Some HomePods are reportedly being broken by software updates with no fix

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Apple HomePod
Apple HomePod (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Some users are reporting that their HomePods are being broken by version 14.6 and 15 software updates.
  • All impacted users appear to have had the speakers connected to an Apple TV at the time.

Some users are reporting that their HomePods are failing after being connected to an Apple TV. In fact, one user who owns 19 of the things had multiple HomePods fail.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, Reddit users are reporting problems on HomePods that are running version 14.6 and 15 of their software. While the latter is a beta release, the issue doesn't appear to be related to that specifically. Rather, one user noted that they had multiple devices fail.

I have a total of 19 HomePods at home. Six of them are on Beta and the others on 14.6. As of today, seven are no longer working. Four on the beta and three on 14.6. I use the HomePods normally and listen to music from time to time but not very loud, on average about 20% volume. All the ones on the beta are connected as default speakers on the Apple TV.

9to5Mac notes that all of the devices they've heard of failing were connected to Apple TV hardware, suggesting that might be linked to whatever's going on.

Most troubling is the fact many HomePods will be outside of AppleCare, although those with AppleCare+ might still be in luck. Those who aren't covered will have to hand over $280 to get a new speaker and there's no telling how long they will be available given the fact they're now fully discontinued.

Has your HomePod given up the ghost of late? Shout out in the comments and let us know whether it was connected to an Apple TV at the time.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.