The Apple HomePod Mini has finally materialized after years of speculation.
The Apple HomePod Mini has been announced at the company’s iPhone 12 event, following years of speculation. A smaller version of the original Apple HomePod, the smart speaker comes with a mesh fabric for acoustic performance, and illuminates when you interact with its built-in voice assistant, Siri. It’s set to cost $99 (about £76 / AU$140) – which is far cheaper than the original Apple HomePod, and it will come in white and space gray designs. It will be available to buy from November 6, with shipping starting from November 16. Apple says that the new speaker can act as the “brain of your smart home”, and has “privacy and security” at its forefront – with upgrades to Siri bringing some cool new features. For example, the smart speaker will be able to recognize the voices of different members of your household, while an ‘Intercom’ feature allows you to send messages from one HomePod to another, as well as to iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Car Play, even into AirPods. Sound-wise, the new HomePod Mini comes with a full range dynamic driver that’s aimed down, with an acoustic wave guide that sends sound out in all directions. There are also two passive radiators, and what Apple calls “computational audio”, to optimize loudness and adjust the dynamic range of the speaker “over 180 times per second”. According to Apple, multiple HomePod Mini speakers can play “perfectly in sync”, hinting at multi room audio smarts that could rival Sonos. The HomePod Mini is set to get better, too; Apple says a UI chip for a new ‘handoff’ feature is coming later this year, which allows the audio to switch devices seamlessly. This is a developing story. In the meantime, you can find Apple HomePod Mini rumors below: The Apple HomePod 2 could arrive very soon, if rumors of an October release date are to be believed. Having spoken to “people familiar with the situation”, Bloomberg claims that the so-called Apple AirPods Studio and HomePod 2 will launch in October, alongside a new iPad Air and four new iPhone models. The iPhone 12 is expected to launch at Apple’s next event on October 13. It’s a virtual launch, and it’s set to start at 10am PT,1pm ET or 6pm BST. That’s 4am AEDT in Australia on October 14. And, we’ve just seen our first glimpse of the new smart speaker, with images of the HomePod Mini leaking just hours before the event. While there’s no guarantee that the HomePod 2 will be shown off at the event, an October release date is looking more and more likely after Apple began removing third-party audio devices from its online and physical stores – perhaps in preparation for a new HomePod and the rumored AirPods Studio. A late 2020 release date could put Apple in good stead for the holiday shopping season (as well as allowing for some good HomePod deals come Black Friday, and Cyber Monday). Rumors of the Apple HomePod 2 – or Apple HomePod Mini if you prefer – have been circling for a long time now, but evidence of the smaller Apple smart speaker has been building steadily since we first caught wind of it back in 2018. We’ve seen evidence that Apple is trying to get rid of its existing HomePod stock, with some fantastic HomePod deals available around the world as well as hefty staff discounts. The original Apple HomePod 2 rumors came from an Economic Daily report in July 2018 (via MacRumors) that claimed Apple may have been looking to release the HomePod 2 sometime in early 2019, which would’ve make sense based on the release date of the original HomePod – of course, it never actually materialized. While a release date for the new HomePod still evades us, there have still plenty of leaks and rumors to whet our appetites – here’s everything we know about the HomePod 2 so far, as well as everything we’d like to see from the second-gen smart speaker. [Update: Apple is pushing out a new software update to the Apple HomePod, which will bring “general improvements for stability and quality”.
