The original HomePod was notoriously troublesome to restore, to the purpose the place slicing instruments had been generally mandatory. Apple is not giving practically as a lot grief with the second-gen model, nonetheless. iFixit has torn down the brand new sensible speaker and found that it’s miles simpler to pry open. The big quantities of glue are gone — you may get inside utilizing little greater than a screwdriver, and the inner parts are equally accessible. Mix this with the removable energy wire and it must be possible to repair no less than some components your self.
iFixit cautions that it hasn’t examined for doable software restrictions on repairs. It is not clear that you could substitute circuit boards and nonetheless anticipate a functioning HomePod. Even so, it is evident Apple considers repairability to be a precedence this time round, a lot because it does with the standard iPhone 14 and different latest merchandise.
Not that Apple has a lot selection however to make the HomePod extra fix-friendly. Each federal and state governments are pushing for right-to-repair mandates. If Apple did not make the speaker simpler to take care of, it risked a political pushback. And whereas we would not rely on Apple including the HomePod to its Self Service Repair program, the second-gen’s design makes that prospect extra real looking.
All merchandise really useful by Engadget are chosen by our editorial staff, unbiased of our mum or dad firm. A few of our tales embrace affiliate hyperlinks. Should you purchase one thing by means of certainly one of these hyperlinks, we could earn an affiliate fee. All costs are appropriate on the time of publishing.
Trending Merchandise
