Did you want to wow someone special in your life with a new Apple HomePod speaker for the holidays? You better come up with another gift, because HomePod won't be released in time.
The Siri-backed smart speaker, which Apple unveiled in June, was supposed to make its in December, but as we learned today, that will not be happening. Apple is pushing HomePod's release to 2018.
In a statement, Apple suggested production issues are to blame.
"We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers," Cupertino said. "We'll start shipping in the US, UK, and Australia in early 2018."
If you actually were planning to buy a HomePod speaker for someone on your list, consider this a blessing for your wallet. From Amazon's new Echo lineup to Google Home and Google Home Mini, there's no shortage of more affordable smart speakers on the market, many of which will be discounted for Black Friday. A December HomePod ship date was already a significantly longer gap than most Apple products have between announcement and shipping, and that gap is widening even further.
HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription and iPhone 5s and above running iOS 11. It stands 7 inches tall and features six microphones, which will listen for your command to Siri. Apple claims HomePod and Siri can even handle advanced queries, like "Hey Siri, who's the drummer in this?" Under the hood, the HomePod runs an Apple A8 chip and features an upward-facing subwoofer.