It might seem strange that Apple launched a 2nd - gen HomePod loudspeaker that ’s most identical to the first one , but there ’s a childlike reason why : People wanted it .
In an interview withMen ’s Journal , Alice Chan , the company ’s frailty president of production merchandising , says that following two years of the HomePod mini , Apple had “ hear more pursuit than ever for the acoustics of a richer , larger speaker . ” That ’s why it decided to revive the original HomePod nearly two years after the equipment was discontinued .
Chan say Apple has “ taken all the learnings from the original HomePod as well as HomePod miniskirt and use them to the raw HomePod , ” which is unmingled to see even without listening to one . The new fashion model has a nearly selfsame design and standardised glasses to the original talker , but adds smart home functionality , admit a temperature and humidity sensing element , as well as support for Thread .
Along with the newer parts , the novel HomePod also features a very previous Wi - Fi 4 Saratoga chip from 2004 . But in a separate interview withTechCrunch , Matthew Costello , vice chairperson of hardware applied science and operation , allege that ’s all by design : “ HomePod feature Wi - Fi 4 connectivity that allows us to direct precisely what play good in the entire system , making certain Siri petition are responsive and ensuring a consistent experience for all you are listen to , controlling your smart plate accessories and more – all while being muscularity effective . ”
Despite not being updated since its debut in 2020 , the HomePod mini lately earn support for its own temperature and humidness detector , a rarefied major hardware rise for an survive product . However , with the revival of the original HomePod , it ’s clear-cut that Apple never really wanted the HomePod miniskirt to bear the line . As Costello say , Apple ’s engineering teams “ really , really have intercourse this direction , in term of the shape and the shape ” of the HomePod and according to Apple , caboodle of other people do too .