Sonos today announced an expanded partnership with Apple, which will see its popular PLAY:1 and PLAY:5 speakers available for purchase from Apple's online store and Apple retail locations around the world.
Sonos is a popular brand known for offering Wi-Fi connected speakers that are excellent for multi-room home speaker systems. The PLAY:1 ($199) and the PLAY:5 ($499) are expensive speakers, but the simple setup, ease of use, and sound quality can't be beat.
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"Our expanded collaboration with Apple is a great example of our ongoing work with our full ecosystem of partners to make it easier than ever to listen to music out loud at home," said Patrick Spence, president of Sonos. "Apple Music on Sonos is a powerful experience, one we're proud to bring directly to Apple fans at Apple Stores worldwide."
Many Apple stores that sell Sonos systems will be offering hands-on in-store Sonos and Apple Music demos featuring the Sonos app on an iPad Pro.
As an incentive for new purchasers, those who buy a Sonos system from Apple between today and December 31 will get a free three-month Apple Music gift card.
The PLAY:1 and PLAY:5 will be available for purchase from Apple's online store later today, expanding to 468 retail stores around the world starting on October 5. Online availability in other countries is expected in the coming weeks.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)If you have Sonos, airplay is not relevant. You can access your entire iTunes library from the Sonos app, as well as SiriusXM, Apple Music, and many others.
Except if you don't want to be tied to one app.I'm surprised Apple would sell this product in their store without AirPlay support. I hope they're not turning their back on it as it's such a great high quality speaker streaming protocol.
Sonos is a fabulous music distribution system. You can use their self-contained amp/speakers (which, in pairs, can be set up as L/R) or a Sonos amp to power your own speakers. The ability to play music in different rooms (called Zones) or combine them together is amazing. If you love music, Sonos is for you. I've had it in my house for about 6 years (5 zones) and it is worth every penny.
This. I struggled trying to setup my own system trying to mimic Sonos - mostly because I'm hard headed and like to do things the long and painful way :P After I got over that I bought some sonos speakers and couldn't be happier. Their system is the best, bar none. The ability to place their speakers anywhere within wifi range is super convenient. Yes you can do this with airplay but getting them to mesh is nearly impossible.[doublepost=1474908464][/doublepost]
No AirPlay = No purchase.
Airplay can not match what the Sonos system does. Airplay is for one speaker - Sonos can manage as many speakers as you want to put up. They play under the same wifi protocol IIRC. The only drawback is you can't use iTunes as your player with sonos, you must use the sonos app but once you get used to it you really won't miss iTunes.I'm surprised Apple would sell this product in their store without AirPlay support. I hope they're not turning their back on it as it's such a great high quality speaker streaming protocol.
I've got Airplay in 4 rooms of the house. The only feature I wish it had that it doesn't is the ability to play to multiple zones directly from the iOS and not just my Macs (though the Remote App covers that pretty well).
A similar Sonos setup would be much more expensive and have a poorer selection of Amps and speakers to play through.