By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Apple's HomePod has started to ship to customers in the US, UK and Australia and while many seem to be delighted by the audio quality and elegance of this diminutive speaker, others aren't too thrilled to discover that the HomePod's plastic ring at its base leaves circular marks on wood surfaces. See Apple's reply below.
"It is not unusual for any speaker with a vibration-dampening silicone base to leave mild marks when placed on some wooden surfaces," Apple says. "The marks can be caused by oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will often go away after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface." Apple says the marks recede after a few days or users can simply wipe or treat their wood surfaces to remove the marks. If all fails, Apple's suggestion is “placing your HomePod on a different surface.”
Furniture experts say that this sort of marking results from two things, heat and moisture. Which can't be good on the wood for the long term. Some users have tried to place items like coasters on the base of the HomePod to add a layer of protection, but it muffles the sound quality since this is where the bottom-firing woofer.
This sort of issue is mystifying coming from Apple, specially since various employees have likely been testing HomePod before the release date. Apple has also created various products like Apple TVs, AirPort Express WiFi routers and even Mac mini computers that are similarly designed to sit permanently in wooden surfaces for years with no issue. It's not clear at this time if this issue affects the early HomePod models and if this is something that can be corrected in production at a later time.
Apple HomePod isn't officially available in Canada yet.