January 18, 2023
PRESS RELEASE
Apple introduces the new HomePod with innovative sound and intelligence
It offers incredible audio quality, enhanced Siri capabilities, and a safe and secure smart home experience
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced HomePod (2nd generation), a powerful smart speaker that delivers next-level acoustics in a gorgeous, iconic design. Powered by Apple innovations and Siri intelligence, HomePod delivers advanced computational sound for a revolutionary listening experience, including support for immersive space tunes. With convenient new ways to manage everyday tasks and control the smart home, users can now create smart home automation using Siri, be notified when a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm is detected in their home, and check the temperature and humidity in a room – all hands -free.
The new HomePod is available to order online and in the Apple Store app starting today, with availability beginning Friday, February 3.
“Using our audio expertise and innovations, the new HomePod delivers rich, deep bass, natural mids and clear, detailed highs,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. “With the popularity of the HomePod mini, we’ve seen a growing interest in even stronger acoustics that can be achieved in a larger HomePod. We’re excited to bring the next generation of HomePod to customers around the world.”
Refined design
With a seamless, acoustically transparent mesh fabric and a backlit touch surface that illuminates from edge to edge, the new HomePod has a beautiful design that complements any space. HomePod is available in white and midnight, a new color made from 100% recycled mesh fabric with a color-matched woven power cord.
Acoustic central
HomePod delivers incredible audio quality with rich, deep bass and stunning highs. A custom-designed high-excursion woofer, a powerful motor driving a remarkable 20mm diaphragm, a built-in bass EQ microphone and an array of five tweeters that beam around the base all work together to achieve a powerful acoustic experience. The S7 chip is combined with software and system sensing technology to deliver even more advanced computational sound that maximizes the full potential of its acoustic system for an innovative listening experience.
With camera-sensing technology, HomePod recognizes sound reflections from nearby surfaces to determine whether it’s on a wall or freestanding, and then adapts the sound in real-time. The precise directional control of its five-tweeter beamforming array separates and transmits direct and ambient audio, immersing listeners in clear vocals and rich instruments.
Users can listen to a catalog of more than 100 million songs with Apple Music,1 enjoy Spatial Audio with a single HomePod or as a stereo pair, or create an immersive home theater experience with Apple TV 4K. With Siri, users can access a range of music knowledge and search by artist, song, lyrics, decade, genre, mood or activity.
High HomePod multi-speaker experience
Two or more HomePod or HomePod mini speakers unlock a variety of powerful features. Using multiroom audio with AirPlay,2 users can simply say “Hey Siri” or tap and hold the top of the HomePod to play the same song on multiple HomePod speakers, play different songs on different HomePod speakers, or even use them as an intercom to send messages to other rooms.
Users can also create a stereo pair with two HomePod speakers in the same space.3 In addition to separating the left and right channels, a stereo pair reproduces each channel in perfect harmony, creating a wider and more immersive sound than traditional stereo speakers for a truly remarkable listening experience.
Seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem
Using Ultra Wideband technology, users can transfer anything playing on their iPhone – such as a favorite song, a podcast or even a phone call – directly to a HomePod.4 To easily control what’s playing or get personalized song and podcast recommendations, anyone in the house can bring an iPhone close to the HomePod and suggestions will appear automatically. HomePod can also recognize up to six voices, so every member of the household can hear their personal playlists, ask for reminders and set calendar events.
HomePod easily pairs with Apple TV 4K for a powerful home theater experience and eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel)5 Support on Apple TV 4K allows customers to make HomePod the audio system for all devices connected to their TV. Plus, with Siri on HomePod, users can control what’s playing on Apple TV hands-free.
Find My on HomePod allows users to locate their Apple devices, such as an iPhone, by playing a sound on the misplaced device. Using Siri, users can also ask for the location of friends or loved ones who share their location through the app.
An essential smart home
With sound recognition,6 HomePod can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send a notification directly to the user’s iPhone if a sound is detected. The new built-in temperature and humidity sensor can measure indoor environments, so users can create automations that automatically close the blinds or turn on the fan when a certain temperature is reached in a room.
By enabling Siri, customers can control a single device or create scenes like “Good morning” that trigger multiple smart home accessories at the same time, or set up recurring hands-free automations like “Hey Siri, open the blinds every day at risen.”7 A new confirmation tone indicates when a Siri request is made to control an accessory that may not visibly show a change, such as a heater, or for accessories located in another room. Ambient sounds – such as the ocean, forest and rain – have also been remastered and are more integrated into the experience, allowing customers to add new sounds to scenes, automations and alarms.
Users can also intuitively navigate, view and organize accessories with the redesigned Home app, which offers new categories for climate, lights and security, enables easy smart home setup and control, and includes a new multi-camera view.
Support for the matter
Matter launched last fall, enabling smart home products to work across ecosystems while maintaining the highest levels of security. Apple is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which maintains the Matter standard, along with other industry leaders. HomePod connects to and controls Matter-compatible accessories and serves as an essential hub for the home, giving users access when they’re away from home.
Customer data is private property
Protecting customer privacy is one of Apple’s core values. All smart home communications are always end-to-end encrypted so they cannot be read by Apple, including recordings from cameras with HomeKit Secure Video. When Siri is used, the sound of the prompt is not stored by default. These features give users peace of mind that their privacy is protected at home.
HomePod and the environment
HomePod is designed to minimize its impact on the environment and includes 100% recycled gold – a first for HomePod – in the plating of several printed circuit boards and 100% recycled rare earth elements in the speaker magnet. HomePod meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency and is mercury, BFR, PVC and beryllium free. The redesigned packaging eliminates the outer plastic film and 96% of the packaging is fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely eliminating plastic from all packaging by 2025.
Today, Apple is carbon neutral for its global corporate operations, and by 2030, it plans to be 100% carbon neutral across its entire manufacturing supply chain and product lifecycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacturing, assembly, shipping, customer use, charging, to recycling and material recovery, will have a net zero impact on the climate.
Price and availability
- HomePod (2nd generation) is available for order $299 (USA) at apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spainthe UKthe USand 11 other countries and regions starting today, with availability starting Friday, February 3rd.
- HomePod (2nd generation) is compatible with iPhone SE (2nd generation) and later or iPhone 8 and later running iOS 16.3 or later; or iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation) and later, iPad Air (3rd generation) and later, or iPad mini (5th generation) and later running iPadOS 16.3.
- US customers get 3% Daily Cash back when they buy directly from Apple with Apple Card.
About Apple
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms—iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS—provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and provide people with innovative services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and leaving the world better than we found it.
- Apple Music requires a subscription.
- Multiroom audio requires multiple HomePod speakers or AirPlay-compatible speakers with the latest AirPlay software.
- Creating a HomePod stereo pair requires two HomePod speakers of the same model, such as two HomePod minis, two HomePods (2nd generation), or two HomePods (1st generation).
- iOS 16.3 is required on iPhone for Handoff.
- Home theater with eARC support requires Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) or later, running the latest tvOS software.
- Sound recognition will be available in a software update later this spring. Sound recognition can detect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm sounds and send notifications to users when recognized. Voice Recognition should not be relied upon in circumstances where users may be injured or harmed, or in high risk or emergency situations. Sound recognition requires the updated Home architecture, which will be available as a separate update in the Home app. All Apple devices accessing the home are required to be running the latest software.
- Smart home accessories sold separately.
Tap Contacts
Emily Ewing
Apple
e_ewing@apple.com
Lance Lin
Apple
lance_lin@apple.com
(408) 974-5036
Apple Media Helpline
media.help@apple.com
(408) 974-2042