It’s two on two! A day after launching the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, Apple has launched the second-generation HomePod smart speaker. Potential buyers in India would be happy to know that the new HomePod is coming to India in the first wave itself (the original model from 2018 had come after a two-year wait). Like the Mac devices, the HomePod has also been revealed silently through a press release.
The 2023 HomePod update costs a bit on the higher side relative to the first HomePod which is completely opposite to how Apple has priced it, say for instance in the US. While globally the new HomePod is launching at a price of $299 (versus $349 for the original), buyers in India will have to shell out a hefty premium of Rs 32,900 (the original HomePod was launched in India for Rs 19,990). The smart speaker is available to order starting today and sale will start from February 3.
The new HomePod has the same core design as the original. It’s a cylindrical speaker with mesh fabric and comes in white and midnight (the bundled power cable has a matching colours). At the top, there’s a touch control interface with backlighting. On the inside though, there are some significant changes. There’s a single four-inch woofer with five tweeters and a total of five microphones to pick up voice commands.
Apple has added temperature and humidity sensors inside the new HomePod so “users can create automations that close the blinds or turn on the fan automatically when a certain temperature is reached in a room,” it says. It can also listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and notify users.
The underlying chip has also received an update in this generation to S7 and Apple has added support for Thread wireless protocol and the smart home standard Matter. Hallmark HomePod features like stereo pairing and handoff are available on the new HomePod, too.