Apple introduces HomePod mini: A powerful smart speaker with amazing sound

Cupertino, California — Apple today unveiled HomePod mini, the newest addition to the HomePod family that delivers impressive sound, the intelligence of Siri to get things done, and a smart home experience that offers comfort and convenience without complexity. At just 3.3 inches tall, HomePod mini is packed with innovative technologies and advanced software that together enable computational audio to deliver breakthrough audio quality wherever it is placed. HomePod mini will be available in white and space grey at a great price of just $99.

“HomePod mini has everything customers want in a smart speaker — amazing sound for listening to music, a world-class intelligent assistant that delivers a personal experience to each member of the household, and like every Apple product, it’s designed with privacy and security in mind,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “HomePod mini is the ultimate smart speaker for anyone with an Apple device. It works effortlessly with iPhone to hand off music, answer calls, or deliver personalised listening suggestions, elevates the sound from Apple TV, plays music from a Mac, and so much more. There’s a lot of Apple innovation packed into such a small speaker, all at an affordable price.”

HomePod mini is designed to work with Apple Music, podcasts, radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com, and TuneIn, and in the coming months, popular music services including Pandora and Amazon Music. Multiple HomePod mini speakers work together to stream music or podcasts to multiple rooms, all in perfect sync. By placing two HomePod mini speakers in a single room, a stereo pair can be created for a wide soundstage, filling the space with rich, enveloping sound.

HomePod mini delivers an incredibly rich and detailed acoustic experience, using computational audio to deliver peak performance. To achieve big sound out of such a compact design, the Apple S5 chip in HomePod mini works with advanced software to analyse the unique characteristics of the music and apply complex tuning models to optimise loudness, adjust the dynamic range, and control the movement of the driver and passive radiators in real time. The Apple-engineered full-range driver, powered by a neodymium magnet and a pair of force-cancelling passive radiators, enables deep bass and crisp high frequencies.

Applying the same acoustic principles used to deliver amazing sound in HomePod, HomePod mini features an Apple-designed acoustic waveguide to direct the flow of sound down and out toward the bottom of the speaker for an immersive 360-degree audio experience. This allows customers to place HomePod mini almost anywhere in a room and hear consistent sound. A three-microphone array listens for “Hey Siri,” and a fourth inward-facing microphone helps isolate sound coming from the speaker to improve voice detection when music is playing.

With the intelligence of Siri, HomePod mini delivers a personalised and deeply integrated experience for iPhone customers. Siri can identify who is speaking and tailor music and podcasts to their preferences, and respond to personal requests, like accessing messages, reminders, notes, and calendar appointments, or making and answering phone calls.¹ Siri also offers users a personal update for a quick snapshot of their day. With a single request, users can ask Siri “What’s my update?” to hear the latest news, weather, traffic, reminders, and calendar appointments.

HomePod mini works effortlessly with Apple devices, making it easy to pick up an incoming call, listen to music on the Mac, or upgrade the TV experience by taking the sound from Apple TV to the next level. When listening to music on iPhone, customers can simply bring their device close to HomePod mini and seamlessly hand off the music without missing a beat. And later this year, the experience gets even better with visual, audible, and haptic effects when sound transfers from one device to the other.² Personalised listening suggestions will also automatically appear on iPhone when it is next to HomePod mini, and instant controls are available without having to unlock iPhone.²

HomePod mini makes controlling smart home accessories easier than ever with simple voice commands for Siri to turn off the lights, change the temperature, lock the doors, or set a scene. HomePod mini is the perfect home hub, providing access to smart home accessories while at home or away.

A new Intercom feature offers a quick and easy way for family members to connect with each other at home. One person can send an Intercom message from one HomePod to another — whether in a different room, a specific zone, or multiple rooms throughout the home — and their voice will automatically play on the designated HomePod speaker. Intercom works with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and CarPlay, so everyone in the household can get Intercom notifications and send Intercom messages from the backyard or on their way home.

Security and privacy are fundamental to the design of Apple hardware, software, and services. With HomePod mini, only after “Hey Siri” is recognised locally on the device, or the user activates Siri by touch, will any information be sent to Apple servers. Requests are not associated with the user’s Apple ID, and personal information is not sold to advertisers or other organisations. HomePod mini works with iPhone to complete requests for messages and notes on device without revealing that information to Apple.

• Siri Shortcuts created on iPhone and iPad are accessible on HomePod mini, so users can ask Siri on HomePod mini to start a pot of coffee, control a robot vacuum, add milk to the grocery list, and more.

• Ambient sounds, including rain, a fireplace, a stream, and more, offer the perfect background noise to focus, relax, or fall asleep. Siri can set a sleep timer so the sounds automatically stop playing.

• Find My helps locate a misplaced iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch by playing a sound to pinpoint its location.

• Web search results from HomePod mini can be sent directly to the user’s iPhone for easy viewing.

• Music alarms let users wake up to a favourite song, playlist, or radio station from Apple Music.

HomePod mini was designed with the environment in mind and supports Apple’s plan to have net zero climate impact across its entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles, by 2030. HomePod mini utilises 99 percent recycled rare earth elements, with the neodymium magnet in the speaker driver utilising 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The seamless mesh fabric is made with more than 90 percent recycled plastic, and all of the packaging wood fibres are from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources. HomePod mini is also free of mercury, brominated flame retardants, PVC, and beryllium.

HomePod mini uses power-efficient components and software that can intelligently power them down during periods of inactivity. For example, through optimised power management features and a high-efficiency power supply, HomePod mini has been designed to be efficient in its low-power mode, where the majority of time is spent. The result is that HomePod mini is energy efficient right out of the box. HomePod mini consumes 75 percent less energy than the stringent requirements for ENERGY STAR.