The new second-generation HomePod appears to have a significant backlog of pre-orders, delaying shipping dates by up to seven weeks in certain markets for Apple's latest smart speaker.
Last week, Apple announced a new HomePod with a slightly updated design, an S7 chip for faster performance and "more advanced" computational audio, a larger backlit touch surface, and other new features. Pre-orders for the new HomePod have been open for less than a week since its announcement on Tuesday, January 18.
In the United States, the midnight HomePod is estimated to ship in three to four weeks, much later than the HomePod's launch date of Friday, February 3. The white HomePod, however, is listed as having no delay. In the United Kingdom, the midnight HomePod faces a five- to six-week delay in shipping. In other markets, such as Germany, both colors of the new HomePod face more than a month delay.
The updated HomePod comes approximately two years after Apple discontinued the original smart speaker. The original HomePod was not the market success Apple was hoping for due to several factors, including the speaker's $349 price at launch and limited features. Apple's new HomePod is its latest attempt to grow its presence in the smart home market, which Google and Amazon have dominated for several years.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
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Tuesday March 25, 2025 11:52 am PDT by Juli Clover
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions.
Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup
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Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
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The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
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Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a "first look" at Apple's upcoming iOS 19 update, providing mockups of what different apps and features will supposedly look like. Prosser claims the mockups are based on "the real deal" version of iOS 19 that he has seen, but says he is sharing replica images in order to prevent his sources from getting into trouble.
Confusingly, Prosser's video features some ...
Very strong demand for the HomePod, a product that already failed in its previous (and better) reincarnation? Unlikely.
Apple knows what they are doing... You are ignoring other factors.
Sure, the original 'failed' if you want to see it that way - back then it was competing with a plethora of Amazon and Google lower priced more functional devices and of course it was not going to succeed - even the sound quality was not enough. Im not making excuses for them, it was an ill-judged under-utilised, over-priced device at the time.
Apple then tested the waters with the much lower priced mini, and it began to sell in greater numbers - far outpacing that of the main HomePod.... meanwhile slowly (arguably not that successfully) increasing the siri and multi room capabilities. The bigger HomePod was simply not worth making and selling anymore back then.
Now, absence makes the heart grow fonder... and 2 years later having flooded the market with the cheaper mini... many people will have the appetite to 'upgrade' from the mini to the big HomePod. Especially in the living room where a pair of minis, although sounding much better than they deserve to as a stereo pair, are still not suitable for that bigger room....
In its absence, apple have stoked demand... and that seems to be borne out through this current supply 'shortage'
That said.. the 'shortage' might well just be marketing guff and the harder it is to come by... the more people seems to want it (just ask those youtube goons who marketed the soft drink that keeps selling out!).
The first gen was a commercial failure. Don’t see how this one wouldn’t be, seeing as it’s more or less the same product, years later.
I have to say, this Homepod (to me) is one of the strangest product releases Apple have ever done, since I became a follower back in 2004.
its reality not strange.
If you have ever dabbled in whole-house multi-room music it's a real boon. Its great to have music simultaneously playing in multiple rooms.
Amazon have been doing this for years, so have google, so have sonos... so apple getting in on the act isnt strange in the slightest. And the fact there are now devices to choose from is only a good thing.
