Repairing HomePod costs nearly as much as the damn thing itself

Did you just pick up Apple's new HomePod smart speaker? Better pray it doesn't break, because it's expensive AF to repair it.

Apple's published service and repair details for HomePod on its website and -- holy sh*t -- it'll cost HomePod owners a whopping $280 to repair or replace the dang thing if they don't have AppleCare+.

For those who are paying attention, that's nearly as much as the HomePod speaker itself, which costs $350.

Like all Apple products, whatever damage your HomePod sustains might be covered under the included warranty. But if it's not, you gotta fork over the money to get it fixed. And if you're going to do that, you might as well just buy a new one.

Why is a repair so expensive? Probably because Apple designed it to be next to impossible to open up by yourself (there are no screws anywhere). Also, all of its parts -- the tweeters, woofer, and A8 -- are custom, so you can't easily swap out a part anyway. But that's just the way things are when you buy Apple's devices.

It seems silly to even think about buying AppleCare+ for a speaker -- something that sits still on a cabinet, bookshelf, or table, and probably won't be moved very often -- but sh*t happens.

Maybe you own pets and they accidentally knock your HomePod over. (The soft mesh fabric does look like a cat's scratching paradise.) Or maybe you drunkenly stumble home one night and bump into whatever you put it on and HomePod drops with a loud thud. IDK, that's not my problem.

The bottom line is, if you buy a HomePod and have any concerns it'll break, just pay the $40 and buy AppleCare+. It'll extend the product's warranty to two years and you can have some peace of mind.