Apple HomePod Release Date, Price Revealed: Pre-Orders Start This Week

The Apple HomePod was supposed to go on sale last month at the height of the holiday season, but Apple pushed back its release date to early 2018. Now, the tech giant has finally announced a HomePod release date.

Apple announced in a press release today that the HomePod will be released Feb. 9. The company also confirmed customers will be able to pre-order the HomePod online starting Jan. 26. The Siri-powered smart speaker is also set to arrive in France and Germany this spring. The HomePod will cost $349.

Apple says that both the white and space gray color options will be available from Apple’s online store and select Authorized Resellers like Best Buy in the U.S.; Argos, Dixons Carphone, john Lewis, Shop Direct and EE in the U.K.; and The Good Guys, Harvey Norman, HB Hi-Fi, Myer and Telstra in Australia. No information was given yet on where the HomePod will be available in Germany and France.

“HomePod is a magical new music experience from Apple. It brings advanced audio technologies like beam-forming tweeters, a high-excursion woofer and automatic spatial awareness, together with the entire Apple Music catalog and the latest Siri intelligence, in a simple, beautiful design that is so much fun to use,” Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said.

“We’re so excited for people to get HomePod into their homes, apartments and businesses to hear it for themselves. We think they will be blown away by the audio quality. The team has worked to give Siri a deeper knowledge of music so that you can ask to play virtually anything from your personal favorites to the latest chart-topping releases, simply by saying ‘Hey Siri.’”

When Apple decided to delay the release date of the HomePod, the company didn’t provide a reason why. Last week, International Business Times reported that the HomePod was delayed because Apple still needed time for “fine-tuning” the device’s software and hardware integration.

The Apple HomePod will function much like the Amazon Echo and the Google Home speakers. The major difference here however is that Apple’s smart speaker will be powered by Siri, the same digital assistant that’s currently available on iOS devices and macOS computers. Users will be able to talk to Siri using the HomePod to stream songs from Apple Music, listen to podcasts and news, and control smart home devices with HomeKit support.