With a similar design to the 2018 HomePod model, Apple has unveiled a new $299 HomePod smart speaker.
This second-generation model comes with new capabilities like an updated S7 chip originally seen in the Apple Watch Series 7 and support for the wireless protocol Thread and the smart home standard Matter, enabling the speaker to control connected peripherals. It will be offered alongside the HomePod Mini, the speaker’s scaled-down counterpart that was released in 2020. The new HomePod is now ready for purchase, and on February 3rd, shipping will commence.
Five microphones and a single four-inch woofer make up the second-generation HomePod, which is down from the first model’s seven tweeters (down from seven). According to Apple, the speaker can detect its location in a room and modify its sound depending on whether it is positioned up against a wall or out in the open. Two speakers can be combined into a stereo pair or utilized as Apple TV 4K speakers, just like the first HomePod. With Dolby Atmos, spatial audio is also supported.
Built-in temperature and humidity sensors that can be utilized as triggers for automated smart homes are new to this model. (There have been rumors that the HomePod Mini contains comparable sensors, but they have never been made available for consumer usage.) Using Apple’s ultra-wideband technology, there is also support for music sharing, similar to what we saw with the HomePod Mini. Siri, the speaker’s speech assistant, can also distinguish up to six different voices and offer tailored responses.
Apple says the new HomePod will be able to utilize its built-in microphones to listen for smoke or carbon monoxide alarms and notify you if it detects anything via an iPhone with a software update arriving later this spring. The new device weighs 5.16 pounds as opposed to 5.5 pounds and is 0.2 inches shorter than the original HomePod.
For an Apple product, the first-generation HomePod had an extremely rough life cycle. The $349 smart speaker was initially expected to ship in December 2017, but that date was later postponed to February 2018. Reviewers lambasted the HomePod’s dependence on Apple’s ecosystem and how poorly Siri performed when compared to Alexa and Google Assistant when it was eventually introduced. The HomePod was finally discontinued in 2021 after receiving a $50 price reduction in 2019.
The HomePod Mini provided compatibility for Thread, a smart home protocol that later became a crucial component of the Matter standard, in addition to its lower pricing. The HomePod Mini, like the new HomePod, can manage Matter devices across Thread, Wi-Fi, and ethernet networks by acting as a Matter smart home controller and Thread border router.
According to Apple, the second-generation HomePod will be marketed in 11 additional markets in addition to the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain. It will be offered with a “color-matched” power cable and will come in either white or grey.
