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

[MonstaMash]

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.

Definitely. Thanks to HomeKit, my lights and temperature automatically adjust when I arrive home. What better way to be welcomed than to have your favorite playlist play when you open the door?

 

[MarkNY]

I'm moving and don't want to drill holes in the floor for surround speakers. Any chance I could use an Airplay 2 speaker as a surround speaker?

 

[ignatius345]

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.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't AirPlay 2 → AirPort Express enabled in some iOS betas? That kind of implies that it's at least in the realm of possibility.

 

[DJMarty]

If you haven't heard them the B&O speakers sound amazing!

 

[Kognito]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't AirPlay 2 → AirPort Express enabled in some iOS betas? That kind of implies that it's at least in the realm of possibility.

The AP Express would show up in the Home app on 11.4 Beta 1 which lead to the speculation, though trying to use it as a speaker was a no-go. I think Beta 2 stopped them from showing up.

I suppose that leads to either it being a bug that they showed up in the first place, or that Apple tried to get them working but didn't manage it (which I suppose is a reasonable assumption given that there was even an Airport Express icon implemented in the Home app).

Kinda sad that they discontinued the AP line, they could have bumped the RAM up and re-released it as an Airplay 2 device. Perhaps that would have been to the detriment of HomePod sales though.

 

[oneMadRssn]

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.

Assuming Apple uses their favorite AAC encoding at 256kbps (used for Apple Music, AirPods, etc.), that is about 2MB/minute. Seems 4-8MB would be plenty for the caching minutes.

 

[btrach144]

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.

+1. I own a 2017 Denon receiver. It's worrisome to see right now that Denon is only providing support for 2018 high end receivers.

Surely an update doesn't require new hardware? Anyways, I wouldn't spend $500 just for AirPlay 2. A receiver is a 10 year purchase for me.

 

[icanhazapple]

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?
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Hook it up to an Apple TV 4k.

While Google has been able to do with with a $35 Chromecast Audio since September 2015? Pathetic on Apple’s part.

 

[oneMadRssn]

+1. I own a 2017 Denon receiver. It's worrisome to see right now that Denon is only providing support for 2018 high end receivers.

Surely an update doesn't require new hardware? Anyways, I wouldn't spend $500 just for AirPlay 2. A receiver is a 10 year purchase for me.

Agreed. I also use Spotify-connect far more often than AirPlay anyway. But Denon is pretty good about pushing firmware updates, so it would sure me nice to get AirPlay2 for future-proofing.

 

[Tux Kapono]

Updated to 11.4, but it doesn't look like I can play music through both my Apple TV (where my speaker system is hooked up) and HomePod devices via iOS at the same time... yet...? It's still only allowing me to play through one at a time. By comparison, I've long been able to play music through both via iTunes on my MacBook.

 

[critter13]

Assuming Apple uses their favorite AAC encoding at 256kbps (used for Apple Music, AirPods, etc.), that is about 2MB/minute. Seems 4-8MB would be plenty for the caching minutes.

I believe it needs to be able to support storing minutes of lossless audio, not just compressed AAC.

 

[gaximus]

Oh hai Apple, cool list of stand-alone speakers. How do I add AirPlay 2 support to an *existing* amp/speaker setup? K thnx

I've added support to 3 stereos in my house using a raspberry pi, only about $35. Currently it only supports AirPlay 1, but considering it is open source it'll likely be updated before any of these other speakers get updated.

 

[DNichter]

HomePod is soaring with updates today. Honestly, this is what we should have expected somewhat earlier, but Its refreshing to see all new additions.

Are you saying this in regards to AirPlay 2/calendar, or are there other improvements you are seeing? I won't be able to play around with mine until tomorrow.

 

[MikeMo]

So, if I update to iOS 11.4, I will no longer be able to stream to my existing Airplay devices?

 

[Menel]

Assuming Apple uses their favorite AAC encoding at 256kbps (used for Apple Music, AirPods, etc.), that is about 2MB/minute. Seems 4-8MB would be plenty for the caching minutes.

Airplay has always been lossless, no decoding done on the AirportExpress endpoints. Decoded before transmission.

 

[tkermit]

So, if I update to iOS 11.4, I will no longer be able to stream to my existing Airplay devices?

AirPlay 1 devices continue to work as usual.

 

[Menel]

So, if I update to iOS 11.4, I will no longer be able to stream to my existing Airplay devices?

You'll be fine. Airplay1 doesn't go away.

 

[tkermit]

Airplay has always been lossless, no decoding done on the AirportExpress endpoints. Decoded before transmission.

I think it uses ALAC, so some decoding I guess would have to be going on there, just not using a lossy codec.

 

[DSquiz]

I really hope we get an update for the Airport Express. It's such a great device and I used it with Airplay 1 all the time.

Does the 3rd gen AppleTV support Airplay 2 or is it only the 4th gen?

 

[icanhazapple]

I've added support to 3 stereos in my house using a raspberry pi, only about $35. Currently it only supports AirPlay 1, but considering it is open source it'll likely be updated before any of these other speakers get updated.

That would be funny if it weren't so sad.

 

[FilipeTeixeira]

Meanwhile Bose's absence shows how they lack on innovation. One of these days they will replace all their speakers by real instruments that the customer has to play instead of listening to music.

 

[Lax608]

I really hope we get an update for the Airport Express. It's such a great device and I used it with Airplay 1 all the time.

Does the 3rd gen AppleTV support Airplay 2 or is it only the 4th gen?

That was my question about the Apple TVs as well.

 

[icanhazapple]

Updated to 11.4, but it doesn't look like I can play music through both my Apple TV (where my speaker system is hooked up) and HomePod devices via iOS at the same time... yet...? It's still only allowing me to play through one at a time. By comparison, I've long been able to play music through both via iTunes on my MacBook.

Silly question but did you update your HomePod and Apple TV to the latest update? I mean those are the only two devices that Apple supports for multi-speaker output...How could they screw this up?

 

[rbf1138]

So with Airplay 2 I will be able to: Send youtube audio (or any other audio) from either my iPhone 8 or Macbook to my Apple TV 4K (hooked to my home theater)and then also to my Sonos One, which will also then allow my Sonos Play:1s to be playing that audio too, right? This is great because for Sonos owners it means not having to buy their own $300 device to use your own speakers to play Sonos audio.

 

[coolamty]

Also what about capability to stream from the Apple TV 4K app(like Netflix) to a Homepod and speakers connected to my Apple TV 4K?