Hold onto your old HomePod – an upgrade is on the way

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Apple’s new HomePod Mini 2 debuted with several new features.
• Many advanced features will be available on the 2023 HomePod (2nd Gen).
• Less advanced features will be coming to the 2020 HomePod Mini (1st Gen).

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Apple announced the new HomePod Mini 2 last week, with several standout capabilities: It enables a four-speaker home theater configuration when paired with the fourth-gen Apple TV 4K, allows up to two speakers to be the default audio output for compatible Macs, has a dynamic RGB light display, and can lock the speaker’s touch control panel.

Also: Can you use an old iPad as a HomeView? Yes – but you’ll miss 4 key features

Which older HomePods are getting new features?

As reported by MacRumors, HomePod 27.2 software is available to developers and public beta testers, and may launch next week. According to the same reporting, the following speakers are eligible for these features:

• HomePod (1st Gen): Lock Controls touch panel disabling.
• HomePod Mini (1st Gen): Lock Controls; Sound Glow RGB light display.
• HomePod (2nd Gen): Lock Controls; Sound Glow; Mac audio output; four-speaker array when paired with fourth-gen Apple TV 4K.

The first-gen HomePod is excluded from Sound Glow due to incompatibility with its LED light display, and excluded from advanced audio features with Mac and Apple TV 4K due to its older networking and audio processing capabilities. The first-gen HomePod Mini’s older processing capabilities also exclude it from persistent audio streams from Apple TV 4K and Mac. However, you can still stream music from your Mac to your first-gen HomePod Mini via AirPlay.

Whole-home audio is just as valuable as Siri

The new HomePod Mini 2 will be the only HomePod to receive Siri AI, thanks to its upgraded S10 processor, the same one found in the Apple Watch Series 10, 11, SE 3, and Ultra 3. However, with Siri AI likely in your Mac, MacBook, iPad, and iPhone, it may be overkill to also have it four times over in your living room via HomePod.

Instead, Apple realized it’s just as valuable, if not more so, to compete for its consumers’ loyalty in the home audio space. So it’s letting you arrange existing HomePods in a four-speaker configuration with Apple TV 4K, or in a single or dual configuration when paired with a Mac.

Also: 4 upgrades HomePod Mini 2 has over its 6-year-old predecessor

While some consumers may be interested in a $1,100 to $1,300 flagship soundbar, others may be better off investing in two HomePod Mini 2s to accompany their existing HomePods (2nd Gen). It’s certainly a cheaper option. Plus, if you’re already an Apple power user, two more HomePod Mini 2s will fit neatly into your Home app; there’s no need to download another app to control a third-party surround system.

According to Apple, compatible HomePods can serve as the default audio output for Macs with Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7.

Previously, users could only use their HomePod with a Mac when streaming audio from the computer to the speaker via AirPlay. When playing audio from third-party apps or media platforms, AirPlay can experience noticeable audio/video delays.

Also: I’m an Apple loyalist with an Echo home: 5 ways HomeView could make me switch

Though the older HomePod (2nd Gen) supports an older Wi-Fi protocol, its S7 processor and U1 ultra-wideband chip can handle time synchronization, bandwidth, and audio processing for persistent audio streams.

Longevity is attractive, too

Many tech companies pledge to reduce their environmental footprint, usually by using less plastic packaging and making products with recycled materials. However, the most surefire way to reduce one’s environmental burden is to keep tech products for as long as possible, which keeps defunct products and other e-waste out of landfills.

Also: 250 Eiffel Towers’ worth of waste: The AI boom’s toxic hardware problem

Apple’s smart speakers do a great job of promoting longevity, thanks to the company’s unified operating system, high-performing processors, and more expensive hardware. Despite these factors’ negative connotations, they makes sense in a smart home environment: A unified operating system enables longer-term software support, high-performing processors provide headroom for computing upgrades, and more expensive hardware shifts Apple’s margins toward up-front sales rather than data collection.