Tim Cook: Music ‘deserves’ the audio quality HomePod offers

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HomePod
Tim Cook thinks HomePod will blow away the "squeaky sound" of its rivals.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook talked up the audio quality of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker during a recent interview, while taking a shot at the competition.

“We think one thing that was missing from this market was a quality audio experience, a very immersive audio experience,” Cook said. “Music deserves that kind of quality as opposed to some kind of squeaky sound.”

Cook’s interview was given as part of his recent visit to Canada, his first during his tenure as Apple CEO. The talk about HomePod, which Apple has largely avoided discussing since its announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference last year, comes hot on the heels of news that Apple’s $349 Siri speaker will finally ship in early February. Preorders open this Friday.

Apple’s smart speaker is quite late to the game and priced much higher than most similar products. Apple claims the HomePod will sound far better than the competition, but that might not be enough to convince consumers, millions of whom already own Amazon Echo or Google Home smart speakers.

HomePod audio quality is the main thing (other than price) that Apple says will set its Siri-powered device apart from rivals. According to Apple, the smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music” thanks to its seven-tweeter array, 4-inch woofer, and smart “spatial awareness” technology that lets it “read” its environment.

Cook is still a big believer in augmented reality

During Cook’s interview with the Financial Post, he also talked about augmented reality, which Apple introduced into its products with ARKit.

“I see AR taking off very quickly,” Cook said. “I see developers across Canada adopting at a very fast rate, bringing their craft to market and I couldn’t be happier with it.”

Are you as excited as Cook about the possibilities offered by Apple’s push into augmented reality and smart speakers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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