So it took a while but its finally here. The long-waited smaller HomePod smart speaker is the 1st thing to be unveiled at Apple’s iPhone 12 event. The HomePod Mini is here & will be available next month for the nice price of $99.
Its essentially a small smart speaker powered by Siri standing at 3.3inches tall. So what will it be able to do? A lot actually. It will offer a full-range driver powered by a neodynamic magnet, & a pair of force-cancelling passive radiators that pumps sound out of the bottom of the speaker for a 360-degree sound. It also has a 3-mic array to listen for the ‘Hey Siri’ keyword as well as 4th mic to help isolate sound to improve voice detection while music is playing.
It is powered by Apple’s S5 chip to handle computation audio, it can be paired up w/ another for stereo audio as well as support multi-room audio, can recognize multiple voices, supports Siri shortcuts, adds an Intercom ability to talk w/ another HomePod, iPhone, iPad, AirPods, or Apple Watch, and acts as a HomeKit-powered smart home hub.
The HomePod Mini will arrive in white and space gray color options. Pre-orders kick off on November 6th and ships on November 16th. Is this the smart speaker from Apple you’ve been waiting for?
