Apple’s HomePod Mini 2 adds Siri AI and Wi-Fi 6E
Apple’s compact smart speaker returns after six years with a new chip, faster wireless standards and a glowing top panel.
Apple’s HomePod Mini 2 brings Siri AI, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6 to the company’s smallest smart speaker after a six-year gap between generations.12
What has changed?
The new speaker uses Apple’s S10 chip and can handle general conversational requests without a compatible iPhone or iPad. When paired with an Apple Intelligence-capable device, it can also work with contextual information from Messages, Calendar and Reminders, according to Apple’s published details reported by ZDNET.12
Wireless connectivity moves from Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6. The upgrade should reduce congestion and latency in compatible homes, while the new speaker can join up to four units in a surround-sound setup with the new Apple TV 4K.1
Apple has also added Sound Glow, an ambient light on top of the speaker that reacts to music and can mirror album-art colours. The HomePod Mini 2 is available to preorder in five colours ahead of its 30 October launch for $149.1
Our opinion
The Mini 2’s most meaningful change is not the colourful light: it is the attempt to make Siri useful without treating the speaker as a remote control for another Apple device. Whether that intelligence feels genuinely helpful will depend on Apple’s software, but the connectivity and multi-speaker upgrades give the six-year-old design a credible refresh.