January 18, 2023
PRESS RELEASE
Apple introduces new HomePod with groundbreaking sound and intelligence
It offers incredible sound quality, advanced Siri capabilities, and a safe and secure smart home experience.
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple announced today HomePod (2nd generation) is a powerful smart speaker that delivers next-level acoustics in a gorgeous, iconic design. Equipped with Apple innovations and Siri intelligence, HomePod offers advanced computational audio for a groundbreaking listening experience and includes support for immersive Spatial Audio tracks. With convenient new ways to manage daily chores and control the smart home, users can now use Siri to create smart home automations, receive notifications when a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm is detected in their home, and control the temperature and humidity in a room with all their hands. -Free.
The new HomePod can be ordered online from Friday, February 3, and in the Apple Store app starting today.
“Taking advantage of our audio expertise and innovation, the new HomePod delivers rich, deep bass, natural midrange and clear, detailed highs,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. “With the popularity of HomePod mini, we have seen a growing interest in the even more powerful acoustics that can be achieved in a larger HomePod. We are excited to bring the next generation HomePod to customers around the world.”
Refined Design
With its seamless, acoustically transparent mesh fabric and edge-to-edge backlit touchpad, the new HomePod has a beautiful design that complements any space. The HomePod is available in white and midnight, a new color made from 100 percent recycled knit fabric with a color-matched woven power cord.
Acoustic Switchboard
HomePod delivers incredible sound quality with rich, deep bass and stunning high frequencies. A specially designed high-excursion woofer, powerful motor that drives the diaphragm to an incredible 20mm, a built-in bass EQ microphone, and a beamforming array of five tweeters around the base work together to deliver 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 the acoustic system for a groundbreaking listening experience.
With room-sensing technology, HomePod detects sound reflections from nearby surfaces, determining whether it’s on the wall or freestanding, and then adapts the sound in real time. Precise directional control of the beamforming array of five tweeters separates and beams direct and ambient sound, immersing listeners in crystal clear vocals and rich instrumentation.
Users can listen to a catalog of more than 100 million songs with Apple Music,one Enjoy Spatial Sound with a single HomePod or in a stereo pair, or create an immersive home theater experience with Apple TV 4K. With Siri, users can access a variety of music information and search by artist, song, lyrics, decade, genre, mood or event.
Upgraded Experience with Multiple HomePod Speakers
Two or more HomePods or HomePod mini speakers unlock a variety of powerful features. Using multi-room audio with AirPlay,2 users can 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 intercoms to broadcast 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 plays each channel in perfect harmony, creating a wider, more immersive soundstage than traditional stereo speakers for a truly outstanding listening experience.
Seamless Integration with the Apple Ecosystem
Utilizing Ultra Wideband technology, users can stream anything they play on iPhone (like a favorite song, podcast, or even a phone call) directly to a HomePod.4 Anyone in the house can bring an iPhone closer to the HomePod to easily check what’s playing or get personalized song and podcast recommendations, and the suggestions pop up automatically. HomePod can also recognize up to six voices, so each member of the household can hear their own personal playlist, request reminders, and set calendar events.
HomePod easily pairs with Apple TV 4K and eARC (Advanced Audio Return Channel) for a powerful home theater experience5 Apple TV 4K support allows customers to make HomePod a sound system for any device connected to the TV. Plus, with Siri on HomePod, users can hands-free control what’s playing on their Apple TV.
Find My on HomePod makes it possible for users to locate Apple devices such as the iPhone by playing a sound on the misplaced device. Users can also ask for the location of friends or loved ones who share their location via the app using Siri.
Smart Home Basic
With Voice Recognition,6 HomePod can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send notifications 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 activating Siri, customers can control a single device or create scenes like “Good Morning” that run multiple smart home accessories simultaneously, or set up repeating hands-free automations like “Hey Siri, open the blinds every day”. dawn.”7 A new confirmation tone indicates that a Siri request has been made to control an accessory that may not show any visible change, such as a heater, or accessories located in a different room. Ambient sounds such as ocean, forest, and rain have also been reworked and further integrated into the experience, allowing customers to add new sounds to scenes, automations, and alarms.
Users can also intuitively navigate, view and edit accessories with the redesigned Home app, which offers new categories for climate, lights and security, enables easy setup and control of the smart home, and includes a new multi-camera view.
Substance Support
Launched last fall, Matt ensures that smart home products 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-enabled accessories and acts as an essential home hub, allowing users to access them while away from home.
Customer Data is Private Property
Protecting customer privacy is one of Apple’s core values. With HomeKit Secure Video, all smart home communications, including camera recordings, are always end-to-end encrypted so they cannot be read by Apple. When using Siri, the sound of the request 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 environmental impact and contains 100 percent recycled gold in the coating of multiple printed circuit boards, a first for HomePod, and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in the speaker magnet. HomePod meets Apple’s high energy efficiency standards and is mercury, BFR, PVC and beryllium free. The redesigned packaging eliminates the outer plastic wrap, and 96 percent of packaging is fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025.
Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global enterprise operations and plans to be 100 percent carbon neutral across the entire manufacturing supply chain and across the entire product lifecycle by 2030. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacture, assembly, shipping, customer use, charging, to recycling and material recovery, will have net zero climate impact.
Pricing and Availability
- HomePod (2nd generation) can be ordered $299 (USA) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app Australia, Canada, Chinese, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, WEand 11 other countries and territories available starting today, Friday, February 3.
- Compatible with HomePod (2nd generation), 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.
- Customers in the US get 3 percent Daily Cashback when they buy directly from Apple with an Apple Card.
About Apple
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the release of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with 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 empower people with breakthrough services like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000+ employees are dedicated to making the best products in the world and making the world better than we found it.
- Apple Music requires subscription.
- Multi-room audio requires multiple HomePod speakers or AirPlay-compatible speakers with the latest AirPlay software.
- Creating a HomePod stereo pair requires two of the same model HomePod speakers, such as two HomePod minis, two HomePods (2nd generation), or two HomePods (1st generation).
- Handoff requires iOS 16.3 on iPhone.
- eARC powered home theater requires Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) or later running the latest tvOS software.
- Voice Recognition will be available in a software update later this spring. Voice Recognition can detect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm sounds and notify users when detected. Voice Recognition should not be relied upon in situations where users could be harmed or injured, or in high-risk or emergency situations. Voice Recognition requires the updated Home architecture, which will be available as a separate update to the Home app. Requires all Apple devices accessing the home to use the latest software.
- Smart home accessories sold separately.
Press Contact
Emily Ewing
Apple
Lance Lin
Apple
(408) 974-5036
Apple Media Hotline
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