Happy Hour Podcast 154 | Ringing in the New Year, HomePod challenges, and battery saga continues

Summary: This week Benjamin and Zac catch up on Apple news since the new year including talk about the iMac Pro accessories and wallpaper, Apple Watch Activity Sharing and Series 3 rebooting in ICUs, the need for a refreshed HomePod pitch before launch, how Alexa compares to Siri today, and Apple’s iPhone battery response. 9to5Mac’s Happy Hour podcast is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Happy Hour are recorded every week. Subscribe to our podcast to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they're available. Hosts: Benjamin Mayo Zac Hall Here’s what we discussed in this episode: Apple’s MacBook Air-like store roof wasn’t designed to handle snow…in Chicago Apple blames software, not roof design, for Chicago Apple Store roped off by snow 9to5Mac on Instagram → instagram.com/9to5mac iMac Pro includes a stormy new macOS desktop wallpaper, download it here for free Apple to start off 2018 with a New Year’s Apple Watch Activity Challenge Apple Watch celebrates the New Year with fireworks on the clock face Some Apple Watch users are reporting unexpected reboots possibly caused by ICU equipment Opinion: HomePod delay coupled with new competition amplifies Apple’s smart speaker challenge Apple temporarily drops price of iPhone battery replacement, promises iOS update to address battery health in new apology PSA: Apple is making its $29 battery replacement pricing effective immediately Swap-apocalypse: Upcoming iOS update will swarm Apple Stores with iPhone battery replacements Feedback? Drop us a line at happyhour@9to5mac.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!