The HomePod presales have begun, but we’ll tell you why Apple’s new smart speaker may be a huge flop, this week on The CultCast. Plus: Audiophiles are comparing HomePod’s tech to speakers that cost $85,000; Apple adds some long-awaited features to iOS 11; how to back up your iCloud photo library to your PC (and why you should). And we wrap with another episode of Drone Chat! This time, we’ll tell you why DJI’s Mavic Air is the perfect drone for almost everyone.
Our thanks to Pitney Bowes for supporting this episode. Print postage from your office and take advantage of special shipping discounts at pb.com/cultcast, and beat the postage rate increase with exclusive discounts on letters. Plans start at just $5 a month!
Episode
CultCast #320 – Why Apple’s new HomePod is poised to bomb
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This week’s stories
HomePod preorders begin Friday ahead of Feb. 9 launch
- Apple today Wednesday that it will release its $349 HomePod on February 9.
- Preorders start this Friday!
- That technology includes a seven-tweeter array and a 4-inch woofer — plus spatial awareness capabilities. These allow HomePod to “read” its environment and tailor audio output for the best results, though this functionality won’t be available until later this year.
- In large rooms, you can even pair multiple HomePods for bigger sound.
Why Apple’s HomePod is poised to bomb
- HomePod, the first new Apple product of 2018, is about to arrive. And as a huge Apple fanboy, I couldn’t care less.
- Thanks to Siri, HomePod is great at the things you want to know, and do, in your home. Set timers. Convert measurements. Get translations. And get live news, sports, weather, and traffic. You can also create lists that anyone can add to.
- Will it replace an iPad or AppleTV as as HomeKit hub?
- It’s too damn expensive
- Siri sucks
- You’re stuck with Apple Music
- Will spotify work at all?
- HomePod is not even finished yet!
- No stereo or multi-room support till alter this year
Audiophiles on Reddit are comparing HomePod’s tech to speakers costing 85,000
iOS 11.3 beta 1 is out with iCloud Messages, new Animoji and more
- Apple gave the public a preview of the new features coming in iOS 11.3 Wednesday.
- iOS 11.3 beta 1 contains a number of notable improvements, including iCloud Messages. Apple also added the ability to view your battery’s health and choose between increased performance or better battery life. The new feature is in response to criticism Apple received from customers after it was discovered that Apple throttles CPU speeds on iPhones with older batteries.
Messages on iCloud is almost ready — and you’re going to love it
- Messages on iCloud were first previewed at WWDC 2017. Apple pulled it from later beta builds though as it wasn’t ready for wider use
- Well it’s finally entering the beta testing phase among developers.
- Once iMessage on iCloud rolls out to the public you’ll be able to delete iMessage conversations to save space on your device. Conversations will still be accessible on your other Apple devices though and on
DJI unveils impossibly tiny new Mavic Air drone
- The most popular consumer drone on the market just got a huge upgrade that gives it even more mass appeal for budding droners and video creators.
- DJI unveiled its new folding drone, the Mavic Air, today. A blend of the company’s two most popular drones, the Mavic Pro and the Spark, it also packs new features you won’t find on DJI’s other drones.
Erfon Elijah is the producer and host of The CultCast. When not editing podcasts or watching Mrs. Doubtfire, you’ll find him on Xbox Live hunting CoD Ghosts foes like the Predator. Here are his tweets…
7 responses to “Audiophiles compare HomePod to $85,000 speakers — we’ll tell you why on The CultCast”
Any audiophile comparing the HomePod to any $85K speaker system has lost their mind. Sorry, I guess this shows my bias, but it’s utterly ridiculous.
As an audiophile, I would agree. The HomePod aren’t high end speakers. They would be considered Lifestyle speakers and comparing to what’s on the market, at any price point, they are probably in the middle, but they aren’t as expensive as other higher end Lifestyle speakers.
What I would be comparing them to are the other smart speakers on the market and I’m sure they are at the higher end, but those are all relative inexpensive speakers.
but there are other powered Lifestyle speakers that might sound better, but are larger, higher priced and lack the voice assistant features.
I would like to see a comparison against the $1400 to $1800 BeoSound 1 and 2’s. Since those are also omnidirectional speakers, I think a comparison against those would be interesting, but they lack voice assistant.
As an audiophile, I’m not considering them to even remotely compete with my higher end system, I just want something small, something that’s within a reasonable amount of money for my bedroom. I honestly don’t care if they have a voice assistant since I have my iPhone, iPad Pro and my Mac with Siri and I don’t use the Apple Music subscription so I just want to play music from my already curated iTunes library which is what music I have collected over the past 30+ years that some aren’t even available on any streaming service.
Apple Music subscription allows your curated iTunes library to come with.
Does that mean if you have tracks in your own library that Siri in the HomePod will recognize and play those songs too? The problem is this. I have iTunes Match and it matches everything, but what I have in my Library isn’t AAC files, but it streams as AAC. I’m supposing the same thing will happen with the Apple Music subscription.
I don’t mind streaming AAC to my phone or iPad, but I don’t particularly want AAC to my HomePod, if I were to buy one and I am not planning on buying Apple Music subscription.
I did not listen to an hour long podcast, but I wanted to reply any ways. I get that a 349$ speaker will never directly compare to $85k speakers or even an entire audio system at $85k.
However, if you’ve never experienced a benchmark, top end, ultimate audio system, you don’t have any idea what is missing when listening to “budget” gear.
Stereophile mag reviews Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandria XLF: $210,000/pair, as well as Elac Debut B6: $279.99/pair and everything in between.
You could get an Amazon Echo dot and a pair of Audioengine A2+ powered loudspeakers with an S8 Powered Subwoofer and have “better sound” than a pair of Apple Homepods and be less restricted and it would cost less than 1 pair of homepods.
But in any option, it helps to know what Wilson audio sounds like before you listen to a set of B&W 683 S2’s. the 683’s are still $1700 a set, but I need a benchmark to know what I am missing.
Cult Cast has a really hard job ahead.. staying positive