Apple has announced HomePod mini 2 at its Welcome Home event, the first redesign of its smallest smart speaker since 2020, with Siri AI support, five new colours and four-speaker surround sound when paired with the new Apple TV 4K.
Pre-orders are open now in Canada from Apple’s online store and the Apple Store app. HomePod mini 2 costs $199 CAD and arrives in stores Friday, October 30, in pink, green, blue, white and midnight, the same new colours that leaked in Apple code last month. It launches alongside the Apple HomeView smart display.
The original HomePod mini launched in the fall of 2020 at $129 in Canada, powered by the S5 chip. The new model moves to the Apple S10 chip and computational audio that tunes dynamic range and loudness in real time, so expect a bump in sound along with that bump in price.
Siri AI is the headline feature, but it isn’t here yet. Apple says it arrives on HomePod mini 2 in a future software update, in English, with Canada on the launch list. Once enabled, it can recognize up to six voices in a household and, with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, pull in personal context to find a song a friend texted you, set a reminder tied to a calendar event, or add ingredients to a grocery list.
Even households without an Apple Intelligence device get Siri AI’s broader world knowledge, back-and-forth conversation and improved music discovery. Requests are handled on device or through Private Cloud Compute, which Apple says does not store data.
Home theatre fans get something new too. Four HomePod mini 2 speakers can now pair with the new Apple TV 4K (4th generation) for surround sound, with the system detecting where each speaker sits and calibrating timing and levels automatically. Apple says HomePod mini 2 can also serve as the default speaker for any Mac with Wi-Fi 6E or later.
A feature called Sound Glow turns the top of the speaker into a light show that pulses with bass and treble, using colours pulled from the album artwork in Now Playing. You can also pick soundscapes like rain for calmer animations.
On the smart home side, HomePod mini 2 acts as a home hub for locks, lights, blinds and thermostats, and works with the new Apple Home Collection doorbells and cameras to announce who is at the door using Face Recognition. Sound Recognition listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and pings your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch if one goes off.
The speaker was part of the October home hub, HomePod mini and Apple TV launch expected ahead of the event.
Is $199 worth it for you, or are you holding out until Siri AI actually shows up?
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