Since all the rumours have been about the new HomePod Mini (HPM) your post does remind me that I haven't heard any solid rumours about any new version of the full sized HomePod coming out any time soon. I hope Apple isn't going to ignore that more expensive (than the HPM) HomePod product like it seems to be ignoring the AirPod Max bit of its wearable audio product range.
I know that the second generation full-sized HomePod has been updated more recently than the current HPM but if the HPM is about to get a processor upgrade it would be nice if Apple could take the opportunity to also synchronise the product upgrade cycle for the HPM and full-sized HomePod otherwise, if they end up with different generations of processor at any given time, there could be differences in terms of processing speeds for requests and maybe the sophistication of the audio processing between the latest full-sized and Mini versions. I wouldn't like to see a situation where the HPM's bigger brother is lagging behind in those areas because the it got an update one year but the full-sized HomePod didn't.
I suppose that if the rumours about a HomePod with a display coming out some time early next year are true then maybe that might be a point where Apple also updates the full-sized audio-only HomePod. I'd be OK with that.