Apple’s new HomeView device was the center of the show at its smart home event on Tuesday, but the company also refreshed its HomePod mini smart speaker with a new chip and Siri AI integration, the latter of which will be available through a future update.
The $149 update is $50 more expensive than the original version launched over six years ago in 2020. The new HomePod mini has an S10 chip that helps improve optimize dynamic range, loudness, and acoustic performance.
With the new HomePod mini, users can control their smart home devices through voice commands. Plus, the speaker can listen for sounds like a smoke alarm and send a notification to users’ phones — a feature that Alexa devices have offered for years.
Apple said that with Siri AI, users will be able to have multi-turn conversations, but it didn’t provide a date for when the new assistant will be available to HomePod mini 2 buyers.
The company also said the new speaker works better with its other devices. For instance, users could form a four-speaker home entertainment system paired with the new Apple TV 4K. Plus, the HomePod mini 2 speakers can be the default speaker for Mac for video calls or music playback instead of built-in speakers.
The device has another new feature, as well: a visual canvas called “Sound Glow,” which uses the color scheme of the album art to turn the top of the HomePod mini into a visual canvas that will glow and pulse in sync with the music. Users can also pick soundscapes like rain or ocean waves to start animations.
The new speaker comes in pink, green, blue, white, and midnight colorways and will be available starting October 30. Consumers can preorder starting today.
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Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
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