Gruber Says Higher Prices Outweigh New Features on Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini 2

John Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball blog, believes the higher prices of the new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini 2 stand out far more than the features the two devices add, according to first impressions reported by MacRumors and relayed by عالم التقنية. The new Apple TV is priced at $299 and the HomePod mini 2 at $149, compared with a starting price of $129 for the previous Apple TV 4K and $99 for the earlier HomePod mini before prices rose in late June.

Why it matters

The gap between old and new pricing is the central point of Gruber's assessment. He does not dispute that the hardware has improved, but he argues that buyers will notice the cost far more than the additions. That framing matters because Apple positioned both products as refreshes built around Siri AI, and the launch comes alongside a broader push into the smart home.

A fairer comparison still leaves a gap

Gruber notes that the new Apple TV ships in a single configuration with 128GB of storage and an Ethernet port. Because of that, he considers the fairest comparison to be with the previous 128GB model, which started at $149 and rose to $249 in June. On that basis, the real difference is only $50, according to his reading. Even so, he points out that the lowest amount a buyer must now spend to get a new Apple TV 4K is $299 rather than $129.

The difference widens further when a buyer pairs the Apple TV with a pair of HomePod mini units to use them as the default audio output. By Gruber's calculations, that setup now approaches $600 — roughly $300 for the Apple TV plus $150 for each speaker — against about $350 at the earlier prices.

Still worth it, but the market already balked

Despite the criticism, Gruber says he still regards the new Apple TV 4K as worth its price and describes the HomePod mini 2's price as reasonable. He concedes, however, that the general market had already found the old prices high, and that Apple has now added a further increase on top of them.

Apple unveiled the new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini 2 with support for Siri AI, and set an October 30 release date for both, powered by the A19 and S10 chips respectively. The launch coincides with the arrival of HomeView at $299, which will not be sold in the European Union.

Watch whether buyers respond to the higher pricing when the devices go on sale on October 30, and whether Apple adjusts its positioning of the HomeView screen alongside them.