No Airplay 2 for Playbar. GUTTED !!!!!

maybe dumb question - I only use my playbar, sub and play:1 for home theatre sound - but what is airplay 2 and why is it a must have feature?
Not a dumb question... Many people want Airplay support so they can take music from ANY app on their iPhone or iPad and stream it through their Sonos system, even if it's not a service that is available in the Sonos controller. That's why it's such a big deal to many. You can use your favorite podcast app. You can use your favorite music service. And it doesn't matter if they're a Sonos service or not.

I understand tech evolves. What's the problem is that SONOS told in 2017 Airplay 2 would be available for all the devices.

http://press-us.sonos.com/159680-sonos-unveils-smart-speaker-with-support-for-multiple-voice-services
"Apple AirPlay 2 Coming in 2018
Sonos also announced that it will begin supporting Apple’s AirPlay 2 in 2018, making it possible to play any sound from an iOS device – including YouTube videos and Netflix movies – on Sonos speakers throughout the house. Owners will also be able to ask any Siri-enabled device to control music on Sonos speakers."

[quote=Ricko]I understand tech evolves. What's the problem is that SONOS told in 2017 Airplay 2 would be available for all the devices.

It doesn't say ALL devices. It says devices. I'm coming to terms with it (I mean that very superficiously - this is so minor in the grand scheme of the universe). Just had a moment of being gutted. Posted the message and unleashed the hounds of hell !!! Sorry about that.

Well, they did tell it would be an software update to ALL players.
My earlier post about that have been deleted.
The original post where they say this have been edited by sonos and now say “only new models”
Editing month old posts in the middle of old topics ? Really?

This stinks sonos!

I can totally live with “only new models do airplay” thats how tech works......it will be outdated some time.
BUT be goddamm honest about it from day one, but hey....if you did that nobody would have bought the old devices anymore right?

The reality is that what they promised - to let you play any iOS app sound on Sonos is already available via that awful solution - analogue AirPlay via a airport router to a Sonos speaker with input. So they promised very little with AirPlay and delivered less. For me and most others this airplay solution is a mess. What I have to buy a Sonos One for evey room now? Thats 4 new speakers that I don’t want to make any noise. And if I have 2 prior gen play 5s and a sub I’m 1 room how am I supposed to keep that crappy Sonos One ‘third wheel’ quiet without muting it each time so I can enjoy my music. If the tech is too old on my 10 month old $999 sub (grrr) then at least they should have a Alexa dot sized small puck available to buy with no speaker that I can add on to each room.

The reality is that what they promised - to let you play any iOS app sound on Sonos is already available via that awful solution - analogue AirPlay via a airport router to a Sonos speaker with input. So they promised very little with AirPlay and delivered less. For me and most others this airplay solution is a mess. What I have to buy a Sonos One for evey room now? Thats 4 new speakers that I don’t want to make any noise. And if I have 2 prior gen play 5s and a sub I’m 1 room how am I supposed to keep that crappy Sonos One ‘third wheel’ quiet without muting it each time so I can enjoy my music. If the tech is too old on my 10 month old $999 sub (grrr) then at least they should have a Alexa dot sized small puck available to buy with no speaker that I can add on to each room.

Right now no one but Sonos really knows how airplay2 will be implemented. You might need 4 Sonos one for the 4 groups. You might just need one for the whole house. The blog is ambiguous on that. So it really is a wait and see. Think once apple release airplay2 Sonos might release more info.

The Playbar is not a cheap bit of kit though - it was top of the range re: playbars and as such should have been better future proofed.

While it is true that technology progresses and upgraded internals required to support new features, I have only had my Playbar and 1 setup since December and am not thrilled that I paid the same price as the Playbase for an out of date product that would not be able to support features becoming available in the very near future. I feel there should have been some degree of disclosure or a price differential between the Playbar and the Playbase in the same way as there is a 25% price increase between the 1 and the Alexa enabled One.

The reality is that what they promised - to let you play any iOS app sound on Sonos is already available via that awful solution - analogue AirPlay via a airport router to a Sonos speaker with input. So they promised very little with AirPlay and delivered less. For me and most others this airplay solution is a mess. What I have to buy a Sonos One for evey room now? Thats 4 new speakers that I don’t want to make any noise. And if I have 2 prior gen play 5s and a sub I’m 1 room how am I supposed to keep that crappy Sonos One ‘third wheel’ quiet without muting it each time so I can enjoy my music. If the tech is too old on my 10 month old $999 sub (grrr) then at least they should have a Alexa dot sized small puck available to buy with no speaker that I can add on to each room.

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.

The Playbar is not a cheap bit of kit though - it was top of the range re: playbars and as such should have been better future proofed.

While it is true that technology progresses and upgraded internals required to support new features, I have only had my Playbar and 1 setup since December and am not thrilled that I paid the same price as the Playbase for an out of date product that would not be able to support features becoming available in the very near future. I feel there should have been some degree of disclosure or a price differential between the Playbar and the Playbase in the same way as there is a 25% price increase between the 1 and the Alexa enabled One.

How were they supposed to future proof for something they had no idea was coming from another company? Also, how can you future proof for something that has modern processing requirements 5 years before those processors are being made and/or sold at an affordable price?

Anytime you're creating a physical product, there's usually a balance between cost of components and future proofing. Given the age of the PLAYBAR, I'm not actually that surprised (albeit it slightly disappointed) that it won't act as a receiver for AirPlay. But I do have a Sonos One and a PLAY:5 Gen 2 that will, and bearing further data from Sonos, assume that they'll be acceptable to receive the signal, and pass it off.

And honestly, most of my input for the PLAYBAR comes through the TV set, which the Apple TV is connected to anyway. I'm assuming that I can "cast" as before to the Apple TV, and have it feed whatever signal necessary to the PLAYBAR.