The next major Sonosspeakerrefreshes will be the Arc Ultra and the Sub 4, according to leaks caught byThe Verge. The Arc Ultra is of course is a sequel to thecurrent Arc soundbar, and shares a similarly long, tube-like design meant to sit under your TV. Exact specs are unknown – but it is expected to include Bluetooth support, as well as “Sound Motion technology,” presumably a rebranding of Mayht transducers. Mayht’s work allows for powerful sound from relatively tiny components – Sonos bought the firm in 2022.
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Leaker @MysteryLupin claims that the Ultra will cost$999, $100 more than the existing Arc, although rumors elsewhere have pointed to that pricetag being as much as $1,119. It should be available in matte white or black.
The Sub 4 should have the same color options, and sell for$799, @MysteryLupin says. Not too much else is known about it, but it will allegedly have two force-canceling woofers, and look almost identical to the Sub 3. In one promo image, an Arc Ultra is seen paired with two Sub 4s simultaneously – complete overkill given the power a single Sub can put out.
When are the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 coming out?
Don’t hold your breath
The most likely answer is by the end of 2024, or else early into 2025. In August, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said that the company was delaying two products – likely the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 – to solve problems with its mobile app. The company redesigned the app ahead of itsAce headphoneslaunch, but that introduced various bug, performance, and usability problems, defeating much of the point of a smart speaker system. A continuous stream of updates has mitigated trouble, but not solved it completely.
The most likely answer is by the end of 2024, or else early into 2025.
Sources for The Verge say that many Sonos workers are upset with executives like chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, who have supposedly ignored warnings from engineers in an attempt to make deadlines and other internal goals. Indeed at one point it was rumored that Sonos was consideringreverting to an earlier version of its app, something developers normally avoid at all costs, given that it undoes later work such as device compatibility.
