Apple HomePod mini in bright yellow. What will the next HomePod look like?
David Phelan
Apple’s next product in its smart speaker category is coming, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gourmet in its latest Power On newsletter. If this is a surprise to you, I can’t blame you. After all, the first HomePod arrived a long time ago, February 2020, to be exact. I’ve tested a lot of smart speakers during this time, and I’d still say the HomePod sounds the best. However, Apple withdrew it to focus on the smaller HomePod mini.
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The second best smart speaker in my opinion, as you ask, is the Apple HomePod mini, launched in November 2020 and updated last year with three bright new colors, blue, yellow and orange.
According to Gourmet, the next product is still on the cards and will be quite different from the HomePod or HomePod mini.
So different, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has a whole new name.
That’s because Gourmet says he’ll combine what he says is a “HomePod, Apple TV and FaceTime camera.” If such a combination surprises you, join the club. Sounds like a completely different widget and slightly Frankenstein at that.
Will there be a built-in Apple TV in the next HomePod?
APPLE
I mean, I see the value of merging Apple TV with HomePod, as it’s a clean way to provide Apple TV with perfectly integrated sound with something you can plug into your TV. But it limits where you can put it: it should sit close to your screen.
Wouldn’t a new, improved regular HomePod be better? Maybe, but don’t hold your breath. Gourmet says: “I don’t think a big standalone HomePod is still in development, but a new HomePod mini may be coming.”
Well, a new mini is better than nothing, but the main product that Gourmet predicts takes some time to get used to.
Ultimately, the FaceTime camera will also limit where you place it – and that’s different from the ethos of the HomePod and mini, which offer 360-degree audio. With a camera you will have to point it in a certain direction.
He added: “In any case, the combined product is likely to be at the heart of Apple’s approach, with the HomePod minis bypassing the entire home.”
It makes a little more sense that the new device should be a home entertainment center, and from that I would assume that maybe this new device is not a speaker at all, but rather something that connects to HomePod mini speakers to do its noise. In this case, isn’t this an improved Apple TV and not a new HomePod?
Gourmet is clear that this is a HomePod, so it should include a speaker. He is also adamant that this is happening, although it still does not sound like it is at an advanced stage.
More details when they appear.
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