Apple Keynote (and Their Speaker)

#1

Hey all, you most likely will have seen on whatever tech blog / news website you use that Apple has been holding their WWDC keynote today for new product(s) and updates to their software and hardware ecosystem. While most have already been guessed in some form, I always find it entertaining to see if they will come to fruition (and with Apple’s normal eye watering prices).

They have now also announced a ‘HomePod’ as their offering to the speaker market. What do you guys think, at $349 is it lower than I thought Apple would have entered at (looking at their new MacPro range, yikes :fearful:) but still high for what is their version of an Echo speaker with not so reliable Siri… :smirk:

Feel free to jump in with anything on their other offering’s today as well :smiley:

#2

Hopefully the new machine learning and AI will make Siri even better. I feel the $349 is about right, but I want to hear it in person first!

#3

I use an echo every day. The sound quality is good (of course it’s no SoundCore…), but I’ve found the real value in that product in four distinct places:

  1. Shopping lists. I just shout out whatever I’m needing and it’s instantly on my phone through the alexa app. Then I just click to check it off when I’m in the store. It’s awesome.

  2. Weather. For real, I just ask and receive.

  3. Radio. I just shout out a callsign and it starts playing.

  4. Content. Being connected to prime is awesome. There’ a lot of music to listen to out there and it;s all already bundled in prime. I can almost guarantee you that Apple will be trying to charge per song from iTunes.

As for the $349 price point, that’s nuts. There is no way this new apple product is worth it. I work in a complete Mac ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, MAcBook Air 11, iMac 27) and have for years. I’ve been watching their design sense become myopic and their product prices skyrocket in the last 4 years or so and wondering if I’m going to have to change my setup!

Anyway, if you are an audiophile, I can’t imagine this speaker being adequate. Nor can I imagine it competing with the full range of services and content provided by amazon in this product space. Frankly, I think you’d be better off getting an echo dot for under $50 and spending that extra $300 on an excellent set of speakers to connect to it. Or, better yet, spend half that:

https://www.amazon.com/Kramer-Surround-Enhanced-Tavor-5-O/dp/B06W2G2XJB/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1496697082&sr=1-1&keywords=Tavor+5-O

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#4

Well, that was a jam-packed keynote. As far as the HomePod, I thought it was strange as they were mainly marketing it as a music device vs. smart home control. For $349, it better sound really, really good. Hopefully they come out with a cheaper model that has a speaker comparable to the Echo for 200-ish, but knowing Apple, they likely won’t - at least for a few years.

I am liking the new 10.5-inch iPad and the new iOS 11 for iPads. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a dark theme with iOS 11. That’ll probably come later this year and be exclusive to the new iPhones. I still find it strange that we don’t have 7000 series aluminum or 3D touch (both introduced with iPhone 6s in 2015) on these new iPads. Also wish it was water resistant and had a static home button like the iPhone 7. Was shocked to find a headphone jack included! Also wish it shipped with a fast charger and USB-C to Lightning cable out of the box.

iMac Pro seems very, very cool, but way too expensive for the average consumer (hence the Pro branding). I hope they’ll start selling the other iMacs in the space gray / black color option… Personally, I’m thinking about the 21" iMac that cost $1499… seems decent. That, or the $1299 MacBook Pro w/o Touchbar. I was hoping they would introduce new a new battery technology like the 12" MacBook with the MacBook Pros… but no. Speaking of the 12" MacBook, it got a pretty decent update (speed wise), and it’s probably not a terrible choice anymore.

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#5

No tvOS update? :frowning:

#6

If Eufy produces such products with a good price, will you like it?:laughing:

#7

Even at $349, some hardcore Apple / must have the latest gadget fans will no doubt jump straight in. Give it 2 months from launch and BestBuy / John Lewis (with 2yr warranty to boot) and the like will have it at a lower price.[quote=“joshuad11, post:4, topic:49744”]
I am liking the new 10.5-inch iPad and the new iOS 11 for iPads. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a dark theme with iOS 11.
[/quote]

Same here, when my iPad Air finally dies, might be the next upgrade. As for dark mode, nice but not a deal breaker as it will most likely follow in an iOS 11 update.

Yep, as soon as they started reeling off the specs I could see the price tags getting bigger and bigger. You could spend probably a good third or more of the total cost just in increasing the RAM with Apple’s pricing. Funny how they said that the 27" Mac is the most preferred choice for buyers, most likely because of the higher specs and the ability to upgrade the RAM without Apple’s insane markup :laughing:

No major improvements, possibly just tweaks and bug fixes at present. Although it was mentioned that there was big things to come from tvOS this year. Happy Amazon / Prime video is to be added, will save mirroring from my iPad when catching up on Bosch / The Grand Tour

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#8

Quite possibly but it would depend on specs, price and UK availability :grin:

#9

Agreed, the price point is OTT, around $200-250 would have been a better introduction but this is Apple. Have roughly the same gear, minus the MacBook which is still on the high end for the specs and upgrade capability. Perhaps Apple should look at the the reason why the 27" option is more popular, the ability to upgrade (the RAM) at a later date, without having your pants pulled down over the price :grin:

Only time will tell, when someone can actually compare it like for like to an established speaker o the market.

Would have thought that with a speaker announcement that they would have finally made a leap to ALAC / lossless in Apple Music / Store

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#10

Does Anker have a speaker already that supports Airplay 2 and if not when can we expect it?

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#11

None of Anker’s current speakers support AirPlay 2 (or AirPlay 1 for that matter). But Anker is very open to feedback, so I’m sure they’ll note this suggestion.

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#12

Yes I would love it!

#13

Not mine, but so true

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#14

Guess who just bought a 10.5" iPad Pro… Me (!)
Let’s hope I don’t regret it… I have 14 days to decide.

#15

The 10.5" size does look the sweet spot. 12.9" and you might as well get a notebook with touchscreen, when compared to the 9.7" version, so close to size but with more screen real estate and power for the price bump. No doubt it will be a keeper for you.

My iPad Air 2 has got about another year or two in it before a jump to the 10.5"

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#16

I would be excited to see what Eufy comes up with in the home automation field!

#17

They have
-Robovac 11c
-smart bulbs
-Echo dot competitor with Alexa
All coming out soon. Before long we’ll find ourselves saying Eufy ecosystem.

#18

Sorry to revive an aging topic, but is Eufy still working on a HomePod-like speaker?

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#19

Do you still think the HomePod will sell well? Missing the Holidays seems like a big strike out for Apple, especially when Amazon’s Echo has been out for more than 3 years now :smirk:

As far as the iMac Pro, it’s interesting how adding Pro to iMac is way different than adding Pro to MacBook.

#20

It will probably be well received by the true hardcore Apple fans, the more pragmatic will probably weigh up the real world reviews against the cost, what other alternatives are close in specs/quality and finally at a cheaper cost hint hint @AnkerOfficial :grin:

As for the Mac line, well I can’t say I’m overly surprised. When they annouced a ‘Pro’ version it did have me thinking “okay then, a premium price tag for a machine with limited upgrade ability no doubt” based on past trends and here we are :smile:

A $5000 base machine where you can only upgrade the RAM via an authorised repair centre (with Apple’s RAM premium added on at I think $800 per chip to get it to 128GB), the CPU upgrade ability is I think up in the air as it’s Apple branded and in most likely hood will be restricted within MacOS to use only Apple chips, finally the SSD…something that is becoming cheaper as they grow in size, Apple branded again :rolling_eyes:

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