ve now spent over three weeks with both the HomePod and the Sonos One to help you figure out which one you should buy.
Check out our comparison video below.
When we launched our mouth-watering iPhone X giveaway, we knew people would jump at the chance to win Apple’s newest flagship device. And we were right — it sure seems like a lot of people would like to get a $1,000 smartphone for free.
After a flurry of entries, we can at last announce the lucky winner. Drumroll, please….
Smart speaker sales have exploded, with 47 million Americans now using one, up from about zero two years ago. And Apple fans are leading the trend — they’re 22 percent more likely than Android users to own a smart speaker.
This week’s episode of The CultCast is packed with great Apple stories. We talk: Reports of a cheaper, smaller HomePod; the end of iTunes; MoviePass tracking your every move; the first security camera for your car; and more! Hit play to catch the discussion.
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This tip is less of a how-to, and more of a why-to. Did you ever think about creating a sleep playlist for your HomePod? It’s a great idea for a few reasons.
Let’s see how it’s done.
Apple is prepping more-affordable versions of its new HomePod smart speaker and other pricey devices, according to an unconfirmed report out of Asia.
Apple will deliver a revamped iPad Pro during the June quarter of this year, according to a new report.
Inspired by the iPhone X, the device is expected to have significantly slimmer bezels and Face ID, and could make up for weaker-than-expected demand for Apple’s latest smartphones. Apple could also be planning a smaller, more affordable version of HomePod.
Spike Jonze’s surreal new short film about the HomePod is likely to go down as one of the year’s best Apple ads.
The Oscar-winning director’s four-minute creation is unabashedly joyful, which is a feeling that sometimes can get lost in all the Apple minimalism. Check out Jonze’s playful and creative HomePod ad below.
Apple’s new HomePod is one of the best-selling smart speakers ever, according to new sales data from The NPD Group.
Not only is the HomePod killing it, but Apple’s new AirPods and Beats headphones are dominating the market so well they reportedly account for 44 percent of all dollar sales for headphones in 2017.
Do you want to stream music from an app on your Mac to your HomePod? Good luck with that. The only app that supports AirPlay streaming is iTunes, and what’s the point in using that if you can stream your iCloud Music Library directly using the HomePod alone? For apps like Spotify, or VLC, you can resort to streaming your entire Mac system audio via Airplay, but then you have to listen alerts booming through the HomePod, and you can’t remote-control the Spotify Audio using Siri.
But if you use Rogue Amoeba’s AirFoil, you can fix all these problems.
The HomePod takes a lot of flak for being the dumbest smart speaker around, but it can do more than you might think. In today’s video, I’ll show you 20 HomePod tips you need to know.
(Just a quick heads-up: I’m going to be saying “Hey Siri” a few times in this video.)
When the entire mobile phone industry heads to Barcelona next week for Mobile World Congress 2018, there will be one notable absence: Apple.
Cupertino doesn’t do trade shows. Not even really big ones like Mobile World Congress. Yet, despite its absence from the massive Spanish trade show, Apple’s influence will loom large over Barcelona’s beautiful horizons. Cult of Mac shows you five things Apple fans should look out for at MWC next week.
In this week’s issue, you’ll find that story and more. Enter to win a HomePod through Cult of Mac Deals. Learn how to drag and drop text between apps on iPad. Shop Casetify’s Stainless Steel Mesh Bands in two new finishes — Gold and Irisdescent — in our Watch Store. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.
Despite somewhat mixed reviews, Apple’s HomePod is seemingly winning over the customers who have bought it, with 89 percent of HomePod-owning respondents to a survey claiming that they are either satisfied (59 percent) or very satisfied (30 percent) with the device.
While not quite up there with Apple’s best product satisfaction scores, it nonetheless suggests a bright future for Apple’s debut product in the smart speaker category.
Theoretically, you shouldn’t have to adjust the sound of the music playing to your HomePod. Between all the fancy music processing, and the HomePod’s ability to tailor its audio to the size and shape of your room, music should come out sounding pretty great already. But that doesn’t account for taste. Maybe you like a whole lot of extra bass? Or maybe a certain frequency is booming in your room, and the HomePod isn’t doing anything about it.
Then you should try equalization — tweaking the balance of audio frequencies put out by the speaker. The bad news is that the HomePod offers no native EQ. The good news is that it’s easy to adjust on your Mac or iPhone.