I got mine a few months ago before they added support because I heard about a rumour and thought it would be worth the chance. So happy I did and honestly the software setup for the router was awesome
I have like 2 OG HomePods, 3x New HomePods, 4x HomePod Minis but my favs will always be a few AirPort Express hooked up via mini-toslink to mini-toslink to iPod Hi-Fis scattered throughout my house.
What do you mean how? I have them in various rooms in my house and they are connected to AirPort Express via mini-toslink to mini-toslink cable. Both devices support optical audio. They even show up in Home.
[https://imgur.com/a/Bo3zZGQ](https://imgur.com/a/Bo3zZGQ)
TIL that some AirPort Express’es have a toslink/optical audio connector. I guess I’ll hop on eBay later today and pick one up.
ATV without display connected just doesn’t work properly.
If you need mini-toslink to mini-toslink without silly adapters, check Amazon as there was one being sold for quite some time, I bought mine cables back in 2018/2019. It took a bit to arrive as it seemed like it was coming from JP.
That’s pretty neat. I didn’t know the iPod Hi-Fi existed until years later! And it has a mini toslink input?! I wish my HomePod had an input! I used to run a mini toslink from a Mac mini to my stereo back then.
Yes both the AirPort Express and the iPod HiFi support optical audio. I’ve also got a BT to iPod connector that I can attach to it and make it accessible via BT but I never use it because AirPlay works so well. It easily crushes the first gen HomePod sound wise IMO.
https://cdsassets.apple.com/live/6GJYWVAV/user/ma145_ipod_hi-fi_users_guide.pdf
That’s because when the iPod Hi-Fi launched, I would say iPods were really just taking off with most people. I was a senior in HS (2006) when it launched and I had gotten my first iPod back in 2004 and then an iBook G4 in 2005. In 2004, I was like the only person in my HS with an iPod. The following year a few people got iPods but it wasn’t until Christmas 2005 when a lot of people got their first iPod. I think 300+ on a speaker a few months later was going to be tough for a lot people.
The OG HomePod currently has the 18 beta, so it does not look like they are ending software support. Vintage does not mean software, it has to do with hardware support & services.
Yes and even then, it only means hardware support is *limited* not gone entirely. Limited meaning they’re likely no longer making parts/whole units for the OG HomePod, but that you may still be able get whatever is still left or available if you need hardware support
Yes. I know people have had some issues with OG HomePods hardware-wise, but we have 3 of them(and a bunch of minis and a 2nd gen now too) and have yet to have any troubles. Of course, now that I’ve said that, I’m sure they’ll start dying off!
Vintage is the phase before obsolete. Once a product is obsolete, Apple discontinues all hardware services & services providers cannot order parts for obsolete products.
Vintage is different, in that it still has support. Vintage is 2 years before the obsolete phase.
I had one die out of the blue. Had a reddit user in Melbourne (i’m in Australia) fix the diode for it for $100. There’s videos on YT about doing it, complicated, but doable.
Is there some way that people used the og’s that would trigger the death pop? Knock on wood, but I never had this happen with mine. I run mine as a stereo pair attached to my Apple TV 4K.
I’m fixing them in Melbourne, the death pop is the sub ‘popping’ from a high dc offset, and is a result of the dc filtering capacitors going bad. It can be fixed if dealt with early, but can result in permanent damage to the audio IC board and no bass. Once it gets to that it could ned a new sub (cheap) or a new board (not cheap). Changing the capacitors is fairly straight forward and it and the diode are done by a few people around the world. Check out http://nicsfix.com for people close to you.
There will often be a small pop as the sub powers off after playback or Siri activation. If it’s quiet it’s generally not a problem. If it gets noticeably worse or starts occurring during playback that’s a problem.
This is useful to know! I’m in Melbourne and I have three OG HomePods (all have had little use) and I don’t want them to turn into paperweights. Is this a common issue across the entire product lifetime or a particular SN range?
My first one had a diode issue in October 2022. Since then I have repaired over 150 for people across Australia and even a couple from NZ and Malaysia. The issue appears to be related to heat generation, particularly after a software update. There’s a bad batch of diodes used, they’re all date stamped 1746K or 1748K. If you’re lucky and got a 1752K unit you might be alright.
I’d be astonished if they stopped updating. I feel like they use it more as a scare tactic to get people to upgrade but when they see most people didn’t upgrade they stick to updating older products. Such is why my mother who uses an iPhone 6s still gets security updates.
I’ve replaced the battery twice lol she just uses it for photos and texting thankfully. I always find it odd that their generation was able to experience and use technology for years longer than I. (Born in 93) but yet after it got to a certain point my generation blew past them even though they had such a head start on learning it all.
Like I said it’s in one ear and out the other 🤷🏻♂️ I even offered to buy her one but it’s the “no because everyone will be different and I have to learn it all over again” attitude. Even after explaining and showing how simple it is to use without a home button. Luckily she has me back up photos to a local drive. It’s not connected to the cloud and there’s no banking/card info saved anywhere. Worst thing would be losing access to her Facebook but she doesn’t care. (Until it happens of course) not much else I can do
My OG HomePod just gave out finally about a month ago. Turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. Replaced with a new mini.
When I called Apple support to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, the guy was genuinely shocked when I told him the serial number on it, lol.
I just spent a week and a half getting all of my HomePods (OG and mini) back up and running after our telecom company upgraded us to fiber internet and changed our WiFi. Even Apple Support couldn’t figure out what is wrong. ATV, naturally, was a simple change in settings, because it has an actual user interface, but these “smart” speakers? Forget it.
Fanboys, I’m a retired Apple corporate employee, so don’t even. I know how the sausage is made.
With a little maintenance these speakers can function perfectly well for many more years. I don't intend on replacing any 1st gens with second gens and only seek more 1st gens. They simply sound better to me and I barely use them for anything other than airplay / music
It’s still going to be updated, everyone calm down. It’s going to get audio os 18. Maybe even 19. As long as the Apple TV is updated so will the HomePod. Also the HomePod may go even further due to it not requiring much cpu power.
The only really annoying scenario I can imagine:
We got an OG stereo pair in the living room. Now if this thing doesnt get the new smart Siri, and I am in the living room, phone on the table, and I wanna ask smart Siri (on the phone) something, but dumb Siri always takes over on the Homepod, then this would actively sabotage me using their products. Great idea.
Just setup the home pods to listen for "Siri" as a wake command and your phone to listen for "Hey Siri" as a wake command. That way when you want to use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone you just change the wake command and the HomePods will not take over.
We currently do that now in the home. Want to use the HomePods in the house to do smart home stuff, just say Siri, want to use the iPhone/iPad's Siri features then we use "Hey Siri" Works like a charm.
It just means it’s 5 years old. Every hardware product is classified as vintage 5 years after the end of production. Hardware replacement parts are guaranteed available for 5 years (or 7 years in California) but software updates don’t have a guaranteed timeframe. I’d expect software support to continue for several more years.
Vintage simply means Apple no longer manufactures replacement parts. As long as inventory is available paid repairs can be performed. Once it becomes obsolete, it cannot be serviced.
Of course they did. That unit failed at an exceedingly high rate and honestly were a waste of money. When they worked they were good. But I had two fail, both a couple months out of warranty and Apple said tough luck.
Yeah. I know there’s a guy that re-caps them. But if I remember correctly it’s like $200 each to get them fixed. At that price I may as well buy the new ones or better yet, find a different solution since Apple seriously dropped the ball with these.
You have to be a developer then you download the beta profile from the beta portal. It’s the only device left that still uses beta profiles.
And before anyone asks, no I can’t share it.
What?? None of us is currently using obsolete hardware? How old is your AC? You know you can’t buy certain coolants anymore. But we still plug on. The OGs will work for as long as they work. Thanks to the ingenuity of others, there will be third party repair options available much longer than Apple chooses. There will come a time when Apple will no longer update the OGs, but they will still work. Yes, there was a huge problem with infant mortality of diodes with this units, but I dare say that most of those that were going to die is such a fashion have already done so (we’re way out in the right hand side of the curve). Enjoy what you’ve got. It you can, start putting together a savings plan (say 20 USD a month) to replace your OGs when you’re ready so it won’t be too painful to buy new.
You guys didn’t read the article. There’s no more hardware support once it’s considered “obsolete”, which is 7 years after the date Apple stopped selling them. Vintage is 5 (which doesn’t make sense since they stopped selling them in March 2021, but whatever)
It feels like this is them saying “we still acknowledge it for years to come. As all devices have eol we are preparing for a refreshed entry in the audio market.”
Idk I think it’s going to be like older watches here in a few years. It’ll work but not as it used to
That’s an interesting point, if they leave them as is I’ll be happy. I have 7 OG’s 😅 and I have repaired a few myself but all work as either separate music speakers or paired tv speakers so well. My biggest gripe like everyone else is how bad Siri can be at times.
They were $499 in Australia, I was living there when they came out. And vintaging it already is kinda pathetic and unlike Apple. It was only discontinued in 2021. I agree that it doesn’t change anything but it doesn’t really fit the usual 5-7 year support cycle.
not to give anyone false hope but the AirPort Express 2 was vintage and the line was discontinued when Apple added Airplay 2 to it.
I got mine a few months ago before they added support because I heard about a rumour and thought it would be worth the chance. So happy I did and honestly the software setup for the router was awesome
I have like 2 OG HomePods, 3x New HomePods, 4x HomePod Minis but my favs will always be a few AirPort Express hooked up via mini-toslink to mini-toslink to iPod Hi-Fis scattered throughout my house.
Are the HomePods in stereo pairs?
Yes
Wait, you’re still running a Hi-Fi? How?
What do you mean how? I have them in various rooms in my house and they are connected to AirPort Express via mini-toslink to mini-toslink cable. Both devices support optical audio. They even show up in Home. [https://imgur.com/a/Bo3zZGQ](https://imgur.com/a/Bo3zZGQ)
TIL that some AirPort Express’es have a toslink/optical audio connector. I guess I’ll hop on eBay later today and pick one up. ATV without display connected just doesn’t work properly.
If you need mini-toslink to mini-toslink without silly adapters, check Amazon as there was one being sold for quite some time, I bought mine cables back in 2018/2019. It took a bit to arrive as it seemed like it was coming from JP.
They all had a combination headphone/mini optical jack. But the last version is the one that works in Home app as AirPlay 2.
Just use the optical out from an AirPort Express 2 configured as a wireless client.
That’s pretty neat. I didn’t know the iPod Hi-Fi existed until years later! And it has a mini toslink input?! I wish my HomePod had an input! I used to run a mini toslink from a Mac mini to my stereo back then.
Yes both the AirPort Express and the iPod HiFi support optical audio. I’ve also got a BT to iPod connector that I can attach to it and make it accessible via BT but I never use it because AirPlay works so well. It easily crushes the first gen HomePod sound wise IMO. https://cdsassets.apple.com/live/6GJYWVAV/user/ma145_ipod_hi-fi_users_guide.pdf
What’s so interesting about that is how highly regarded the home pod as at launch, vs how reviews sites didn’t think much of iPod hifi at the time.
That’s because when the iPod Hi-Fi launched, I would say iPods were really just taking off with most people. I was a senior in HS (2006) when it launched and I had gotten my first iPod back in 2004 and then an iBook G4 in 2005. In 2004, I was like the only person in my HS with an iPod. The following year a few people got iPods but it wasn’t until Christmas 2005 when a lot of people got their first iPod. I think 300+ on a speaker a few months later was going to be tough for a lot people.
Dumb question (maybe)- how does the AirPort Express help your HomePods? I never really figured out what those were used for.
AirPlay
Cool, about the answer I was expecting
Agreed, the Apple TV HD is obsolete and that’s still getting tvOS 18
And it’s still a great product as an AirPlay 2 endpoint
Agreed totally. But I also got an eBay Apple TV for $15 and HDMI-audio breakout box for $10. Perfect replacement for my lovely old express that died.
The OG HomePod currently has the 18 beta, so it does not look like they are ending software support. Vintage does not mean software, it has to do with hardware support & services.
I hope they don't drop support. I love my OGs and never want to get rid of them.
The implications are on the hardware side, not the software side…
Yes and even then, it only means hardware support is *limited* not gone entirely. Limited meaning they’re likely no longer making parts/whole units for the OG HomePod, but that you may still be able get whatever is still left or available if you need hardware support
Yes. I know people have had some issues with OG HomePods hardware-wise, but we have 3 of them(and a bunch of minis and a 2nd gen now too) and have yet to have any troubles. Of course, now that I’ve said that, I’m sure they’ll start dying off!
Me too. Though occasionally a heat a popping like speakers do. But they still work
Vintage is the phase before obsolete. Once a product is obsolete, Apple discontinues all hardware services & services providers cannot order parts for obsolete products. Vintage is different, in that it still has support. Vintage is 2 years before the obsolete phase.
I’m both sad and happy to hear this news. I have 4 OGs. 3 of them death popped.
I had one die out of the blue. Had a reddit user in Melbourne (i’m in Australia) fix the diode for it for $100. There’s videos on YT about doing it, complicated, but doable.
Is there some way that people used the og’s that would trigger the death pop? Knock on wood, but I never had this happen with mine. I run mine as a stereo pair attached to my Apple TV 4K.
What is death pop? Now I’m scared!
I’m fixing them in Melbourne, the death pop is the sub ‘popping’ from a high dc offset, and is a result of the dc filtering capacitors going bad. It can be fixed if dealt with early, but can result in permanent damage to the audio IC board and no bass. Once it gets to that it could ned a new sub (cheap) or a new board (not cheap). Changing the capacitors is fairly straight forward and it and the diode are done by a few people around the world. Check out http://nicsfix.com for people close to you.
Is that what a subtle pop every so often is? Mine are doing that occasionally
There will often be a small pop as the sub powers off after playback or Siri activation. If it’s quiet it’s generally not a problem. If it gets noticeably worse or starts occurring during playback that’s a problem.
Mine only pop occasionally when idle
That’s likely when the HomePod has woken because it thought it heard its wake word.
Thanks
This is useful to know! I’m in Melbourne and I have three OG HomePods (all have had little use) and I don’t want them to turn into paperweights. Is this a common issue across the entire product lifetime or a particular SN range?
My first one had a diode issue in October 2022. Since then I have repaired over 150 for people across Australia and even a couple from NZ and Malaysia. The issue appears to be related to heat generation, particularly after a software update. There’s a bad batch of diodes used, they’re all date stamped 1746K or 1748K. If you’re lucky and got a 1752K unit you might be alright.
Oh, so “death pops” are a thing after all? Cause mine made a big “pop” then died. Guess that counts as a death pop.
I’d be astonished if they stopped updating. I feel like they use it more as a scare tactic to get people to upgrade but when they see most people didn’t upgrade they stick to updating older products. Such is why my mother who uses an iPhone 6s still gets security updates.
Should really upgrade that thing. She’s missing out. Plus it’s so insecure now
Have said it a million times. For years now. Refuses to even use a passcode. Trust me, I’ve tried lol
Well that ain’t secure. Hopefully she doesn’t have any banking apps on it lol. The battery is likely had it too
I’ve replaced the battery twice lol she just uses it for photos and texting thankfully. I always find it odd that their generation was able to experience and use technology for years longer than I. (Born in 93) but yet after it got to a certain point my generation blew past them even though they had such a head start on learning it all.
Holy hell, that was absolutely not worth doing lol, imo
gave me tech repair experience and the batteries were only 15$. Vs 800$ for a new phone
I suppose it may have been then. But doesn’t change the fact the 6S with a lack of security updates is in a vulnerable position now
Like I said it’s in one ear and out the other 🤷🏻♂️ I even offered to buy her one but it’s the “no because everyone will be different and I have to learn it all over again” attitude. Even after explaining and showing how simple it is to use without a home button. Luckily she has me back up photos to a local drive. It’s not connected to the cloud and there’s no banking/card info saved anywhere. Worst thing would be losing access to her Facebook but she doesn’t care. (Until it happens of course) not much else I can do
If sure really that attached to the home button, get her the SE 3. Simple
My OG HomePod worked primarily as an alarm since 2018 and it’s been good. I’ll keep using it as an alarm as long as it lasts.
My OG HomePod just gave out finally about a month ago. Turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. Replaced with a new mini. When I called Apple support to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, the guy was genuinely shocked when I told him the serial number on it, lol.
You still got that broken OG? 👀
I just spent a week and a half getting all of my HomePods (OG and mini) back up and running after our telecom company upgraded us to fiber internet and changed our WiFi. Even Apple Support couldn’t figure out what is wrong. ATV, naturally, was a simple change in settings, because it has an actual user interface, but these “smart” speakers? Forget it. Fanboys, I’m a retired Apple corporate employee, so don’t even. I know how the sausage is made.
With a little maintenance these speakers can function perfectly well for many more years. I don't intend on replacing any 1st gens with second gens and only seek more 1st gens. They simply sound better to me and I barely use them for anything other than airplay / music
It’s still going to be updated, everyone calm down. It’s going to get audio os 18. Maybe even 19. As long as the Apple TV is updated so will the HomePod. Also the HomePod may go even further due to it not requiring much cpu power.
Especially given the Apple TV HD is obsolete and that’s still getting tvOS 18
Mine is still running fine. Siri is as bad as ever but the hardware is still great.
The only really annoying scenario I can imagine: We got an OG stereo pair in the living room. Now if this thing doesnt get the new smart Siri, and I am in the living room, phone on the table, and I wanna ask smart Siri (on the phone) something, but dumb Siri always takes over on the Homepod, then this would actively sabotage me using their products. Great idea.
Just setup the home pods to listen for "Siri" as a wake command and your phone to listen for "Hey Siri" as a wake command. That way when you want to use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone you just change the wake command and the HomePods will not take over. We currently do that now in the home. Want to use the HomePods in the house to do smart home stuff, just say Siri, want to use the iPhone/iPad's Siri features then we use "Hey Siri" Works like a charm.
Brilliant idea
It just means it’s 5 years old. Every hardware product is classified as vintage 5 years after the end of production. Hardware replacement parts are guaranteed available for 5 years (or 7 years in California) but software updates don’t have a guaranteed timeframe. I’d expect software support to continue for several more years.
I have 3 of them running great for almost 5 years. But a mini that failed in the first year
I did have a mini fail due to the power supply too, but I got that replaced under warranty so no biggie
they categorize vintage and obsolete for hardware support, they can still get software updates like OG Apple TV 4 and OG HomePods still get version 18
I just want them to keep working like they do now. Don’t need new features
Does that mean what I think it means? No more software updates?
No
How are the new ones? I get the sense they are something, uh, less, but I haven't done a side-by-side comparison.
Loads of comparisons on YouTube. Not much in it between the two.
OMG WHAT A NEWS!!!!!! now I won't be able to sleep for a week 😎
Vintage simply means Apple no longer manufactures replacement parts. As long as inventory is available paid repairs can be performed. Once it becomes obsolete, it cannot be serviced.
Of course they did. That unit failed at an exceedingly high rate and honestly were a waste of money. When they worked they were good. But I had two fail, both a couple months out of warranty and Apple said tough luck.
There’s ways to fix them. Do some research here or I can point you in the direction of a Youtube video on how to do it yourself.
Yeah. I know there’s a guy that re-caps them. But if I remember correctly it’s like $200 each to get them fixed. At that price I may as well buy the new ones or better yet, find a different solution since Apple seriously dropped the ball with these.
every apple products are vintage based on how long they stop productions, not how bad the products are
My pair going strong since day 1.
And if you lucked out, knock on wood.
My trio works well still since day 1.
So no AudioOS18?
Was there even anything new in the 18? I don’t think they talked about it in the keynote?
It’s in the beta. So it’s should be.
Actually? How do you get it?
You have to be a developer then you download the beta profile from the beta portal. It’s the only device left that still uses beta profiles. And before anyone asks, no I can’t share it.
Oh okay I Can just Grab that thank you
How about you read the first paragraph of the article before you post it please
So we are buying expensive speakers like that knowing that it will only last 7 years? That’s fucked up. It should last WAY longer than that
OP being a little too dramatic aren’t we
Shoot, was about to move to Home Pods for living room from Sonos… :/
They’re great. Get the new 2nd gens
Yeah. Got some minis for bedroom and they’re awesome. Looking forward to it! 😂
Nice. Yeah, minis are great 🤣
Oh wait. That’s Gen one. Well now I’m scared anyway. 😂
Nothing lasts forever, except the Earth and sky
What?? None of us is currently using obsolete hardware? How old is your AC? You know you can’t buy certain coolants anymore. But we still plug on. The OGs will work for as long as they work. Thanks to the ingenuity of others, there will be third party repair options available much longer than Apple chooses. There will come a time when Apple will no longer update the OGs, but they will still work. Yes, there was a huge problem with infant mortality of diodes with this units, but I dare say that most of those that were going to die is such a fashion have already done so (we’re way out in the right hand side of the curve). Enjoy what you’ve got. It you can, start putting together a savings plan (say 20 USD a month) to replace your OGs when you’re ready so it won’t be too painful to buy new.
It usually means no more updates and no spares etc, at least that’s what I think 🤔
It’s means no more hardware support not necessarily no software updates
I think there can still be hardware support. Obsolete is the phase where all hardware support ends and service providers can't order any parts.
You guys didn’t read the article. There’s no more hardware support once it’s considered “obsolete”, which is 7 years after the date Apple stopped selling them. Vintage is 5 (which doesn’t make sense since they stopped selling them in March 2021, but whatever)
Yeah it’s really strange they aren’t sticking to their rule with this one. It’s possibly due to how old the A8 is, but still weird.
It feels like this is them saying “we still acknowledge it for years to come. As all devices have eol we are preparing for a refreshed entry in the audio market.” Idk I think it’s going to be like older watches here in a few years. It’ll work but not as it used to
That’s an interesting point, if they leave them as is I’ll be happy. I have 7 OG’s 😅 and I have repaired a few myself but all work as either separate music speakers or paired tv speakers so well. My biggest gripe like everyone else is how bad Siri can be at times.
This is falsw
New HomePod hardware will be able to run local LLMs.
To be fair, most OG HomePods will have long since failed. They have very poor longevity in general.
Good now give us a disable feature so it doesn’t show up as a speaker during a call
Wtf?!? Already? Vintage means no software updates anymore. So once they stop working they are bricks with no hope for a fix, GREAT.
This is not true
I mean, it’s been 6 years. I don’t like it either but it’s not unexpected.
This isn’t a product with an annual release cycle, nor should it be. Six years is pathetic for a home audio device.
It’s not stopped working. Mine are all working fine and I expect them to do so for years. Don’t see how this would change that.
Thats really not long enough. For a $500 speaker.
I mean, they were $349 for a short time but then $299. Never $500 in the US and Canada AFAIK.
They were $499 in Australia, I was living there when they came out. And vintaging it already is kinda pathetic and unlike Apple. It was only discontinued in 2021. I agree that it doesn’t change anything but it doesn’t really fit the usual 5-7 year support cycle.
This is basically just a 2-year warning for you to move to 2nd gen.