HomePods Suddenly Stop Working for Users Updating to 14.6, 15

A growing number of original HomePods have suddenly stopped working for users who have updated their devices to the beta version of the ‌HomePod‌ 15 software, although some users with 14.6 software installed have also been affected, MacRumors is reporting.

According to one user, his 18-month-old ‌HomePod‌ running the 14.6 update has suddenly stopped working, while another user who owns a total of 19 HomePods has reported that seven of them have stop working today. Four of those HomePods were running the ‌HomePod‌ 15 beta, whereas the remaining three were running 14.6.

Here’s what he wrote on Reddit:

“I have a total of 19 HomePods at home. 6 of them are on Beta and the others on 14.6. As of today, 7 are no longer working. 4 on the beta and 3 on 14.6. I use the HomePods normally and listen to music from time to time but not very loud, on average about 20% volume. All the ones on the beta are connected as default speaker on the Apple TV. Either there is a massive problem with the OS or something in the hardware is built wrong.”

Based on reports from several other users who have had their HomePods suddenly die, the following list of most common complaints has been created:

• Failure 1 – A Reddit user was running the ‌HomePod‌ 15 beta and found that his ‌HomePod‌ was hot on the top, which may have led to a logic board issue. Other Reddit users have speculated about the failures being caused by using the ‌HomePod‌ as a default speaker to the ‌Apple TV‌ while running the ‌HomePod‌ 15 beta
• Failure 2 – A newly opened ‌HomePod‌ was set up, updated to 14.6, and then it lost connection. A hard reset caused the LED to turn red and the volume lights to blink, but it was non-functional.
• Failure 3 – One of two HomePods set as a stereo pair suddenly stopped working. Both HomePods were running the 14.6 update. Broken ‌HomePod‌ doesn’t power up and doesn’t respond to touch.
• Failure 4 – 7 HomePods stop working, four on beta, three on 14.6.
• Failure 5 – A user in June had his ‌HomePod‌ die after a software update. The ‌HomePod‌ does not light up, does not work, and resets do not do anything.
• HomePod Overheating – A Reddit user had a ‌HomePod‌ die when used in stereo mode with the ‌Apple TV‌, and it was hot to the touch. It survived and continued to work, but the Reddit user has noticed the HomePods are still getting hot in stereo mode while running 14.6. This person says that their two other HomePods also died previously.

There is no known fix for ‌HomePod‌ users at this time, but we highly recommend avoiding the latest beta software update. Apple has also not yet issued any officially statement regarding the issue.