Two years after being discontinued, the full-size Apple speaker is back
Apple has officially announced the second generation HomePod – a modest update of the original smart speaker that was discontinued by the company back in 2021.
We’ve heard plenty of rumblings over the last few months regarding a return to the bigger HomePod – joining the $99 / £99 HomePod Mini released in 2020 – but a new model wasn’t predicted to land until the spring.
Instead, the new $299 / £299 speaker is available to pre-order today before shipping on 3 February, with the key new features mostly coming from internal changes.
The new temperature and humidity sensors appear set to deliver smarter home automation, while the wider experience will now be powered by the Apple S7 chip (found in the Apple Watch Series 7), rather than the Apple A8 chip (from the iPhone 6).
The speaker array has also changed slightly. HomePod 2 will feature a four-inch woofer paired with five tweeters, which is down from the seven tweeters found in the original HomePod.
Four microphones will also help users communicate with Siri, while the U1 ultrawideband chip (also available in HomePod Mini) will enable features such as Spatial Audio from Dolby Atmos and handing off from the iPhone.
As expected, Apple has also made the second-gen HomePod compliant with the new smart home standard, Matter. The speaker will also be able to act as a Matter controller, as well, joining both the Mini and Apple TV.
What isn’t clear from Apple’s announcement, however, is whether the new HomePod also has Thread border router powers, like the 128GB Apple TV and Mini.
It would represent a baffling omission if not, but, then again, it’s also true that the speaker won’t be able to stereo pair with the first-gen HomePod, so anything is possible. You can, at least, pair two new-gen HomePod speakers if you’re interested in creating stereo sound.
Externally, the HomePod looks pretty identical to the original – there’s the same fabric mesh outer and touch-enabled top. The only differences, then, are the 0.2-inch drop in height and a slight weight loss, with it going from 5.5 pounds to 5.16 pounds.
It’s available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and 11 other markets, Apple says, with the available colors being the same white and greyish black from the first generation.
Look out for our full review over the coming weeks – including satisfying shots of the color-matched cable.
