Apple HomePod Release Delayed to Early 2018
It's the Holiday season — the annual deadline for gadget makers to release their wares in time for Christmas shopping. Apple, however, is pulling out their HomePod, leaving the field clear for the Amazon Echo and Google Home this year.
Apple has delayed the launch date of their voice-activated home assistant, choosing instead to launch the HomePod in 2018. The setback puts the shipping date for HomePod units in "early 2018," at least for the U.S., U.K., and Australia according to Inverse.
The HomePod was one of the new devices announced by Apple during their yearly Worldwide Developer's Conference when they also claimed that the new Siri-powered speaker will be available by December this year.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
It may have been a case of a premature announcement by Apple, as a company representative reached out to The Verge with just the barest explanation for the delay.
"We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers," the Apple spokesperson said, adding that the HomePod will "start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018."
Priced at $349 each, the upscale home speaker was aimed at competing not just with the Amazon Echo or Google Home, but also with the pricier options from Sonos. It has the specs to match as well, with seven tweeter speakers arranged in its rounded cavity, supported by a four-inch subwoofer at the base.
The array of six microphones and all those speakers already put the HomePod in the same category as the most expensive home speakers in the market today. The software, though, is another matter.
Siri, Apple's smart assistant, is not yet comparable to the Google Assistant or Alexa. This could be one of the reasons that caused Apple to choose to drop its entry for the Holiday season rather than risk bad reviews for the debut launch of the device.
