The HomePod is Apple’s high-end Siri-powered good speaker, providing a premium audio expertise and the flexibility to manage good residence units, reply to textual content messages and extra, however it has had a troubled few years making an attempt to compete with the cheaper, smarter choices from Google and Amazon.
Whereas it appeared Apple had been reinvigorated by the discharge of the HomePod Mini in 2020, the corporate confirmed in March 2021 that the usual HomePod was set to be discontinued. Does that imply Apple has stopped engaged on the HomePod 2 behind closed doorways? Whereas some assumed so, the hearsay mill has kicked again into life in 2022.
The truth is, latest rumours recommend it might seem within the type of a sensible show just like the competing Amazon Echo Present 10, combining Apple’s high-end speaker tech with a show.
With the potential of a HomePod 2 nonetheless within the works, right here’s all you should know concerning the second-gen good speaker proper now.
When will the HomePod 2 be launched?
Whereas Apple tends to replace its most important product strains – Watch, iPhone, iPad and Mac – yearly, the identical can’t be stated for its audio assortment.
The AirPods, AirPods Professional and HomePod are on a special replace schedule, with Apple ready round 2.5 years to replace its AirPods, and with the HomePod being a first-generation product, we don’t but understand how lengthy Apple plans to attend between releases – particularly given the discontinuation of the unique in March 2021.
Rumblings initially instructed we might see a brand new good speaker seem someday in 2022, with Mark Gurman claiming that the corporate “had been engaged on an up to date model for launch in 2022” however that was previous to the discontinuation of the first-gen good speaker.
With the brand new HomePod rumoured to characteristic the identical chipset because the Apple Watch Sequence 8, some anticipated it to launch alongside the brand new wearable at Apple’s September 2022 Occasion – however as we all know, that wasn’t the case.
So, when ought to we anticipate the brand new HomePod? Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the HomePod shall be launched someday between This fall 2022 and the tip of Q1 2023. On condition that we’re near the tip of 2022, an early 2023 launch might make sense.
Nonetheless, in line with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, we may very well be ready for much longer for Apple’s subsequent HomePod.
Discussing the next-gen HomePod’s availability in a latest Energy On! publication, Gurman states that the second-gen ought to seem in late 2023 or early 2024 on the newest. After all, this could all be taken with a hefty pinch of salt, however it does recommend timelines might’ve slipped since Kuo made his predictions earlier this 12 months.
We’ll maintain our ear to the bottom and replace this part with extra particulars quickly.
How a lot will the HomePod 2 value?
The HomePod initially value $349/£329 when it was launched, and plenty of criticised it for its excessive price ticket. A lot in order that Apple completely slashed the value of the HomePod to $299/£279 again in 2019, and it was typically discounted at retailers, bringing it all the way down to as little as $199/£199.
That’s a way more palatable worth for a sensible speaker, and extra in keeping with the likes of the varied Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant choices, although the discontinuation means the value has gone by means of the roof.
It’s additionally encouraging to see the HomePod Mini are available at a aggressive $99/£89. It’s nonetheless costly in comparison with Amazon’s Echo Dot, however it does present that Apple is prepared to compromise on pricing for its HomePod merchandise.
It’s doable that we might see a less expensive customary HomePod 2 to interchange the ultra-high-end authentic, hopefully i n the area of competing good audio system just like the Amazon Echo Present.
Newest HomePod 2 rumours
There isn’t an entire lot to go on proper now, however whispers do recommend {that a} new speaker is within the works behind closed doorways at Apple Park.
The HomePod Mini is basically a smaller, rounder model of the HomePod with the identical materials and basic design language, and as such, we are able to’t actually see Apple utterly redesigning the second-generation HomePod.
It’d simply look misplaced alongside the unique and the Mini, and if Apple really desires the HomePod 2 to be a staple of the good residence, it’ll need to encourage utilizing as many as doable within the residence.
Nonetheless, a recent hearsay from early 2022 suggests a redesign may very well be on the playing cards for the second-gen good speaker – and it’s all all the way down to Siri itself.
In response to a Reddit publish, Apple’s digital assistant has been letting customers know that the solutions to their queries are “displayed in your HomePod”. Regardless of the Siri-esque animations on the touchscreen of the HomePod, it’s not a fully-fledged show.
The truth is, it doesn’t match with any HomePod thus far.
This has led to rampant hypothesis that Apple is remodeling the HomePod into a sensible show, probably in an identical vein to Amazon’s rotating Echo Present 10, a speaker/pill hybrid.
The truth is, that’s precisely what Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman suggests in a June 2022 version of his Energy On publication.
Per Gurman, Apple is allegedly engaged on a next-gen HomePod with the codename B620 that sports activities an up to date show with some form of multi-touch performance. That’d line up with earlier Siri leaks, and would make the HomePod capable of compete with good show & speaker hybrids.
With new performance comes extra energy, and Gurman means that’ll come within the type of the Apple S8 SiP, the chipset discovered within the new Apple Watch Sequence 8.
For reference, the unique HomePod sports activities the (virtually historic) iPhone-designed Apple A8, whereas the smaller HomePod mini switched to the identical S5 SiP because the Apple Watch Sequence 5, so there are grounds for the transfer from A- to S-series chips.
Crucially, this received’t be the subsequent HomePod mini. The Bloomberg reporter claims that the upcoming speaker is bigger than its miniature sibling, and that ought to translate to a lot better sound high quality and extra highly effective bass than the (spectacular, not non-comparable) HomePod mini.
Whereas but to be confirmed, we’d additionally anticipate Apple’s U1 chipset to make an look, enabling Extremely Broad Band (UWB) performance. Apple has been slowly integrating the U1 into its product line, now discovered within the iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple’s AirTags too.
The tech makes it simpler for Apple units to speak, facilitating quicker knowledge switch in addition to extra correct location sharing. Take the HomePod Mini for instance; utilizing the U1 chip, it could possibly detect when an iPhone is close by and alter audio output to the speaker, and vice-versa.
We’ll replace this text as extra details about the second-gen HomePod involves gentle, so examine again quickly for the most recent rumours and leaks.