Photo: AzureSaturn / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons · source
HomePod mini
A $99 sphere with 360-degree sound and a Thread radio.
Overview
HomePod mini brought the Siri speaker to a much lower price. The spherical body is wrapped in acoustic mesh with a touch surface on top, and a single full-range driver with two passive radiators projects sound in all directions.
Inside is the S5 chip from Apple Watch, which applies computational audio. A U1 Ultra Wideband chip enables Handoff, where holding an iPhone close hands music over. The speaker also contains a Thread radio, which started working as a border router for smart home accessories in a later software update.
It supports stereo pairing, multiroom audio, Intercom between HomePods and iPhones, and serves as a HomeKit hub for remote access to the Home app. White and space gray were joined by blue, orange and yellow a year later.
Why it mattered
Made Apple's smart speaker affordable and turned it into a Thread and Matter smart home hub.
At a glance
- Announced
- October 13, 2020
- Released
- November 16, 2020
- Launch price
- $99
- Status
- Available
Highlights
- S5 chip
- 360-degree sound from a single driver
- U1 Ultra Wideband for Handoff
- Thread border router
- Five colours
Tech specs
Specifications as published at launch. Some values (like battery life) are manufacturer estimates.
Chip
- Chip
- Apple S5
Audio
- Audio
- Full-range driver with two passive radiators, acoustic waveguide, three-microphone array
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11n
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Smart home
- HomeKit hub, Thread border router, Matter (via update)
- Ethernet
- None
- Ultra Wideband
- U1 chip
Design
- Dimensions
- 84.3 mm high x 97.9 mm wide
- Weight
- 345 g
- Power
- 20W USB-C adapter with attached cable
Software
- Launch OS
- HomePod software 14.2
