Six years. That is how long the HomePod mini went without real new hardware. The wait is over: HomePod mini 2 keeps the cute orb shape, swaps the old S5 for an S10 chip, and turns its top into a light show called Sound Glow. It is $149, pre-orders are open now, and it lands Friday, October 30.
Sound Glow is the party trick
The top of the speaker becomes a glowing canvas that pulses with the bass and treble in real time. It pulls colors from the album art in Now Playing, so every song gets its own look, and soundscapes like rain trigger their own animations.
Bigger home theater, better desk speaker
For the first time, you can pair four HomePod mini 2 speakers with the new Apple TV 4K for surround sound. The speakers and Apple TV figure out where each one sits and auto-calibrate timing and levels. It can also be the default speaker for your Mac, which is great for movies, games and FaceTime calls.
Siri AI, eventually
Apple is pitching Siri AI hard, with conversations, broad world knowledge and personal context from your iPhone, plus recognition of up to six voices in a home. Just know it is not there on day one. It arrives in a future software update, in English, in select countries. Until then you get the usual: multiroom audio, stereo pairing, home hub duty for your smart home, and Sound Recognition alerts for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Colors and where to get it
HomePod mini 2 comes in white, pink, blue, green and midnight for $149, with a 20W USB-C power adapter in the box. Amazon is not carrying it right now, so pre-order direct from Apple.
Pre-order HomePod mini 2 at Apple
We have been following HomePod since day one: the original Apple HomePod and HomePod gets stereo pairing and AirPlay 2.
