Apple’s HomePod mini (there is no HomePod (any longer), much less a HomePod Max (never was), but we digress) is available in bold new colors starting today.
Apple today announced HomePod mini is now available in yellow, orange, and blue, giving users more ways to express their personality and style in any space. These new colors, along with white and space gray, feature color-matched details throughout, including the tinted touch surface, mesh fabric, volume icons, and woven power cable, for only $99.
At just 3.3 inches tall, HomePod mini is packed with innovation to deliver unexpectedly big sound for a speaker of its size. Using computational audio to provide a rich and detailed acoustic experience and deliver peak performance, HomePod mini fills the room with rich 360-degree audio that sounds great from every angle. With multiple HomePod mini speakers, users can play the same music throughout the house, a different song in every room, or create a stereo pair for an even more immersive experience.
HomePod mini is designed to work with Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, thousands of radio stations, and popular music services like Pandora, Deezer, and others, providing entertainment for everyone. When listening to music or podcasts, or taking a phone call, users can seamlessly hand off the audio without missing a beat by bringing their iPhone close to HomePod mini.
With the intelligence of Siri, HomePod mini delivers a personalized and deeply integrated experience for iPhone customers. Siri can recognize the voices of up to six different household members, tailor music and podcasts to their preferences, and respond to personal requests.3 Siri also provides users a personal update for a quick snapshot of their day. Users can ask “Hey Siri, what’s my update?” to hear the latest news, weather, traffic, reminders, and calendar appointments with a single request.
HomePod mini makes controlling smart home accessories effortless, with simple voice commands for Siri to turn off the lights, change the temperature, lock the doors, set a scene, or control devices at specific times. With Intercom, users can send a voice message from one HomePod mini to another — whether in a different room, a specific zone, or multiple rooms throughout the home. Intercom works with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and CarPlay, so everyone in the household can get notifications and send messages.
Pricing and Availability
HomePod mini is available starting today in yellow, orange, and blue, in addition to white and space gray, for $99 (US) from apple.com/store, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations. HomePod mini will also be available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
Customers in Canada, Mexico, and the US will be able to order HomePod mini beginning at 7 a.m. PDT on Monday, November 1. Customers in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan will be able to order HomePod mini beginning at 6 p.m. PDT on Monday, November 1.
HomePod mini will be available in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and the UK later this month.
HomePod mini is compatible with iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or later, or iPod touch (7th generation) running iOS 15; and iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air 2 or later, or iPad mini 4 or later running iPadOS 15.
Customers in the US get 3 percent Daily Cash back when they buy directly from Apple with Apple Card.
MacDailyNews Take: Once again, having one product called “HomePod mini” is stupid. It directly leads a potential customer to ask, “Well, where’s the real HomePod?” “Or the HomePod Max?” You know, for every “mini” Apple product there’s at least one big brother (Mac mini, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini).
“So, where’s the real HomePod?”
“Oh, that? “It failed.”
That’s not a huge confidence boost for “HomePod mini.” A prospective buyer might rightly wonder, “Hmm, for how long is Apple going to remain committed to this ‘mini’ product if its parent is already canceled?”
Hint to Apple: If that’s the only HomePod you currently have to offer, at least change its name. Duh.
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Using my original HomePods in an adjacent room while listening to a pair of Mini HomePods in the room I’m occupying produces a richly balanced net sound with nice bass trickling in.