The second-generation HomePod is a follow-up to Apple’s unique system from 2018, and whereas it mimics the design of the unique (learn: discontinued) mannequin, some important hardware enhancements make Apple’s upcoming automation hub price trying out.
The most important and maybe most blatant improve to the brand new HomePod is Thread help and Matter compatibility, which permits the speaker to speak with different Matter-enabled gadgets and gives seamless connectivity and stability throughout your own home community. The HomePod 2023 additionally has an upgraded S7 processor, first seen within the Apple Watch Sequence 7, which ought to assist the system sustain with different good dwelling gadgets.
Curiously, Apple has diminished the variety of audio system and microphones included within the new HomePod. In line with Apple, nonetheless, Siri will be capable to acknowledge completely different voices and supply personalised responses, which ought to assist clear up a few of the points we had with the unique HomePod. The brand new good speaker can even have spatial audio help through Dolby Atmos, and Apple claims the brand new mannequin can modify its sound by dynamically detecting the place it is positioned in a room. Additionally, like the unique, you can pair two HomePods collectively for stereo sound and use them as audio system for a 4K Apple TV.
As for different new additions, the brand new HomePod has a built-in temperature and humidity sensor that may be linked to set off different good dwelling gadgets. The HomePod Mini additionally seems to have this function, though it could’t be utilized in the identical approach.