Apple HomePod mini 2 launched at $149 with five colour options
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Apple has announced the HomePod mini 2, bringing its compact smart speaker a major software upgrade with Siri AI, better audio capabilities, and five colour options. The new speaker is priced at $149 in the US and is available to pre-order from October 13, with retail availability beginning October 30.
The biggest change is Siri AI, which promises more natural conversations, better music discovery, and the ability to use personal context to help complete everyday tasks. However, the upgraded assistant will arrive through a future software update rather than being available at launch.
Siri AI promises smarter assistance and better music discovery.
Siri AI, running on Apple’s latest Foundation Models, is built to understand personal context, answer questions with current information from the web, and handle more complex requests. Used with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, it can help users find a song mentioned in a message, create reminders related to calendar events, find recipes in emails, and add ingredients to grocery lists.
The speaker can identify as many as six people in a home by their voices, and link requests to particular users and their devices. Apple says Siri AI will also bring more conversational capabilities and improve music discovery for users who don’t have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad.
This could make the HomePod mini more useful to users for more than just playing music or setting timers. They could have more natural back-and-forth conversations with Apple’s assistant, rather than just issuing isolated voice commands. Siri AI will initially roll out in English in the US, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the UK through a forthcoming software update.
HomePod mini 2 brings surround sound and Sound Glow
Apple’s HomePod mini 2 comes with the S10 chip and computational audio for optimizing loudness, dynamic range and acoustic performance. It can operate as a standalone speaker, in a stereo pair, or as a multiroom audio setup. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K lets you connect four compatible speakers to create a surround-sound system, with the volume and timing calibrated to where they’re placed in the room.
Apple has also added Sound Glow, which makes the top surface of the speaker glow and pulse in time with the music. Lighting can be made to reflect a song’s album art, or display animations based on soundscapes like rain.
The speaker still has all the smart home features, including voice-control of accessories, automations, and remote access via Apple’s Home app. It can also alert users if smoke or carbon monoxide alarms are detected, although Apple warns that users should not depend on the feature in emergencies.
HomePod mini 2 is now available in pink, green, blue, white, and midnight. Its attractiveness will be determined by how good Siri AI is when it comes out for $149. For existing Apple households, the combination of smarter voice assistance, connected-home controls, and expanded audio features could make the compact speaker a more capable member of the ecosystem.
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