Hello,
Newbie poster but longtime lurker posing a question. If and or when my HomePod 1st generation fails, should I pay the $300 out of warranty replacement fee or, purchase the new HomePod? I'm somewhat conflicted for the following reasons... I have 7 of the original models with three stereo pairs and one single in four rooms. I exhausted some of my AppleCare coverage and when one failed (constant steady licking/popping) I replaced it under the "out of warranty service" option. I did have a sympathetic apple advisor who graciously waived the $300 fee (that's another story). Once apple announced discontinuation of the Gen 1 model, I mothballed some of my 7 units and replaced some pairs with 4 Minis. I put the old ones away thinking that another HomePod would not be produced by Apple so wanted to have them in readiness if any of my two remaining pairs began to fail. I have experienced the "burp of death" from one or two of my active ones. Too many threads detailing original owners experiencing no problems with their original models vrs gen ones failing (as two of mine did -one replaced under AppleCare)
Now that apple has released the generation two models I'm wondering what your thoughts are on replacement. The tech specs are too close to call... 7 tweeters vrs 5, 6 mics vrs 4, AC wifi vrs N class and the silicon chip/temp and humidity differences. Though I have a robust smart home with Lutron lighting, fans etc I'm not the biggest fan of Siri and HomeKit -and there are plenty of threads here on that issue.
Now if the gen two price dropped a bit... $249, $199? I would replace the old ones. And I presume apple techs would say "why not just buy a new pod for the same price? instead of the replacement". I agree that there's no comparison to the mini, though it seems that with the recent 16.3 update my minis are sounding better -especially in the bass range, so maybe the computational audio software will continue to level the aural playing field. So, I'm hoping my originals continue to rock out, and perhaps apple lowers the price on the new ones while keeping my fingers crossed. Was this part of Apple's strategy? Why would they want to keep a warehouse full of the old 1st gen HomePods at the same price so anyone needing replacement has to make a choice... why not make it easy? Perhaps they'll lower the OofW replacement 1st gen prices? Maybe I'm unduly hesitant to reinvest in the new models for fear of the same issue occurring (discontinuation, hardware failures etc) -or did apple learn from any mistakes with the gen 1?
Thanks for reading this lengthy post... curious to see the thinking on this situation.
Newbie poster but longtime lurker posing a question. If and or when my HomePod 1st generation fails, should I pay the $300 out of warranty replacement fee or, purchase the new HomePod? I'm somewhat conflicted for the following reasons... I have 7 of the original models with three stereo pairs and one single in four rooms. I exhausted some of my AppleCare coverage and when one failed (constant steady licking/popping) I replaced it under the "out of warranty service" option. I did have a sympathetic apple advisor who graciously waived the $300 fee (that's another story). Once apple announced discontinuation of the Gen 1 model, I mothballed some of my 7 units and replaced some pairs with 4 Minis. I put the old ones away thinking that another HomePod would not be produced by Apple so wanted to have them in readiness if any of my two remaining pairs began to fail. I have experienced the "burp of death" from one or two of my active ones. Too many threads detailing original owners experiencing no problems with their original models vrs gen ones failing (as two of mine did -one replaced under AppleCare)
Now that apple has released the generation two models I'm wondering what your thoughts are on replacement. The tech specs are too close to call... 7 tweeters vrs 5, 6 mics vrs 4, AC wifi vrs N class and the silicon chip/temp and humidity differences. Though I have a robust smart home with Lutron lighting, fans etc I'm not the biggest fan of Siri and HomeKit -and there are plenty of threads here on that issue.
Now if the gen two price dropped a bit... $249, $199? I would replace the old ones. And I presume apple techs would say "why not just buy a new pod for the same price? instead of the replacement". I agree that there's no comparison to the mini, though it seems that with the recent 16.3 update my minis are sounding better -especially in the bass range, so maybe the computational audio software will continue to level the aural playing field. So, I'm hoping my originals continue to rock out, and perhaps apple lowers the price on the new ones while keeping my fingers crossed. Was this part of Apple's strategy? Why would they want to keep a warehouse full of the old 1st gen HomePods at the same price so anyone needing replacement has to make a choice... why not make it easy? Perhaps they'll lower the OofW replacement 1st gen prices? Maybe I'm unduly hesitant to reinvest in the new models for fear of the same issue occurring (discontinuation, hardware failures etc) -or did apple learn from any mistakes with the gen 1?
Thanks for reading this lengthy post... curious to see the thinking on this situation.
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