Skip to main content
GB
Enthusiast I
January 21, 2020

My expensive SONOS system was just bricked by SONOS legacy

I have 13 SONOS units, including ZP100’s and ZP80’s that work perfectly. Today, SONOS sent an email announcing that 10 of the units will no longer get software updates as of May 2020. So, if any music service,  MS Windows, or Apple makes a security change after May 2020 that the existing software doesn’t agree with, then my system will stop operating.  The replacement cost of these 10 units is $4,650 and even with 30% offered for trade-ins, my outlay to keep my system operating will be $3,255. SONOS’s management should keep a software update track for “legacy” equipment in order for existing functionality to remain working.

      This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

      23 replies

      Show previous replies
      GregBel
      Enthusiast I
      January 24, 2020

      This is more like it should be.:-)

       

      We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

      First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

      Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

      While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

      Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn't exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

      If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

      Sincerely,
      Patrick

      Patrick Spence
      CEO, Sonos

      Stanley_4
      Stanley_4
      Grand Maestro
      January 24, 2020

      Link to the blog post

      https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/system/households/devices/

      DK_Madsen
      Enthusiast II
      January 24, 2020

      If Spotify changes how they send music to devices, it might stop working on Sonos legacy systems. It’s unlikely you’ll see a Windows or Apple security change that could cause your Sonos players to stop being able to work.

      The problem here is that ALL sonos speakers will be seen as legacy if one does, so i can have 100 Play 1 speakers and one play 5 and if i keep the play 5, NONE of my speakers will play spotify.

       

      What Sonos should have done is say : Look, the Play 5 and the amp’s will not get any updates, everything will continue to work as right now, but in the future the Play 5 might not be able to do Spotify, but we will continue to try and update the 5 if changes are small and possible to implement relatively easy.

       

      Might even be a bit of money in it for sonos for updating the 5, if spotify changes something, might be worth asking spotify if they would be willing to pay for the update in the other end.

      They need to develop the update for all the current devices anyway, so might not be very expensive to implement it into the older speakers as it has been coded for the other speakers.

       

      This is not a “the best of both worlds” situation, but rather a “Worst of the worst”.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement