5 New Features and Changes Rumored for the 2023 HomePod

[MacRumors]

Later this year, Apple is expected to reintroduce a new full-sized HomePod, a successor to the original smart speaker which was discontinued almost two years ago.

Apple reportedly discontinued the HomePod in March 2021 due to lackluster sales and a lack of features compared to the speakers offered by Amazon and Google. The HomePod lineup remains part of Apple's portfolio thanks to the smaller HomePod mini, which Apple announced in 2020.

The HomePod mini, in its smaller form factor and cheaper $99 price point, has been a bigger success than the original HomePod. In 2023, Apple is widely expected to reintroduce the full-sized HomePod to its lineup with several new features. Below, we outline five new features and changes we expect from the upcoming HomePod.

1. Faster Processor

The original HomePod featured an A8 chip, which helped power music playback, Siri, and more. The upcoming HomePod, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, will feature an updated S8 chip from the latest Apple Watch models.

2. U1 Ultra Wideband Chip

The HomePod mini features a U1 Ultra Wideband chip, which detects when other U1-equipped devices, such as the latest iPhone models, are nearby and allows it to quickly hand off the audio to the smart speaker. The upcoming HomePod could feature the U1 Ultra Wideband chip to bring it to parity with the HomePod mini.

The U1 Ultra Wideband chip, in the future, could also allow for other experiences, such as close-range data transfer, improved AR experiences, and the ability to track a user's exact location within their home.

3. Larger Backlit Touch Interface

The original HomePod and the HomePod mini feature a backlit touch interface at their top. The interface is small and doesn't show images or text but instead glows different colors to indicate different statuses or when Siri is invoked.

For the upcoming HomePod, Apple is expected to make the touch area even larger, according to a recent report by Gurman. It's unclear if the larger area will allow for richer information or expanded functionality.

4. Cheaper Price

When Apple first announced the HomePod, it was priced at $349, a higher price point than competing smart speakers on the market. Apple eventually dropped the price to $299 in hopes of sparking sales.

Even at $299, users were still put off by its high price and Siri's shortcomings. With the upcoming model, Apple is expected to drop the price even further, according to several reports. For comparison, Amazon's Echo Studio, which has a similar overall footprint compared to the full-sized HomePod, is priced at $199 and has direct integration with several services, including Apple Music, Spotify, Samsung's Smart Things, and more.

5. Faster Software Features

The A8 chip powered the original full-sized HomePod, which provided adequate performance to power different HomePod features, such as spatial awareness, Siri, and more. In recent years, however, users have found that the original HomePod struggles with certain tasks, sometimes making it difficult to use certain features.

Thanks to the S8 chip in the upcoming HomePod, users will be able to better use new software features, such as improved Siri capabilities, faster Siri voice recognition for multiple members of a household, and more.

Article Link: 5 New Features and Changes Rumored for the 2023 HomePod

 

[Bawstun]

#4 should be #1, since that is the primary reason the product failed.

 

[bingeciren]

Give me a BT and AUX input then I'll buy it.

 

[The Game 161]

still not worth spending big money when siri is still so bad compared to google assistant. got to admit my two homepod mini's and big homepod aren't really being used. Anything of importance I will just ask either my google homes or google mini's.

 

[Ciclismo]

I bought the original, but only because I got a good deal.

Make it cheaper, keep the great audio quality, and I'll buy 2 next time.

 

[goobot]

The s8 chip is just the s6 chip and I doubt it can outperform the a8?

 

[PsykX]

Whew. Pretty light update. I hope this won't be the kind of lineups we'll receive this year.

And I'm not too sure I see the S8 processor as an "update" over the A8. The S8 is what we see in an Apple Watch Series 8, but also Series 6. 😕

 

[Freewheelin_jack]

Just a basic EQ would be nice.

 

[Shirasaki]

Price reduction you say? I wonder how many corners they are gonna cut to achieve the lower price target. Will it be positioned as high end home speaker? Or a somewhat better home assistant? As long as it has no port of any sort to support standalone speaker use, I don’t see too many people accepting could-be-still-high prices.

 

[aibo82]

Can see it losing the 6 array mics, using your iPhone to be aware of the room acoustics to cut costs.

Would definitely wait untill we know if it would sound better than the original, if it does it wouldn’t surprise me the rolling updates would slowly hamper the original forcing you to the new!

 

[Swetsenegger]

I just want an affordable pair which could replace my Sonos:1

 

[Will Co]

One word. Siri. Fix that first, or everything else is a waste of time.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

The s8 chip is just the s6 chip and I doubt it can outperform the a8?

And I'm not too sure I see the S8 processor as an "update" over the A8. The S8 is what we see in an Apple Watch Series 8, but also Series 6. 😕

Your Watch is doing WAY more than the Homepod will ever be doing. The Homepod needs to do Homekit and Siri, and the S4 is sufficient for latter. The S6 will be more than sufficient.

 

[BohemianDances]

Listing “faster software features” as something to look forward to is infuriating. I have 4 of the original HomePods and they used to work flawlessly. Now every update manages to slow them down more and Siri sometimes can’t respond to the simplest command even when Wi-Fi and my pronunciation are completely fine.

I don’t know if I should be updating anymore, hoping for fixes, or if they’re just planning to slowly brick these amazing devices in preparation for a new release.

 

[PsykX]

Your Watch is doing WAY more than the Homepod will ever be doing. The Homepod needs to do Homekit and Siri, and the S4 is sufficient for latter. The S6 will be more than sufficient.

I often wait after Siri on my original HomePod and it didn't change in my Series 6. Hell, even in CarPlay which is linked to my iPhone 14 Pro, which is connected most of the times on 5G, how many times did I hear "hold on.... working on it...." just to hear about the weather.

There's something inherently wrong with Siri at the moment and nobody gets fired for it. People (employees) leave the team by themselves. That says a lot.

I don't know if it's performance-related or reliability-related or a little bit of both.

 

[Macropanda]

The price may help a little but that's it. It needs lots more...

Siri that actually works instead of saying "hang on... I'm having trouble doing that right now"
Third party app integration.
More/easier third party music services.
Ability to read Apples own audio books from a voice command instead of Airplaying from another device.
Ability to stream from Music app on a Mac via Home Sharing.
Drop in like the Echo can.
Ability to use purchased music in home automations.
Sound recognition that can trigger an automation like playing white noise when it hears a baby crying (Seriously how is this in a iPhone but not a HomePod????).

 

[Onelifenofear]

I know people moan about Siri... but what do they want from it? I am just asking as I genuinely don't know.


It works flawlessly for me for any personal request about my information etc. And all the Home commands etc. Importantly, I can be pretty much anywhere in my house and one of the 5 homepods will hear me. My echos ( I still use as you can have Apple Music as main player ) I have to shout at from 1 metre away - and if there is music playing, not a chance!

As for the new HomePod.

I kinda hope it looks the same.
REALLY needs direct BT access
REALLY needs to be USB-C powered and recoverable if it bricks.
AUX would be nice but there are BT solutions for that. Or Apple could have a Power brick with AUX in so it comes doe the USB-C.

 

[HMFIC03]

Listing “faster software features” as something to look forward to is infuriating. I have 4 of the original HomePods and they used to work flawlessly. Now every update manages to slow them down more and Siri sometimes can’t respond to the simplest command even when Wi-Fi and my pronunciation are completely fine.

I don’t know if I should be updating anymore, hoping for fixes, or if they’re just planning to slowly brick these amazing devices in preparation for a new release.

Same here, my HomePods used to be so great but updates have ruined the smart features (speed and accuracy) and bricked one of them. I wouldn’t recommend buying another smart speaker without an auxiliary input. That way if software ever f’s up I could still use it as a speaker. Apple please take notes.. include either BT and/or Aux!!!

 

[Onelifenofear]

The price may help a little but that's it. It needs lots more...

Siri that actually works instead of saying "hang on... I'm having trouble doing that right now"
Third party app integration.
More/easier third party music services.
Ability to read Apples own audio books from a voice command instead of Airplaying from another device.
Ability to stream from Music app on a Mac via Home Sharing.
Drop in like the Echo can.
Ability to use purchased music in home automations.
Sound recognition that can trigger an automation like playing white noise when it hears a baby crying (Seriously how is this in a iPhone but not a HomePod????).

Third party app integration. Ah yes - that would be good. So like Alexa Skills.
Audible is an obvious one.
Quiz games.

A slicker intercom would be good.

 

[Marbles1]

That list seems to be missing

- A Siri that actually works well

and

- Support for 3rd party apps _or at least_ 3rd party radio station apps. It's mad you can't listen to the BBC here in the UK, or indeed most live internet radio that isn't on tune in e.g the majority of good premium internet radio.

I guess apple doesn't want you listening to it...

I ended up buying a 3rd gen Amazon Echo. Good quality speaker and plays everything; even integrates with Apple Music. It's not perfect but vs. an apple 'smart' speaker it's lightyears ahead.

 

[Marbles1]

The price may help a little but that's it. It needs lots more...

Siri that actually works instead of saying "hang on... I'm having trouble doing that right now"

This is a weird one as you'd expect an apple device to do lots of 'on-device' processing, so that it doesn't have to always connect to the internet to understand you want to play a song. Songs should be cached, and it should give better responses so you know why a command isn't working.

 

[Abstract]

If it’s not going to be a better smart speaker, at least make it the same price as the Sonos 1.

Or make it sound better than a One, but charge no more than $279 (Sonos One is currently $219). At least pretend to compete on price!!

 

[User 6502]

Price reduction you say? I wonder how many corners they are gonna cut to achieve the lower price target. Will it be positioned as high end home speaker? Or a somewhat better home assistant? As long as it has no port of any sort to support standalone speaker use, I don’t see too many people accepting could-be-still-high prices.

The original home pod sound quality wasn’t that great, especially for the price. For the same price you could buy a decent pair of bookshelf speakers that would give you stereo sound (unlike HomePod, unless you had two but then the cost would be even more absurd).

 

[AppliedMicro]

Give me a BT and AUX input then I'll buy it.

Seems you won’t be buying the new large HomePod then.

 

[User 6502]

If it’s not going to be a better smart speaker, at least make it the same price as the Sonos 1.

Or make it sound better than a One, but charge no more than $279 (Sonos One is currently $219). At least pretend to compete on price!!

Sonos is overpriced garbage. I very much hope that apple this time has learned their lesson and either make something decent at an affordable price point or something actually good at a premium price.