Why the Sonos Play:1 Speaker Does Not Support AirPlay 2

Sonos Chief Product Officer, Nick Millington, explains why the company’s popular Play:1 speaker did not get AirPlay 2 support last month, in an interview with Engadget:

But Sonos ended up not adding AirPlay 2 support to the 2013 Play:1 speaker, one of the company’s most popular and affordable products. For those customers who feel shafted, Millington said the decision was ultimately made in favor of making sure the Play:1 continued to work as well as it has for as long as possible.

“We decided that AirPlay 2 was a bit too much of a commitment of the remaining resources and RAM and processor inside that product,” Millington explained. Instead, Sonos is saving those computing resources for updates that’ll let the Play:1 work in multi-room setups with the company’s newer speakers. Choosing longevity over a new feature is how the company thinks it can keep customers from having to replace otherwise perfectly good speakers within a few years.

What’s your preference? AirPlay 2, or speaker longevity? Or do you think this answer is not a good one?