To perhaps compete with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home comes Apple's HomePod. For those who have been anticipating its release, it seems that the wait will be extended as Apple pushed the launch date to 2018 instead.
Speaking to The Verge, a representative from Apple said that the reason for the delay is that they need more time to work on the HomePod. They went on to explain that while they are excited to bring the HomePod onto the market for their customers, they still need more time to get it ready to hit shelves. They also said that they will start shipping these models to the U.S., U.K., and Australia in the early part of 2018.
The HomePod was initially going to hit shelves by December. It retails for $349, and as previously mentioned, up to compete with the smart assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home. It was also set to compete with the higher-end sound systems such as Sonos.
The Apple HomePod features a seven-speaker array of tweeters plus a four-inch subwoofer, as well as a six-microphone array. This puts the wireless device among the best speakers for its price range. However, as to where this speaker might fail would be Siri, which is not so much on the levels of Alexa or the Google Assistant.
Siri's capabilities might be the main reason why Apple would take a little longer before they could officially bring the HomePod out onto the market. However, the reason remains unknown, but when it was first unveiled to the public back in June, Apple seemed to put more priority to its speaker function than Siri. So, much to the liking of those who would want to get their hands on one before Christmas, the HomePod will not be out until 2018.
