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Apple Adds AirPlay 2 Section to HomeKit Site, Outlines Upcoming AirPlay 2 Speakers

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Apple today updated its HomeKit site, which is where the company lists all of the available accessories and smart home products that offer HomeKit support, with a new AirPlay 2 section.

This section of the site lists all of the upcoming speakers and receivers that will be updated with AirPlay 2 support now that the AirPlay 2 protocol is available.

airplay2-800x353.jpg

AirPlay 2 devices include the HomePod, of course, which is the first and only AirPlay 2 device available following today's iOS 11.4 update, along with speakers from companies that include Bang & Olufsen, Denon, Libratone, Marantz, Naim, and Sonos.

Sonos, perhaps the most popular and well-known company introducing AirPlay 2 support, plans to add it to the Sonos One, the Play:5, and the Playbase. AirPlay 2 will work with other Sonos speakers, but one of these three Sonos devices will be required.

Today's list is limited to manufacturers who have already pledged support for AirPlay 2, but it is likely to grow as additional companies announce AirPlay 2 functionality. A full list of speakers gaining AirPlay 2 support is below:
  • Apple HomePod
  • Beoplay A6
  • Beoplay A9 mk2
  • Beoplay M3
  • BeoSound 1
  • BeoSound 2
  • BeoSound 35
  • BeoSound Core
  • BeoSound Essence mk2
  • BeoVision Eclipse (audio only)
  • Denon AVR-X3500H
  • Denon AVR-X4500H
  • Denon AVR-X6500H
  • Libratone Zipp
  • Libratone Zipp Mini
  • Marantz AV7705
  • Marantz NA6006
  • Marantz NR1509
  • Marantz NR1609
  • Marantz SR5013
  • Marantz SR6013
  • Marantz SR7013
  • Naim Mu-so
  • Naim Mu-so QB
  • Naim ND 555
  • Naim ND5 XS 2
  • Naim NDX 2
  • Naim Uniti Nova
  • Naim Uniti Atom
  • Naim Uniti Star
  • Sonos One
  • Sonos Play:5
  • Sonos Playbase
None of these speakers are available with AirPlay 2 at the current time, but many of them will gain support for the feature following firmware updates that will likely start trickling out now that iOS 11.4 has launched.

Article Link: Apple Adds AirPlay 2 Section to HomeKit Site, Outlines Upcoming AirPlay 2 Speakers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/05/29/apple-airplay-2-speaker-list/
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I wonder how many people that are commenting how excited they are realize they could have been using almost all the same features from iTunes on a mac for the last...what, 5 years now?
[doublepost=1527619096][/doublepost]
Macwick said:
Oh hai Apple, cool list of stand-alone speakers. How do I add AirPlay 2 support to an *existing* amp/speaker setup? K thnx
Click to expand...
Hook it up to an Apple TV 4k.
 
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Two things:

First, it's a shame AirPlay2 support isn't coming to the AirPort Express 3rd gen. I know a bunch of people used it as an AirPlay receiver for amplified stereo speakers. As it is original Apple hardware, they really should just update the software to add support.

Second, I hope receiver companies like Denon update their firmware to add support for AirPlay2.
 
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Call me when I can open my door and have my own entrance music.

I have a motion sensor. I have music. I have a speaker. This shouldn’t be difficult.

Yeah, I know I can create my own device to do that using Raspberry Pi. But I want an Apple device that supports that out of the box.
 
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busyscott said:
I wonder how many people that are commenting how excited they are realize they could have been using almost all the same features from iTunes on a mac for the last...what, 5 years now?
[doublepost=1527619096][/doublepost]
Hook it up to an Apple TV 4k.
Click to expand...

Itunes for PC also...
 
busyscott said:
I wonder how many people that are commenting how excited they are realize they could have been using almost all the same features from iTunes on a mac for the last...what, 5 years now?
[doublepost=1527619096][/doublepost]
Hook it up to an Apple TV 4k.
Click to expand...

I believe the ability to play from multiple speakers and the ability to link multiple speakers so they just work in sync are different.
 
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oneMadRssn said:
Two things:

First, it's a shame AirPlay2 support isn't coming to the AirPort Express 3rd gen. I know a bunch of people used it as an AirPlay receiver for amplified stereo speakers. As it is original Apple hardware, they really should just update the software to add support.

Second, I hope receiver companies like Denon update their firmware to add support for AirPlay2.
Click to expand...

ignatius345 said:
I hope this turns out to be true:

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/0...ll-apparently-gain-airplay-2-speaker-support/
Click to expand...

People here seem to assume its trivial to add Airplay 2 support to the Airport Express but I really don't think Apple could do it even if they wanted to. The AP Express has only 64MB of RAM and Airplay 2 requires that devices are able to buffer minutes worth of audio, versus Airplay 1 requiring only a buffer of a few seconds.

There just isn't the room for minutes worth of audio to fit into the 64MB of RAM when shared with the OS. No software update could get around that. Sorry guys.
 
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critter13 said:
if they arent going to update the Airport Express firmware to support Airplay2 then can they atleast update the iTunes Remote app to support things like Apple Music Radio so i can just keep using iTunes to serve up audio to different speakers.
Click to expand...
The iTunes Remote app has been broken in a lot of ways for years. It has tons of bugs that become apparent when you use it for more than a few minutes, some of them literally requiring you to quit and relaunch the app for UI items to reappear. Apple has obviously abandoned its development. :mad: I'm not even going to mention the lack of split-screen support on the iPad.
 
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star_nerdy said:
Call me when I can open my door and have my own entrance music.

I have a motion sensor. I have music. I have a speaker. This shouldn’t be difficult.

Yeah, I know I can create my own device to do that using Raspberry Pi. But I want an Apple device that supports that out of the box.
Click to expand...

This is already Possible with Lutron, ifttt, and Sonos. I’ve setup Lutron scenes that automatically start music and lights based on family member arrival.
 
Hoping the Marantz SR5012 gets a software update for AP2. I just purchased it new a couple months ago... And for all those excited about Sonos support, I think that only applies to the newer versions of the Play:1/3/5.

Edit: According to this link and a list supplied by Marantz, a good number of "older" models including the SR5012 are getting AirPlay 2 firmware updates!

Marantz fans rejoice! Models scheduled for an AirPlay 2 firmware update:
  • Marantz ND8006
  • Marantz NR1508
  • Marantz NR1608
  • Marantz SR5011
  • Marantz SR5012
  • Marantz SR6011
  • Marantz SR6012
  • Marantz SR7011
  • Marantz SR7012
  • Marantz AV8805
  • Marantz AV7704
  • Marantz AV7703
  • Marantz SR8012
  • Marantz NR1509
  • Marantz NR1609
 
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busyscott said:
I wonder how many people that are commenting how excited they are realize they could have been using almost all the same features from iTunes on a mac for the last...what, 5 years now?
Click to expand...

Not everyone has a Mac (or PC), nor wants to drop $800+ (for a Mac) just to do this. This is a good feature added for non-Mac (and non-PC) owners.
 
Sonos finally jumping on board of AirPlay. One of the reasons I never even considered them was the lack of AirPlay, just offering the crappy Sonos App. Oh and the ridiculously high energy waste in standby mode.
 
star_nerdy said:
Call me when I can open my door and have my own entrance music.

I have a motion sensor. I have music. I have a speaker. This shouldn’t be difficult.

Yeah, I know I can create my own device to do that using Raspberry Pi. But I want an Apple device that supports that out of the box.
Click to expand...

You may not want to go though with the effort since it is not “out of the box” but you can currently do this with a Mac that runs constantly with free Homebridge software and a few Applescripts.

I tell Siri to turn on my Home Music System, and using the homebridge-applescript-file-lightbulb plugin and an AppleScript that is setup to change my pioneer receive input via network command, iTunes to select a playlist, set the speaker volumes, and play.

Right now each speaker is setup to be a lightbulb so the volume is set via brightness, but I asked the developer who stated it will be updated with iOS 11.4 APIs.
 
star_nerdy said:
Call me when I can open my door and have my own entrance music.

I have a motion sensor. I have music. I have a speaker. This shouldn’t be difficult.

Yeah, I know I can create my own device to do that using Raspberry Pi. But I want an Apple device that supports that out of the box.
Click to expand...

Perhaps write a Service that once the door sensor is triggered the Service daemon spawns an instance where your ``special entry music'' is cued and played.
 
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