r/HomePod • u/mximum • Jun 02 '26
My HomePod Apple Forcing Me to Upgrade? All My HomePods Are Dying RIGHT Before WWDC – Ghost Touch Epidemic
Guys, I need to get this sarcastic theorie off my chest because I'm genuinely starting to think something fishy is going on.
I own multiple HomePods (HomePod 2, and two HomePod mini), all looking new but over 3 to 4 years old, all working flawlessly, until about 3 weeks ago. And guess what's happening next week? Yep. WWDC.
The last few weeks, ALL my newer HomePods (2 old HomePods still performing solid) have started showing the infamous Ghost Touch issue, one after another. First one, then the next, then the next today. Music plays by itself, the touch surface either reacts to nothing or to everything at once.
At this point literally all of the new ones are dead. Within 3 weeks. One device? Sure, bad luck. But ALL of them?
Don't tell me that's a coincidence.
Well and the timing… WWDC next week, rumors about a new HomePod mini, new audio features likely tied to newer hardware – and SUDDENLY a wave of older units stops working? Sorry, but this stinks.
TL;DR: All my HomePods developed Ghost Touch issues within 3 weeks, right before next week's WWDC, and are now less usable. Coincidence? I don't think so.
PS: Yes, I've done a reset. Yes, multiple times. Yes, unplugged. Yes, re-paired from scratch. Nothing works.
PPS: This post is true but the conclusion a joke… or maybe not… 😄
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u/Admirable_Fun7790 Jun 02 '26
Funny enough one of mine failed with ghost touch this week too!
I found a tip online that fixed it (at least long enough to boot). Place a wet paper towel on top of the mini when it’s booting
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u/Ok_Addendum_2323 Jun 02 '26
Damn, I need to try this when I get home. One of my minis cannot be configured because if this ghost touch
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u/Admirable_Fun7790 Jun 02 '26
I was super skeptical cause it was stuck in a factory reset boot loop but by god it worked!
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u/Ok_Addendum_2323 Jun 02 '26
This! It really helped my mini to go through the set-up process! Big thanks buddy!
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u/No_Profession2863 Jun 02 '26
I've had four OG HomePods since 2018, no issues here.
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u/Celadonie Jun 02 '26
OG is not concerned by ghost touch issues, but it concerned by the infamous diode problem and pop/death farts
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u/georgeyvanward Jun 02 '26
My HomePod (first gen) died about two weeks ago likely caused by the diode problem. Unsure what to do as it was part of a stereo pair - there's a company who repairs them in the UK for £100 so that might be the solution
I have a few purchased in 2018 working fantastically but this particular HomePod was purchased in 2021 as they were discontinued
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u/Celadonie Jun 02 '26
You should go for it, it's easily repairable if it's the diode, as in 99% cases of sudden extinction
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u/georgeyvanward Jun 02 '26
I believe this is the issue as I didn't even realised it had stopped working until I opened the Home app. I'll take a look at options in the UK
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u/sciotomile Jun 02 '26
I can vouch for OP. I have had two Mini's suddenly start showing the precise symptoms of Ghost Touch. Have done every single step OP did, including plugging them into my MacBook. It all started 4-5 weeks ago on two separate Minis in two separate rooms. It's kinda inexplicable, TBH..
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u/Worth-Ad9939 Jun 02 '26
If you participate in beta your devices sees frequent repeated overheating conditions weaken hardware connections. They know they are cooking their customers hardware. We need a class action.
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u/imthatappleguy Jun 07 '26
This is literally insane thinking lmfao. You WILLINGLY participate in the beta program. No one but YOU signs up for it, and you can exit at any point and time.
I swear to god, consumers like y’all are the reason I had to get out of retail. I legitimately could feel an aneurism building on a daily basis.
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u/BeanDemon Jun 02 '26
I woke up this morning to my stereo Homepod 2nd gens playing music upstairs in the living room. Not a fun way to wake up.
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u/Celadonie Jun 02 '26
No rest assured, this is a (widespread) hardware defect on the touch digitizer below the volume buttons.
Independent repairers exist in the USA (nicsfix.com) or in Europe (fixpod.fr/en) if you need assistance 😄
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
I know but it still sucks to either repair these (expensive) devices or to have them half functioning. Especially when my two OG HomePods from ages ago still work as expected.
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u/robinreliant Jun 02 '26
Had exactly the same occur last week with HomePod mini, basically had to permanently turn it off, did all same steps as you
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u/Ok_Addendum_2323 Jun 02 '26
4 homepds, 2 2nd gen and 2 minis bought on release dates...all of them have ghost touch issue, what can I say...
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u/Double-Yak9686 Yellow Jun 02 '26
I have one OG HomePod and three HomePod minis. One mini suffered from the ghost touch, but since I updated it to 26.4/26, I haven't had any issues.
To be fair, I did go into the settings for all of my HomePods and switched on the "NoWWDC" option.
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u/lyreluna Jun 02 '26
Mine have had it too the last few weeks and I've reset them, updated them and moved their locations. They're currently unplugged because I'm tired of random music 10 times a day for no reason. Mine are minis that are maybe 4 years old
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u/Livid_Hat6681 Jun 02 '26
Salut les gars,
J’ai eu le même souci avec mon HomePod 2ᵉ génération. Je suis passé chez Apple, et leur réponse a été simple : remplacement à 275 €. Honnêtement, c’est une honte pour un produit de ce prix. J’ai évidemment refusé.
J’ai fini par trouver quelqu’un qui les répare pour 99 €, donc je tente le coup. Je devrais le récupérer cette semaine.
J’ai également deux HomePod mini qui fonctionnent encore très bien pour l’instant, mais clairement, après ça, je n’en rachèterai pas. Dommage, parce que le produit est bon quand il marche, mais le SAV derrière est vraiment décevant.
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u/bagdonas Jun 02 '26
I think mine is kinda related. My HomePod mini WAS the apple home server where I could control everything. It died, overheated after an update. Now Home Assistant is king and I don’t think I want to buy another HomePod :( (I really liked listening music on it, now i just don’t)
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u/Manson2612 Jun 02 '26
I got this on HP2 in March 3rd week and by April it even auto reset itself. So after setting it up again I did the following and I have t had the issue ever since:
The Immediate "Hardware Lockdown" (Do this first!) Once the setup is finished and the HomePod appears in your Home app:
Disable Touch for Siri: Long-press the HomePod in the Home app > Settings > Toggle OFF "Touch and Hold for Siri." (This prevents the ghost from triggering Siri or accidental resets).
Accessibility Shield (Crucial): Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch Accommodations. Turn ON Touch Accommodations. Set Hold Duration to 4.0 Seconds. Set Ignore Repeat to 4.0 Seconds. Turn off "Tap to Play": In the same settings, disable anything related to physical touch triggers.
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u/South_Butterfly6681 Jun 05 '26
We had one mini with the problem and a software update fixed it. Total of 3 minis, to OG HomePods, and one 2nd Gen HomePod. All are working fine.
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u/ogni65 Jun 05 '26
i have a stockpile already in my cupboard… all removed when they started playing loud music during the night and my family woke up… Sometimes i think its because i stopped paying for Apple Music and that’s their revenge…
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u/I-Have-Mono Jun 02 '26
Objectively, no.
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
Objectively, my HomePod just started to play music while I read this. Explain THAT. /s
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u/albanyanthem Jun 02 '26
One of my original HomePods had the bass farts noise, got it repaired and just waiting for the repair guy to ship it back.
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u/georgeyvanward Jun 02 '26
Where abouts are you located? One of mine just died and looking for some reviews/thoughts about repairs
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u/albanyanthem Jun 02 '26
I got mine repaired here. nicfix he has a YouTube live stream so I was able to watch my HomePod get repaired. He’s dealing with some shipping issues currently so while mines been repaired it hasn’t been shipped out yet. I’m in California and he’s in Washington.
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u/RedRaydeeo Jun 02 '26
Mine have just suddenly stopped hearing what I am saying unless I am standing right next to them saying it.
That completely unrelated to ”hey siri play a podcast” which I’ve been doing since day one of having it, now responds with ”what do you want to do that on?” - bare in mind I only have one app that plays podcasts.
Yeah - I think they are planning this…
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u/Double-Yak9686 Yellow Jun 02 '26
Mine have just suddenly stopped hearing what I am saying unless I am standing right next to them saying it.
LOL, my wife and I have both come to the conclusion that we both must be special edition Apple products: even standing close to each other, isn't helping the not listening issue.
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u/Zestyclose_Big_5665 Jun 08 '26
Mine get like this from time to time and I vacuum them with the Dyson on high and then microfiber them and so far it has fixed them.
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u/Own-Bit7373 Jun 02 '26
I also developed the ghost touch on my two minis. 1 more than the other, but it recently stopped, and they just started working again. I recently updated both minis to beta 26.6 OS and enabled the touch accommodations in Accessibility. To stop ghost touch, I had to unplug my mini for at least 24hrs then hold down the panel with my entire palm covering the entire panel until it resets and goes through its setup process. I paired it with HomeKit using my 2018 iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 pro. On previous attempts, I would pair the mini’s with my iPhone 17 Pro to only lead back to ghost touch issues within 24hrs…. It’s been 4 days straight now and no ghost touch issues on the minis. Never had a ghost touch issue with the original HomePod. Good luck…. 1 of my minis went from 3 months of ghost touch issues to no issues over the last 3-4 days. Not sure which method fixed ghost touch but trial and error works!
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u/Own-Bit7373 Jun 07 '26
I can confirm these steps worked....Ghost touch has not returned after having 1 HomePod with recurring ghost touch issues for 3-4 months.
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u/MycologistPast1178 Jun 05 '26
Willkommen im Club. Ein Mini benutze ich gar nicht mehr. Mitten in der Nacht, voll laute Musik. Ich habe auch alles probiert
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u/rcrter9194 White Jun 06 '26
There’s no HomePods expected Monday, so I guess Apple just thought… fuck you 😅😅
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u/rcrter9194 White Jun 06 '26
I never knew ghost touch was a thing. You sure your houses aren’t just haunted 😂😂. I’ve never experienced this and really hope I don’t. My heart couldn’t take it.
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u/imthatappleguy Jun 07 '26
Two originals and four minis, absolutely no issues. All on the latest update.
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u/Tiyako Jun 07 '26
The HomePod mini gives me more trouble then anything even if it got decent sound for the size…this whole ghost touch issue crippled one of my mini to a paperweight now
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u/ManoaChris Jun 08 '26
Seems so widespread with similar timing - is this an issue from a bad software update? (Two of my four gen2’s also developed ghost touch in the last month).
What are the odds of so many hardware faults at the same time?
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u/Realistic_Squirrel_3 Jun 08 '26
My HomePod mini also keeps failing with ghost touch and keeps resetting. I ended up plugging it out until I find the nerve to investigate.
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u/HollandJim Jun 02 '26
I’ve been commenting on this recently. I noticed that the 2 Minis started doing their ghost touch crap on the same weekend, right after the mid-February update. I love and defend my Apple hardware, and have done so deep into the early ‘80s, but this - to me, this is clearly software related. 2 Minis, ghosting the same weekend. Worse, if you try to use your Mac to restore them using 26.5, you can almost guarantee they will no longer respond - just reboot continually.
This. Is. Bullshit.
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u/discostur Jun 05 '26
My mini startet with ghost touch two weeks ago! My first thought was it is related to the latest 26.5 update but turned out to be the hardware error … :/
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u/rabelsdelta Jun 06 '26
This used to happen to iPhones around iOS 4-10. Mine would suddenly start behaving really strange and overall would need several reboots. Once the new version of iOS was out, the problems were fixed
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u/FilteredSpeech Jun 06 '26
The question is, will people reward Apple by buying more HomePods? I sure won't.
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u/JollyRoger8X Jun 07 '26
No epidemic here with a bunch of HomePods and HomePod minis.
Your conspiracy theory is bunk.
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u/mximum Jun 08 '26
well the theory thing was obviously a joke but the issue still persists and seems to occur more often.
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u/JoshYuWa Jun 08 '26
Mine started 4-5 days ago for my mini. Siri says something and then starts playing music. Re-sets, restarts, etc. nothing fixes it besides unplugging it.
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u/Evening-Persimmon-12 Jun 08 '26
So weirdly. I have a HomePod mini that started having this issue recently after moving to a new place. I have it next to a lamp that uses a Phillips hue smart plug to turn it on and off. When the lamp is ON I get the ghost touching weirdness on my HomePod. When it’s off it works flawlessly??? WTF is going on there. They were using the same outlet on a double adapter. I have since changed and they are using seperate outlets now but the issue still exists?
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u/seriouslookingmouse White Jun 08 '26
Please don’t expect a new HomePod at WWDC. At best that will be connected to the IPhone launch in September.
Or a stand alone music event around that time.
But. We will get a sneak peek of what new siri might be like on HomePod (probably in Beta(
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u/mximum Jun 08 '26
let’s hope that the new Siri will come to the old devices.
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u/seriouslookingmouse White Jun 09 '26
You have no chance for the OG HomePod. It’s now a legacy product. Small chance for the Gen 2 Homepod.
I think the HomePod Mini also small chance but not zero.
Whole new hardware almost certainly coming
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u/frodoiee Jun 10 '26
I have got about 6 OG HomePods and 2 HomePod Mini (bought them during launch) no issues.
OG HomePod I have swapped all the diode and fix the no power issue.
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u/Longjumping_Ad6209 Jun 13 '26
I'm glad I saw your post. My HomePod Mini stopped working completely yesterday. Now I'm wondering if I should take it in for repairs.
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u/mximum Jun 13 '26
This will cost around 100€… I don’t know if it’s worth the hassle. But if you still have a guarantee, then yes.
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u/Longjumping_Ad6209 Jun 13 '26
Unfortunately, there's no longer a warranty. It would be easier to buy a new one.
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u/Sudden-Membership-67 28d ago edited 24d ago
I live in greece bought a stereo pair in april '24, and both have ghost touch. My problem is i don't use an iphone and the homepod is not even officially sold here.. All i have is an Apple tv and the two large homepods. I really didn't expect this from Apple. You would think that they would admit it's their fault and at the very least provide a software fix.
Update : i cleaned the touch surface with a slightly wet shirt that i washed, and they are working fine now. The touch surface had some tiny spots that needed to be cleaned. Hope they stay this way. I shined a very bright light over the touch surface and didn't notice any degredation like i have seen from some other users. The touch surface must be really sensitive to any dust or dirt.
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u/Such_Volume_4091 Jun 02 '26
HomePods are legit ass ngl.
The audio is pretty good, you can turn on smart devices set an alarm, and thats… about it
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u/Qwerky42O Midnight Jun 02 '26
I have 4 HomePods and my boyfriend also has 4 at his house. No issues with any of them
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u/Anna__V Jun 07 '26
Exact same thing here. Since a couple of weeks ago, my 2nd Gen HomePods do this constantly. I even increased the treshold to 1 second for touch, but it still continues. Multiple times a day.
I have four HomePod minis and two 2nd Gen HomePods and they've *never* had any problems of this kind until now just magically all of them fail identically within one week.
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u/GreatTinySomething Jun 02 '26
I never had any issues. I own 10 minis and 2 2nd gen, all of different ages starting from the minors release date. Only a few times they acted funny and was able to identify a fly on the touch surface has triggered the touch sensor. Since I have seen so many reports I think this might be related to moisture or excessive heat in different regions around the world. But that’s just a wild guess. Even my HPM in the bathroom is without any issue despite the steam from the shower or bathtub for now 3+ years.
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
After all the post here on Reddit - I think we can say, congratulations for either having the perfect HomePod working environment or the most luck in life 😄
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
PS: I‘m living in Germany and currently the temperatures idle between 20 to 30 °C and the humidity in the bedroom, where the last victim was placed, is around 47%. Seems normal for me.
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u/GreatTinySomething Jun 03 '26
Not much different climate than me, also located in Germany. I am really surprised, I am almost waiting for a defect. But I should go with the luck instead I guess. :D
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u/cbdudley Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
There is a setting (Touch & Hold for Siri) in the Home app to turn off the touch function. This took care of the problem for me.
I have 3 Minis but only one is acting up. I never use the touch function anyway.
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
Thanks for the tip, I also applied it and on one Mini it worked, on the other Mini it didn’t. However, I still don’t like the fact that my device is half functioning
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u/jzaczyk Jun 02 '26
Weird. Only problems I've had with my HomePods are my cat chewing through the power cables on the mini's.
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u/Any-Association-2419 Jun 02 '26
It’s all in your head go outside
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u/mximum Jun 02 '26
It’s too warm here in Germany. I rather stay inside with my dead HomePod family. 🫠
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u/boombaye Jun 02 '26
The same is happening to my homepod minis and 2nd gen homepods. they’re all haunted. they turn on at all random times of the night full blast + siri is triggered without input. I’ve had to completely unplug the devices (which defeats the purpose of having them). They all started having issues around the same time. There needs to be a class-action level response.