Apple is taking another try at building a smart home speaker with the new HomePod mini. A smaller, less expensive version of its original HomePod. The original HomePod was a product that focused more on being a great speaker. Rather than being a great smart speaker. The HomePod mini is just the opposite.
The HomePod mini still features a mesh fabric exterior in both black and white colors. Along with a small display on top to show the Siri waveform and volume controls.
The new model is more of a short, spherical shape, however, instead of the oblong design of the original. The HomePod mini features one main driver, two passive radiators, and an “acoustic waveguide” on the bottom.
It’s not just another avenue for Apple to put Apple Music or Siri into your home. It’s a way for Apple to vastly expand its HomeKit ecosystem to a much wider audience than ever before. Works with Apple Music, and also supports podcasts, radio stations from . iHeartRadio, radio.com, and TuneIn .With support for Pandora and
Feature at a glance
- Room-filling sound.
- An intelligent assistant.
- Control your smart home.
- Private and secure.
- $99 price tag
- Intercom Technology
- 3.3-inches tall
- Round design
- Siri touch interface
- S5 chip
- 360-degree audio
- U1 chip
Design and Colors
HomePod mini is designed to fit anywhere in the house. Its elegant shape is wrapped in a perfectly seamless mesh fabric that’s virtually transparent to the sound passing through it. A backlit touch surface on the top provides quick control. Also comes in 2 stupendous colors-Space Grey and White!
Pricing and shipping
The Home Pod mini will cost $99. It will be available for pre-order on Friday, November 6, with orders to start at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Preorders start on November 6th and shipping begins on November 16th.
HomePod mini will launch first in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, . Spain, the UK, and the United States. With a launch to follow in China, Mexico, and Taiwan later this year.
How does Homepod Mini works?
Crisp sound
An Apple-designed full‑range driver uses an incredibly powerful neodymium magnet to deliver deep bass and crisp high frequencies.
360‑degree audio
The unique acoustic waveguide directs sound out the bottom of the speaker, creating a 360‑degree audio field for consistent sound no matter where you are in the room.
Balanced at any volume
The tiny but powerful Apple S5 chip enables computational audio, which processes complex algorithms in real time, giving you balanced, fine‑tuned sound at any volume.
Bass extension
Apple-designed force‑cancelling passive radiators give HomePod mini incredible bass extension.
Noise cancellation
Four microphones work together to help cancel noise and listen for “Hey Siri” — even if your environment is loud, you don’t have to turn the volume down or move closer to be heard.
Featuring S5 Chip
The new HomePod mini also features an Apple S5 chip. That Apple says allows for “computational audio” processing to adjust how your music sounds 180 times per second. S5 chip is the same chip that was first used in the Apple Watch Series 5. Multiple HomePod mini speakers can play music in sync and “intelligently” create stereo pairing when placed in the same room. Apple is also using the U1 chips that it debuted in last year’s iPhones to create a better Handoff experience later this year.
S5 chip works with Apple-designed software to analyze the music that’s playing to optimize for loudness, adjust dynamic range, and control driver and passive radiator movement in real time.
Works as a connected sound system
With multiple HomePod mini speakers placed around the house, you can have a connected sound system for your whole home. Ask Siri to play one song everywhere or, just as easily, a different song in each room. And Home Pod mini works with HomePod for multiroom audio and features like Intercom.
Create a Stereo Pair
If you want to take the amazing sound experience of HomePod mini even further, you can create a stereo pair. Two Home Pod mini speakers paired in the same room create left and right channels for an immersive soundstage.
Two HomePod minis can be paired together to create a stereo pair with left and right channels for rich sound. And multiple HomePod minis can work together throughout the home to stream music to multiple rooms. Two HomePod minis can be paired, but HomePod mini can’t be paired to HomePod.
Do it All with Siri
Siri is your do-it-all intelligent assistant that puts HomePod mini at the center of your family’s activities. Whether you need a hand with a wide variety of everyday tasks, want easy control over your smart home accessories. Or simply want to hear your favorite song .Just ask Siri. Siri does everything like there’s nothing to it.
Siri recognizes all faces! You don’t need to worry partying with your friends with Homepod Mini. Siri can recognize the voices of up to six different family members on Home Pod mini . That means tailoring music and podcasts to their preferences and responding to personal requests. And create a personalized experience for each person. So the music Dad hears when he asks for something he’d like is totally different from what the kids hear when they ask.
And with Personal Requests, Siri can recognize a particular voice and relay that person’s information from iPhone apps like Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts.
A new feature lets HomePod mini users ask for a personal update for a snapshot of their day, with Siri offering up personalized news, weather, traffic, reminders, and calendar appointments.
HomePod mini only listens for “Hey Siri”
HomePod mini only listens for “Hey Siri”— so you can speak freely knowing nothing you say is sent out of your home until you activate Siri with a touch, or HomePod mini hears the magic words, “Hey Siri.”
Request is associated with a random identifier
When you ask Siri something, your request is associated with a random identifier, not your Apple ID.
iPhone and HomePod mini connecting virtually
If you’re enjoying music or a podcast , you can continue to listen on your iPhone without missing a beat. Hand it off simply by bringing your iPhone close to HomePod mini. And coming soon, you’ll experience the feeling of your iPhone and HomePod mini connecting virtually as the sound transfers.
The HomePod mini has a built-in U1 Ultra Wideband chip that allows it to interface with iPhones that have a U1 chip.
Bringing an iPhone close to the HomePod mini will allow the music that’s playing on the iPhone to be handed off to the HomePod mini .
Personalized listening suggestions will show up on the iPhone when it’s next to HomePod mini, .And controls are available even when the iPhone isn’t unlocked.
Also coming soon are personalized listening suggestions that will automatically appear on your iPhone when you hold it next to HomePod mini. You’ll have instant control at your fingertips without having to unlock your iPhone.
Communicate with your family members by voice using Intercom
Apple debuted a new “Intercom” feature. This allows customers with multiple HomePod devices in different rooms to communicate throughout the house. Intercom messages will also appear on connected iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches
With more than one HomePod in the house, you can easily communicate with your family members by voice using Intercom. Ask Siri to send your message to the whole house or to individual rooms — and everyone can easily respond.
Intercom works with your other Apple devices!
Intercom also works with your other Apple devices so you can send and receive messages through CarPlay while you’re driving, on your AirPods during a workout, or with your Apple Watch when you’re busy with your tasks!
360 Degree Audio
HomePod mini delivers unexpectedly big sound for a speaker of its size. At just 3.3 inches tall, it takes up almost no space but fills the entire room with rich 360‑degree audio that sounds amazing from every angle. There’s a single full-range driver inside the HomePod mini, powered by a neodymium magnet and two force-cancelling passive radiators for what Apple says results in deep bass and crisp high frequencies.
Though there’s less hardware inside the HomePod mini, Apple says
“It uses the same acoustic principles as the HomePod”
With an acoustic waveguide to direct sound down and out of the bottom of the speaker for a 360-degree audio experience. According to Apple, the HomePod mini can provide consistent sound almost anywhere in a room, mimicking the tones of a larger speaker through computational audio. A three-microphone array is designed to listen for Siri commands, and a fourth microphone that faces inward isolates sound coming from the speaker for better voice detection when music is playing
Boundary-pushing computational audio
Creates the full, detailed tones of a much larger speaker — and HomePod mini turns it up without missing your voice commands.
Works with your Apple devices.
HomePod mini works effortlessly with your Apple devices. Pick up an incoming call from your iPhone, listen to music on your Mac, or upgrade your TV experience by taking the sound from your Apple TV to the next level — they all connect to HomePod mini.
HomePod mini can also activate Find My to help you find a lost iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch in the home by triggering a sound.
Smart Home
Easy to connect and very simple to operate! Whether you already have a smart home or are buying your first smart device, getting set up — and staying connected from anywhere — is a snap with the Home app and Home Pod mini.
HomePod mini is able to control HomeKit-compatible smart home accessories and it serves as a home hub to enable access to HomeKit devices when you’re away.
Automatically added to the Home app
When you set up HomePod mini, it’s automatically added to the Home app. And with just your voice you can instantly control any of your HomeKit devices.
Home hub
Home Pod mini can also act as a home hub, letting you control your HomeKit accessories remotely. Wherever you go, you can see a live view from the front door, shut your garage, and lock or unlock the house through the Home app.
The Discover tab within the Home app
Looking to learn more about the benefits of a smart home? The Discover tab in the Home app is the best place to find out what’s possible, get recommendations on top‑rated accessories that work with HomePod mini, and connect to the Apple Store app for additional details and effortless shopping.
Privacy- Apple never miss!
A speaker that protects your right to privacy. Privacy is essential — especially in your own home. Apple designed HomePod mini to keep your personal information safe and be a trusted assistant in your family’s everyday life.
HomePod mini works with your iPhone for requests like hearing your messages or notes, so they are completed on device without revealing that information to Apple.
HomeKit Secure Video support
With HomeKit Secure Video support, HomePod mini can analyze the feeds of your supported video cameras, detecting the presence of people and recognizing familiar faces, pets, and cars. All video processing is done right on device before it’s sent end‑to‑end encrypted to iCloud — so your recordings can only be seen by you and the people you share them with, not Apple.
Closure
Apple unveiled the new HomePod mini, a more affordable $99 HomePod .The option that’s being sold alongside the standard HomePod.
Conclusively, The HomePod mini is a smaller version of the HomePod. Measuring in at 3.3 inches tall compared to the Home Pod’s 6.8-inch height. Available in white and space gray, the HomePod mini features a fabric-covered spherical design with a flat top that has a backlit touch interface interface for activating Siri and controlling music.
Read out iPhone 12 launched along with Homepod Mini!
