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Extremely disappointed today to learn that the £700 current and only soundbar from Sonos will NOT have the AirPlay 2 feature, which we (Apple users) have been so looking forward to.



Also gutted as we have just approved a major kitchen rebuild with integrated ceiling speakers and Connect:AMP and there's no alternative for that too.



Airplay 2 for should be for ALL your top price products please.



At least, a very strong trade in programme should be announced soonest.




And frankly, at the time I purchased my 1's and Playbar it was partly on Sonos publicizing Airplay 2 compatibility being in the works and I would have thought the technical requirements would have been well enough understood when they committed to Airplay 2 for Sonos to know that some of their products would not be able to support it.



As has been said many times, Sonos stated in the press and on this forum that Airplay 2 would be supported by the Sonos One at the minimum. There was never any guarantee for support on any other device. Anyone with a clue would realize that if they were at first limiting it to the very latest product, one should be cautious buying a product from 3-4 years ago.
Note : products in shops need to start having a first sold date and a best before date. Really, how does a casual shopper know how old a device and its design and internals are? Normal, non techie customers.
Future proofing the processor is really hard. It is 5 years old. So that means the r&d was min 6 year to 7 years ago. Say they used the most advance processor they could for electronic equipment say from qualcomm or broadcomm or who ever. As computer processors are too expensive so that is mostly out of the question. That processor in the playbar is 7 generation behind the times now. Airplay 2 is not even out. But it iis SW base and requires plenty of processor power to run I am sure.



But I can understand your dissatisfaction. But companies always keep selling current models even after the newer models arrive. It is part business.
Note : products in shops need to start having a first sold date and a best before date. Really, how does a casual shopper know how old a device and its design and internals are? Normal, non techie customers.



Google!!!! You can always find out when a product was first release. I would never drop 700 dollars on a product without doing my research first. But that is me.🆒




And frankly, at the time I purchased my 1's and Playbar it was partly on Sonos publicizing Airplay 2 compatibility being in the works and I would have thought the technical requirements would have been well enough understood when they committed to Airplay 2 for Sonos to know that some of their products would not be able to support it.



As has been said many times, Sonos stated in the press and on this forum that Airplay 2 would be supported by the Sonos One at the minimum. There was never any guarantee for support on any other device. Anyone with a clue would realize that if they were at first limiting it to the very latest product, one should be cautious buying a product from 3-4 years ago.



Guess it serves me right for not paying more attention to the press release!
Future proofing the processor is really hard. It is 5 years old. So that means the r&d was min 6 year to 7 years ago. Say they used the most advance processor they could for electronic equipment say from qualcomm or broadcomm or who ever. As computer processors are too expensive so that is mostly out of the question. That processor in the playbar is 7 generation behind the times now. Airplay 2 is not even out. But it iis SW base and requires plenty of processor power to run I am sure.



But I can understand your dissatisfaction. But companies always keep selling current models even after the newer models arrive. It is part business.



I'm not arguing that older products won't have the capacity or features of newer ones. Generally though, deprecated models get a price cut or the newer and more capable is at a higher price. I researched the sound quality and found the trade off between the Playbar and the Playbase to be negligible from the reviews, so went for what I considered to be the more attractive option. Granted, had I researched more I guess I would have found out that there may be a forthcoming reduced feature set as a result, but as the price point was the same I did not consider that it would be the case, so didn't delve deaper.
How has the feature set been reduced?
Shoturtle, I have to say that my creation of this thread is actually because the Playbar and associated speakers provide, BY FAR, the best cinema experience that I have ever had. I actually sold £2000 speakers and THX amp to move to the Sonos, and it is a far better experience. (I realise I'm opening up a can of worms just saying this!). The key thing with the Playbar is the quality of the voices. With our B&W Series 7 speaker system, we had to continually rewind films to re-hear what people were saying.



Fingers crossed both Playbar and Connect AMP are re-launched with gutsy updated interiors in the next 6 months, and then we will be good. I get that Playbar can be used with ONE speakers, but we have a very real need right now for Airplay in the Connect:AMP so really hope it gets upgraded soon. Someone mentioned upcoming accessories coming from other manufacturers with Airplay 2 in, but I can't find anything online yet. I'm sure that will change.



Thanks everyone for all their points of view. Clearly, it's a very marmite situation. I think one thing is for sure - like other areas of tech (iPhones etc...) - business crosses with hobby with lifestyle, and we get more wrapped up in the hobby side and forget that, at the end of the day, we are dealing with a business, which for the most part, has provided some outstanding hardware.



Finally, I emailed Sonos and got an email confirming what we already know, from their head of customer services. But still, a nice response.
Just voicing this cos I want to, it’s not to add value or provoke anyone but I am bitterly disappointed that the Playbar will not be receiving AirPlay2.



I really don’t get why they didn’t refresh the internals of the Playbar when they launched the Playbase, I would love to understand how difficult or costly that would have been.



For them to update the playbar at the same time as the playbar launch was possible. But Sonos is a small company. They might not have had it in their r&d budget at the time.



It would be a complete redesign. With new processor. There is a new power supply. So new regulators to ensure the everything get the right level of power. And since it is 7 years. You need a updated wifi modem. So all those new components need to be design and then tested. It is not as simple as a PC. Open it up and swap the hhd for a SSD or pop old gen processor for a gen7 processor. Then Sonos have to spend money getting the new playbar certified. It is not a cheap process to do a wholesale redesign of the playbar.
It's also maybe not cheap sourcing such old, out of date tech now. 😉
Looks like the new replacement Playbar could be on its way?



https://fccid.io/SBVRM014
And facts are for those like it to be all about themselves. Sonos when they announced airplay support stated it would only be for the Sonos One. How about thinking of the happy playbase and play:5 gen 2 users that Sonos found they were able to support as well. Bonus for those people. So it’s not about the devices that can’t do it ... it’s aboit how Sonos was able to add to devices that never intended to get airplay. Sonos went well beyond what they promised.
And facts are for those like it to be all about themselves. Sonos when they announced airplay support stated it would only be for the Sonos One



Er, no they didn't, their exact message was 'We're also bringing Apple's AirPlay 2 to the Sonos platform, which will allow you to play audio from any Apple iOS device on your Sonos speakers'



It may have been in a blog post about the Sonos One but was under a separate section regarding their developer portal...
Nope they said Sonos One publically from day 1
Well for a product with that age I think it some kind of fair enough that playbar and play1 etc doesn't feature airplay 2. How many devices that are in use today will get airplay 2? I bet Sonos is amongst those who supports airplay 2 most on older devices.

Eks - b&w says they'll support airplay 2 but has confirmed none of the existing product will support airplay.

I would have been I Sonos philosophy to support it on all devices BUT its not just about hardware, It will require some muscles which these 1 gen units doesn't have
This might be the solution



http://www.aftvnews.com/fcc-filing-suggests-sonos-is-working-on-a-new-tv-sound-bar-with-alexa-voice-control/
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a playbar v2 by holidays. Hopefully with hdmi.
I would think also all new Sonos speakers will always have Alexa and google
I would think also all new Sonos speakers will always have Alexa and google



Well, almost all. I don't foresee any new Subs or Boost with Alexa built in. A playbase might not physically have a good spot for mics either, not sure.
Having recently purchased the playbar it is somewhat disappointing, but frankly not surprising given the age of the hardware design that it is not supported. Whilst it would be nice to have support for Airplay 2 natively in the existing hardware, it is nice to know that the overall ecosystem will still benefit via a One or Play 5. Must admit that If I’d realised there were fundamental hardware differences (beyond form factor) between the playbar and playbase with hindsight I’d have purchased the latter. But to be frank i fully expected to be upgrading the playbar once the inevitable HDMI equipped version (or substitute) comes out anyway. I’d factored that into my longer term ‘sonos’ plan. Yes I spent the money and expected to be dissapointed about the future proofness of the current model, but I am nontheless enjoying the benefits whilst I await a new model to be released. A new one can join the HT setup and the old one can move to another room and used as a ‘bumb’ speaker. More sonos in the house can only be a good thing 🙂
That may be the first official confirmation that it will work much like Playbar and TV. You have to have the device playing in order to group to play to others. It will not serve from the speaker without playing.
I recently dove into the Sonos system, and have speakers in every room. As a recent purchaser, I am disappointed that hardware I purchased in the last 6 months does not support the latest software. In the case of the Play 1, I understand it being omitted as an upgraded model (One) is available. The Playbar on the other hand, is still being marketed as the "latest" and best offering, at the same price point as the Playbase, which I feel is a tad unfair. I am reserving my full reaction until a new Playbar is announced and/or airplay 2 support is live on the other products and I see if I even miss it.
Is it not clear that which speakers will have Airplay 2 is a technical issue not a marketing issue? And that Sonos are looking to provide a workaround for older speakers. Why are people whingeing about this free upgrade? And the One is not an upgrade of the Play:1. Ridiculous.
Where is the law that says that Sonos' pricing choices have to be "fair"? Who decides what "fair" is?
what is legal and what is fair are two different things. I never said that anything was illegal. I do like to have all necessary information when making a purchasing descision. The fact that the playbar is less “future proof” than the playbase should be reflected in the price.
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