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HomePod Mini 2 Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Rayansb said:
I hate all of my pods, Siri is so braindead using it is not good for my health.
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Yeah, I kind of have to agree with you on that

On all of my other devices Siri will spring into action with your request right away, but on both my OG/full size HomePods and my minis, sometimes it'll just randomly take longer and go through the whole "On it.... Still working..." and while sometimes it'll go through with my request, sometimes it'll just come back with the dreaded "Something went wrong, please try again" or something like that
 
If only the improved communications chip would allow four to be connected to an Apple TV for surround sound (yeah, minus a subwoofer but their bass is good enough for most things).

Heck, I'd settle for an Apple TV that could handle a wired front pair and wireless back pair with the improved chip keeping all in sync through monitoring of latency to the wireless pair.

And of course Apple actually implementing such features...

-R
 
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I have a yellow one on my nightstand, I use it solely as a speaker for phone calls or to listen to the radio. Have never used siri and never will.

the temp/humidity sensors are nice too, but its inherently useless information

For a new gen all I would add is a 3.5mm line out port (haha not happening), detachable USB-C instead of the fused one, and add haptic feedback to the top buttons

A portable homepod with battery would also be awesome, but they already sell the Beats Pill
 
I bought 2 HomePods, 2 mini’s - I hate them all 😂

I’ve put them on top of a high Bookshelf, to not risk to touch them, and trigger Siri.
For the record I hate Siri in general more than the speaker’s in it-selves.
Siri is deactivated on all my devices.

But nevertheless, once in a while, the HomePods/mini's - Siri - start to play/speak something that I haven’t started - just rubbish from totally nowhere.
Unfortunately HomePods are not very popular around here. Won’t get much for them, if I even find a dumb-ass to buy them at all. So I’ll let them be for now.
But I’m going to replace the old Speakers that I have used since I bought the Apple Expresses, with good bluetooth speakers. Have my eyes on some from Pioneer - a brand I have good experience of.
The old Apple Expresse’s deserve plenty of praise though!
 
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Timpetus said:
I have 4 of the HomePod Minis and I will say this: don't buy them for Siri.
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Weird. I have two and I only use them for Siri (if one of them starts playing music, something has gone wrong). Mostly they control lights lights, timers, and i add reminders with them. Siri makes some mistakes, but gets most of the things I ask correct. Sound quality isn't great, compared to my Sonos speakers, but for $99 that's okay.
 
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I’d be really interested in a good LLM Siri on a HomePod. Most of the music I listen to anymore is either from small bands or just things you wouldn’t hear on the radio… and Siri is just awful at figuring out what I’m asking for, even if it’s all in my personal Apple Music library. My iPhone 15 almost always gets it right, but my HomePods (regular and mini) all fail constantly.

For some reason the Apple Home-related commands I tell Siri almost always work WAY faster on my HomePods than my phone though.
 
These speakers are fine for me in the bathroom or any other smaller room. I like form, sound, integration and colors. Just hold an iPhone with an active song near the pod, ready. Or use Apple Music Remote. Easy.

I dont care about siri - or any other asistant - at home (why should i ?).
 
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The gap between Apple and Alexa as well as just about any other "smart" home company is devastating for Apple. Jobs would have beheaded half the people around him by now (not saying that's the right way, but sh*t would have been done right).

Maybe they should ask ChatGPT how to fix things?
 
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Didn't realize they had built in temperature and humidity sensors.

Is it possible to easily get historical data for temperature data, i.e. a chart over recent months? I've been looking for a HomeKit-enabled temperature gauge and wouldn't complain if it comes with a speaker glued to it.
 
incoherent_1 said:
Didn't realize they had built in temperature and humidity sensors.

Is it possible to easily get historical data for temperature data, i.e. a chart over recent months? I've been looking for a HomeKit-enabled temperature gauge and wouldn't complain if it comes with a speaker glued to it.
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Not that I know of, but you can set automations based on temp and humidity levels which is pretty cool. I dont have smart thermostats yet (apartment) so my lights turn red when it gets too hot or blue when it gets cold allowing to turn on A/C or heating before I feel it too much.
 
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I have 3 of them in my house, a stereo pair in the living room and the other in the bedroom.
They're OK but Siri sux. Sometimes Siri responds via the minis or it responds via my iPhone, even though I asked Siri for whatever via the minis.
I stream music or voice (audiobooks) to the speakers from my iPhone & it's fine, though it needs more bass, but otherwise, nothing special.
Sometimes, there's a disconnect for whatever reason then corrects itself, even after it's been re-synced.
I wouldn't spend more money to buy the upgraded v2 of the minis as the OG minis still 'work' and currently meets my basic needs. Just wished that syncing was simpler.
 
Hey Siri, play Whole Lotta Love in Living room.

“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize that song. Do you mean “All you need is Love” by the Beatles?

No Siri, Play w-h-o-l-e l-o-t-t-a l-o-v-e by Led Zeppelin in living room.

‘Ok’

(Hole’s “Violet” heard muffled in the distance coming from basement.)
 
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Sure, we can laugh at Siri's incapability, but I'm tired of that too.

But I do look forward to my continious use of ChatGPT, OpenAI and are excited of what Sam and Joni are evolving.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple released the HomePod mini nearly five years ago, so you may be wondering when a new version of the speaker will finally arrive.

homepod-mini-thumb-feature.jpg

Below, we recap rumors about a next-generation HomePod mini.

HomePod mini: Timeline
HomePod mini 2: Rumors

In January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple was aiming to release a new HomePod mini "toward the end of the year." If that timeframe remains accurate, the HomePod mini 2 will likely be released in September, October, or November this year.

The new HomePod mini will be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Gurman. He said the chip will support Wi-Fi 6E, which is much faster and has lower latency compared to the current HomePod mini's Wi-Fi 4.

No other features or changes have been rumored yet, but improved sound quality and a newer processor are safe bets. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. The speaker could also be updated with Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, which debuted in iPhone 15 models.

New color options are likely as well.

Article Link: HomePod Mini 2 Expected Later This Year With These New Features
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Can we just have a smarter siri? I feel like Alexa has a better IQ than siri…
 
Yet another missed opportunity from Apple. 5 years and barely an update. What do they do all this time?! I won't jump on the bandwagon about Siri, as that has been said many times now. However, it works for me, but I give it basic instructions.

What Apple could do is make HomePod minis work as a WiFi mesh network. If an Apple device that has Apple Intelligence enabled is nearby, it could link to that for Siri to give better responses. Connect it to an tv that has 2 HomePods connect to it in stereo, and they could work as rear speakers for surround sound.

I refuse to believe any of these things are impossible for Apple to do, and would make HomePod minis more useful, and in doing so, sell more. But no, it's all about a faster chip in an iPhone or Mac that the vast majority of people won't notice
 
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