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AppleHomePodFeature

When Apple launches a typical product — say an iPhone or iPad — you can usually predict the reviews pretty closely. Expected capabilities include strong overall operation in its price class and new features that may or may not rail with what Android device manufacturers are doing. Sometimes, as with Retina Displays, Apple leads the pack. Sometimes, every bit with wireless charging, it's years behind the curve. It's unusual for an Apple tree device to come up markedly short, and even more than unusual for it bomb altogether — but the HomePod shows some signs of beingness the rare Apple failure.

The problem is simple. The HomePod is a $350 speaker that works exclusively and only with Apple products. It can stream music if you have an Apple tree Music subscription. It tin can stream music from iTunes Music purchases, or the iCloud Music Library. It can stream audio from a unlike device, provided it'southward from Apple and supports AirPlay. And that's it. There'southward no Bluetooth support. There's no wired audio support. There's no way to use the HomePod as an output for a dissimilar A/V device, and you can't even replace the power cable (technically you can, but Apple doesn't consider this a user-repairable pick).

In other words, the HomePod is an extraordinarily express speaker. Information technology doesn't even work with the Android version of Apple tree Music. And now, there's show, admitted by Apple itself, that the HomePod can stain and mar sure types of countertops — potentially permanently.

Not shown: Counter-staining silicon base.

The problem is the interaction betwixt surfaces that are oiled, like butcher block countertops, and the silicon base of operations of the HomePod itself. Apple has best-selling the trouble, but dismissed the thought of its HomePod being to blame. The company writes:

It is non unusual for any speaker with a vibration-damping silicone base to leave mild marks when placed on some wooden surfaces. The marks tin exist caused past oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will ofttimes get abroad after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface. If not, wiping the surface gently with a soft damp or dry cloth may remove the marks. If marks persist, clean the surface with the article of furniture manufacturer's recommended cleaning procedure. If you lot're concerned well-nigh this, we recommend placing your HomePod on a different surface.

For what information technology's worth, Apple is right. It is not unusual for this interaction to occur. Information technology tin as well happen with whatever condom-footed product on oiled countertops. And a company that wanted its users to have the best possible experience might consider warning said users when they buy the device.

There's an easy way to practice information technology, too. Decades agone, some corporate genius dreamed up an amazing invention: Pocket-size, insertable paper cards with pertinent information on the proper maintenance and setup of the included production. In some cases, this important information is bundled upwardly, spring together (typically in 237 languages, organized by height), and published in a volume we refer to every bit an "instruction manual."

Look, did I say decades? I actually mean millennia. The Antikythera mechanism is at present known to have had an education manual for its use engraved on the metal itself.

Past all indications, the HomePod's admittedly excellent sound quality isn't enough to overcome its limitations and flaws. Stains from it tin can appear on countertops in as footling as xx minutes, according to Pocket-Lint. More and more than, this is looking similar one speaker worth skipping.

Now read: Geek.com's guide to protecting your tables from Apple HomePod