New HomePod available from today, online and in Apple Stores, as first orders arrive

The new HomePod is now available on apple.com, and in Apple Stores. For those who pre-ordered, the first deliveries are starting to arrive – though many are reporting delays.

Early reviews have generally been positive, with most saying the audio quality and soundstage are very similar to the original despite a reduced number of tweeters …

The original HomePod

The original HomePod was first announced back at WWDC in 2017, though didn’t go on sale until February 2018, later than originally planned.

Apple said that the device would reinvent how we enjoy music at home.

HomePod is a breakthrough wireless speaker for the home that delivers amazing audio quality and uses spatial awareness to sense its location in a room and automatically adjust the audio.

HomePod features a large, Apple-designed woofer for deep, clean bass, a custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters that provide pure high frequency acoustics with incredible directional control and powerful technologies built right in to preserve the richness and intent of the original recordings.

Designed to work with an Apple Music subscription for access to over 40 million songs, HomePod provides deep knowledge of personal music preferences and tastes and helps users discover new music.

While the speaker offered amazing audio performance, most people focused on the lack of Siri smarts, with unfavorable comparisons to Amazon Echo products. This fundamental misunderstanding led most to consider the device overpriced, with Apple discontinuing it back in 2021.

The new HomePod – same as the old HomePod

While Apple touts the latest model as the all-new HomePod, “slightly new” would be more accurate.

Externally, it looks extremely similar bar slightly different dimensions, a subtle color change in the midnight model, and a larger (but no smarter) display.

Internally, Apple reduced the number of tweeters from seven to five, but seems to have managed to deliver very similar audio quality and soundstage (the illusion of sounds coming from different places in the room) to the original.

The new HomePod is sold at the same $299 price as the company last charged for the original. That’s led many to wonder about Apple’s thinking, but my suspicion is that the more affordable HomePod mini paved the way for the relaunch of the original.

Lots of people are now totally sold on multi-room audio, and found that the limited smarts are kind of irrelevant. Having enjoyed the benefits, but also experienced the limited audio quality, they are now willing to spend more on the same benefits with much better sound.

The first pre-orders are now arriving, though some are reporting delays.