Apple Announces New HomePod for $299 With Full-Size Design, S7 Chip, and More

2023.01.18 2 min read

Apple today announced a second-generation full-size HomePod, available to order starting today for $299 in white and midnight color options. In-store availability and deliveries to customers will begin Friday, February 3 in select countries.

The second-generation HomePod features a virtually identical design as the full-size HomePod that was discontinued in March 2021, with a backlit touch surface and mesh fabric exterior. It features a four-inch high-excursion woofer, five tweeters, four microphones, an S7 chip for computational audio, and support for Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos. The speaker also has Siri integration and Matter support for HomeKit and other smart home accessories.

The new HomePod weighs 5.1 pounds, compared to 5.5 pounds for the first-generation model. The new HomePod also has two fewer tweeters and microphones compared to the original model — it’s unclear what the impact on audio quality or Siri recognition might be.

At launch, the new HomePod will be available in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and 11 other countries, according to Apple. It is compatible with the iPhone 8 and later, any iPad Pro, the fifth-generation iPad and later, the third-generation iPad Air and later, and the fifth-generation iPad mini and later running iOS 16.3 or iPadOS 16.3 or later.

“Leveraging our audio expertise and innovations, the new HomePod delivers rich, deep bass, natural mid-range, and clear, detailed highs,” said Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak. “With the popularity of HomePod mini, we’ve seen growing interest in even more powerful acoustics achievable in a larger HomePod. We’re thrilled to bring the next generation of HomePod to customers around the world.”

The smaller HomePod mini has not been updated and remains available for $99.

More details to follow…

This article, “Apple Announces New HomePod for $299 With Full-Size Design, S7 Chip, and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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