The HomePod mini first launched in 2020 to mediocre praise. While Apple fans celebrated the bite-sized speaker, other critics pointed out that it lacked the intelligence of its competitors. The main selling point of the HomePod mini is its sound quality; now that so many other smart speakers have rid themselves of the tinny audio that first plagued their launch, Apple will need to step it up if it introduces the rumored HomePod mini 2 next year.
Unfortunately, it seems the planned upgrades aren’t that noteworthy, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The new smart home speaker is said to come equipped with Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. This would allow the HomePod mini 2 to connect more easily and with greater bandwidth than the current model of HomePod.
Otherwise, Apple has kept a tight lid on what it has planned. The few leaks we’ve heard relate to the upcoming FaceID smart doorbell and smart lock, as well as the long-rumored Apple smart home hub. If these rumors hold any water at all, then it seems to clear that Apple is planning for a larger presence in the smart home industry in 2025 and beyond.
If only for the sake of consumers, the HomePod mini 2 deserves more upgrades than just a boost to its connectivity. At the very least, Apple should offer more color options, improved speakers, and other quality of life improvements — but if the company plans to release a smart home hub, that might be where all of its efforts are going versus updating a product that only saw middling performance the first time around.
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Another obvious upgrade that Apple could make to all of its smart home tech — and one that is a necessity to compete with Amazon and Google — is the addition of Apple Intelligence. Improving Siri’s capabilities could unlock a new world for HomeKit users, but we won’t know what the tech giant has planned until the official announcement.