The HomePod returns
Apple’s big smart speaker makes a surprise comeback
Six years after its debut, and almost two years since it was dumped, the HomePod is back – and now it’s better than ever.
First announced in June 2017, the original HomePod was one of the best wireless smart speakers around, thanks to its stunning sound quality, AirPlay support and the inclusion of Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. Costing £319, it was considered expensive at launch, however, and never gained much traction beyond a few devoted Apple fans – not helped by Amazon swamping the market with its much cheaper Echo speaker range.
To counter that, it was joined in 2020 by the HomePod mini, a smart speaker that improved on the HomePod experience and remains, at £99, considerably cheaper. Despite rumours of a revamp, the original HomePod was discontinued in March 2021, and most Apple watchers considered that was that. Only now, the HomePod is back!
Available in Midnight and White, the HomePod (2nd generation) looks much the same as its predecessor. It promises the same groundbreaking features and high quality sound as before, as well as improved smarts, including support for the Matter and Thread smart home standards. Plus sound recognition (enabling it to detect things like smoke alarms), temperature and humidity sensors, and Ultra Wideband technology. Ultra Wideband means, that just like in the HomePod mini, the HomePod can automatically handoff music from your iPhone to the HomePod as you get closer to it. You also get multi-room AirPlay, Spatial Audio and Apple Lossless, along with the ability to use two HomePod speakers together so you can use them as a stereo pair.
Like the HomePod mini, the HomePod works best with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription, although you can also use it with third-party music streaming services such as TuneIn and Tidal too.