HomePod mini play pause lag when paired with Mac mini

@michelehimself

I’m having the exact San and noticed the exact same I thought it was just my unit hopefully Apple fixed this with a software update. Im experiencing the same when AirPlaying music from Spotify whenever I play or pause there’s like a 2 or 3 second delay but no delay for the volume. Also had the same when AirPlaying audio from my MacBook Air from Netflix to my HomePod mini. Audio is great quality and easy if use they just need to solve this. I wonder if the same happens with the OG HomePod ?

Hi DTPhoto. Not sure if you fixed your issue yet or not. I had the same problem with an Apple TV. In the case of the Apple TV, there is a 'wireless sync' you can perform for audio. Supposed to help fix problems (especially if you have a sound bar in the mix). Definitely worked for me!

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210526

Having said that, I do have the same issue with a HomePod mini and a Mac mini as described by OP. No fix yet.

I got a Sonos speaker recently and when I use Airplay to stream music to it, I have the same issues like the others here:

• Delay with play, pause, skip track
• viewing videos is perfectly in sync

So I think it is an issue with the Airplay protocol, not the devices itself (HomePod, Sonos etc.)

I hope that the engineers are already working on this💪

Heads up!

Hey tekie-

Unfortunately, I have the same issue and wanted to ask you a question. I hope Apple solves this, because it's really annoying.

In my case, there is also a delay of 1 to 3 seconds no matter what I'm listening to on all devices. (MacBook Pro 15" and iPhone) So If I pause or skip or anything else there is always this delay but as you already said, it syncs up perfectly fine. It just seems to be a slow response problem. Even if I touch the top panel of my HomePod mini to pause it takes a while.

Now, I've discovered something weird: Changing volume of the HomePod mini itself on my MacBook Pro seems to be the only action where there is absolutely no delay. I'm very interested if that's the case with your Mini as well.

I had a similar problem, until I ran into something tat looks like this

The HomePod Mini is "Bedroom" and it just would not connect to my Macbook Pro for whatever reason. I had much better luck using Google Nest Mini; I thought by getting something that is similarly an Apple product would make things even smoother. How wrong I was.

Thanks for your response. I was also thinking about returning my HomePod mini but apart from this delay which as we found out seems to be a software issue I think it's a great product with an incredible sound quality for such a small package.

I hope that this gets fixed pretty fast.

I have exactly the same issue. The weird thing is that I started having this issue today. It's been one week I have the HomePod Mini and I've had no trouble so far...

Totally useless yo have the HomePod then, except for the music...

Any solution so far?

Even when I adjust the volume off the HomePod directly from my MacBook Pro it makes no difference...

Well, I've just talked with the support center and I've found the problem...

Video players like VLC, Cisdem, Elmedia, don't have support for Airplay 2. I've tried with Optimus Player, which supports Airplay 2, and everything works fine.

Yes, I still have the lag of two seconds when I hit play or pause, but at least now when I watch a video/music whether it is on Netflix, YouTube, iTunes or VLC. That's a little bit annoying, but nothing like the video being totally out of sync with the audio like it was the case in VLC.

Since I've switched to Optimus Player, I have 0 trouble with that and I can finally use my HomePod Mini to watch movies.

Same here with the HomePods. Just purchased to add to the MacBook Air 1 and seeing the same issue. It does not happen when I play through the iPhone. I was tempted to return but hoping Apple comes out with an update for Mac OS Big Sur (and/or other operating systems this might affect) to resolve.

On a side note, I also hope they allow you to use two HomePods for stereo set up with the Mac. Yes, there is a work around but it's annoying.

I'm having the same problem with the same hardware (Mac mini M1 and HomePod mini). Getting lag when streaming videos (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) 2 to 3 seconds. Even at times the HomePod mini loses its connection and the Mac mini speakers kick in (btw, those speakers sound horrible). I hope Apple addresses this annoying problem.

It seems to be an old problem of airplay 2 technology. It works fine with iPhone and iPad but not Macs. When you choose to play audio to airplay speakers there is always delay like 2 seconds. Unable to watch movies and play games. But if you play video in safari or music app everything is fine. And that's really painful. As I see the problem is still there with new HomePods and new Macs

To be honest I have a million problems with the HomePod mini.

Delay, connection issues, compatibility issues, and tons of times the HomePod mini is not responding... I kind of regret my purchase... Plus it’s not even by Bluetooth but only WiFi... so if it’s down for some reason, then it doesn’t work... 🤷‍♂️

How can we make Apple aware of theses issues and work on them?

I thought staying in the Apple ecosystem would make everything smooth but it’s actually worse than other speaker brands... it’s infuriating...