Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
HomePod Mini Features Dormant Temperature and Humidity Sensor That Could Be Activated in a Future Software Update
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yeah, but the problem is HomeKit thermostats like Ecobee don't let you use third party temperature sensors. You have to buy their proprietary sensors that have poor range. I already have some third party temperature sensors that work with HomeKit but they can't hook into the thermostat automatically. Maybe if I created a whole series of automations but that's a pain.
Apple's HomePod mini includes a dormant hidden sensor that can measure temperature and humidity, potentially providing the means to power upcoming features that could arrive in a future software update, according to Bloomberg.
Humidity and temperature sensor from a HomePod mini. Source: iFixit (via Bloomberg).
From Mark Gurman's report:
The component measures 1.5 x 1.5mm and is buried in the bottom edge of the HomePod mini's plastic case, near the power cable. The sensor's existence was independently confirmed by iFixit after an inquiry by Bloomberg.
The sensor is made by Texas Instruments, which calls it a "HDC2010 Humidity and Temperature Digital Sensor," according to TechInsights, a firm that analyses components inside of electronics. According to the report, the component's placement suggests that its focus will lie in the external environment, rather than having any internal diagnostic role.
This isn't the first time Apple has included a non-active component in a product and then enabled it at a later date via software. As Bloomberg notes, the 2008 iPod touch had a Bluetooth chip, but support for Bluetooth connectivity was enabled the following year via software.
If Apple decides to enable the sensor in the HomePod mini, it could pave the way for a more integrated smart home strategy for HomeKit, which controls thermostats, lights, locks, plugs and other devices in the home.
As the report notes, it could also help Apple's HomeKit rival similar features already offered by competitors. For example. Amazon's latest Echo speakers include temperature sensors, while Google sells sensors under its Nest brand that can be placed around homes and connect to its thermostats to adjust the temperature of each room.
Article Link: HomePod Mini Features Dormant Temperature and Humidity Sensor That Could Be Activated in a Future Software Update
Apple ... VERY VERY rarely has EVER released a feature update to enable existing hardware functionality AFTER a product was released. AirPods Pro + Spatial Audio is the only one in recent memory that I recall. Yet this is hardware that already supported this feature and didn't enable a piece of hardware that wasn't already enabled.
Didn't they recently buy a weather app concern????Seems like the ideal device to get crowd sourced weather data from for the Apple Weather apps
Electrical and Environmental Requirements
- Operating temperature: 0° to 35° C (32° to 95° F)
- Relative humidity: 5% to 90% non-condensing
- Operating altitude: tested up to 3,000 metres (10,000 feet)
HomePod mini - Technical Specifications
HomePod mini delivers room-filling sound, is an intelligent assistant, and helps you control your smart home. View all technical specifications.
www.apple.com
Seems like the ideal device to get crowd sourced weather data from for the Apple Weather apps
Wouldn’t iPhones be much better to get more of these data points if they had those sensors?
I can imagine a ton of potential articles and forum posts around the wildest theories.
Now this (adding sensors for the future) is something only Apple has the vision to do. Android manufacturers would never bother to do such things.
I wasn't really suggesting that Temperature would be much use directly, however, temperature is required to calibrate barometric pressure.
Yes, Apple bought DarkSky and I seem to recall that the main advantage of DarkSky was the ability to accurately determine when weather conditions were changing in your area and that this was done from analysis of satellite imagery. Having localised, pressure readings from fixed location consumer devices may well help to improve the accuracy of determining when a change in weather is going to occur.
Thread is not the issue, any radio tech will do. This tech is available today:
Best Smart Vents: Room by room climate control – The Smart Cave
thesmartcave.com
The problem's are less high tech, more real world:
- not nearly enough sizes. (Like everything else in construction, there are a million pointlessly different options in HVAC that could be collapsed to 3 or 4. But the vents are already there in the houses -- in all their varied sizes.
- power. Battery is tough for this problem (which requires a big motor and burns energy). But no houses have power feeds available near each duct.
Flair seems to be the most together in terms of trying to solve the problem WELL, and understanding what that requires.
Even so, they can't solve the size problem -- and none of their sizes fit a single one of my vents...
Well I can't speak to how common it is, but you ignored the case of h265 which had the functionality shipped in iPhones (with people unaware of it) a year before Apple announced it, so that their use of h265 and HEVC already had a large user base available.
U1 is likely also in that category, with a bunch of new functionality going to appear with Apple tags and perhaps as more other devices (new Airpods?) also include the U1.
I only bought one so I had home automation enabled for HomeKit. But then I was actually surprised how good the sound output is and I can use it for music when I’m not wanting to use my full system for music (I listen to quite bass-heavy music and I suspect the neighbors won’t appreciate that late at night!)
H265 is software ... it is NOT enabling a hardware component as a new feature - which I tried to describe.
U1 chip example you give is hardware BUT you're talking about new hardware yet to be released. U1 in the iPhone 11 or 12 series has been enabled from the start by Apple.
So let me re-iterate with clarification. Apple rarely has EVER enabled new feature(s)/Functionality of existing hardware that is dormant ... with a software update/enable AFTER released.
- example "potential" reports of the iPhone 12 series having the "capability" of reverse wireless charging - has yet to be 'enabled' by Apple. I actually don't expect this rumor to be true or even come to actual fruition.
AirPods Pro in my example was Spatial Audio ... but that's a software enhancement using existing hardware functionality - not enabling a dormant hardware component.
Uhh, are you seriously unaware that h.265 runs on a dedicated media block on Apple Silicon?
Apple Embraces HEVC: What Does it Mean for Encoding?
At its Worldwide Developer Conference this week, Apple announced it would support HEVC/H.265 in High Sierra and iOS 11 in a combination of hardware and software decoding, depending on the device. Here are the details of how Apple will implement it.
www.streamingmedia.com
The point here is the timing.
A9 launched in 2015. (HEVC decode)
A10 launched in 2016. (HEVC encode)
Apple announced HEVC/HEIF support in mid 2017.
The replacement cost of this item couldn't be more than $60. So Apple is betting that more than 1 in 60 speakers will break due to humidity exposure, so it's cheaper to put a $1 sensor in every speaker (so you can deny warranty claims) than to replace/repair the speakers that stopped working in the bathroom.