The big story
Apple’s surprise speaker has Spatial Audio support and expanded smart home features
APPLE HAS FINALLY UNVEILED THE HOMEPOD 2, ITS NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS SPEAKER THAT ARRIVED WITH SURPRISINGLY LITTLE FANFARE LAST MONTH.
HomePod 2 features a very similar design to the first Apple HomePod from 2018, but with a redesigned speaker system that’s even more geared towards Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio, and it is available to buy now for £299/$299.
A smaller speaker array
Also like the original, it features a highexcursion woofer for deeper bass, and an array of tweeters around its circular body – though this time there are five tweeters instead of seven in the original, and they’re now upwardly angled, which are likely to help with the immersion of Dolby Atmos tracks.
It features both room-sensing and system-sensing to optimise audio as it’s playing, which is a slight development over the original, which included room sensing – it’s hard to say how much difference the ‘system sensor’ makes, although Apple says that it “runs complex tuning models in real time to preserve dynamic range and maximise acoustic performance”.
Like the original (there’s a theme developing here), it’s designed to work completely with the Apple ecosystem, which is fine if everyone in your household owns an Apple device, but slightly frustrating if not. The only ways to play audio are through the Siri voice assistant, or the Apple AirPlay 2 system via Wi-Fi. There’s no Bluetooth, no Chromecast, no Spotify Connect, and no aux-in. The only way to send audio to the speaker is from Apple devices, so if anyone in your house doesn’t have one, you’ll have to decide if you’re okay with excluding them from being able to use the speaker in the same way that others can. It does support Bluetooth for smart home purposes though, and it also supports the Thread and Matter smart home systems – so it acts as a smart home hub for HomeKit and Matter accessories.
The HomePod 2 works as part of AirPlay multi-room systems, naturally, and you can use one HomePod on its own, or two in a pair. It is also geared up for Dolby Atmos music support from Apple Music, including Spatial Audio, and will bounce sounds off your walls to try to create the feeling of the music being separated into different angles, elements and layers.
And these Dolby Atmos skills will come in useful if you own an Apple TV, because you can use two new HomePods as an alternative to one of the best soundbars – the Apple TV can send all of its sound to the HomePod, including Dolby Atmos 3D audio (and other audio from your TV, if you ha
