Apple Reveals New HomePod With Next Level Audio Quality In Another Surprise Announcement – SlashGear

Inside, there’s a custom-engineered high-excursion woofer, which Apple says can drive the speaker diaphragm a full 20mm. There are also five tweeters — using beamforming to direct their sound — and a bass-EQ microphone. The new HomePod uses sound reflections from the surfaces around it, whether walls or something else, so that it can adapt its musical tuning in real-time. Apple says that it’s also capable of beaming direct and ambient Spatial Audio to listeners.

Apple

It’s all powered by the Apple S7 chipset, which supports Spatial Audio with a single HomePod or a pair wirelessly linked together. It’s possible to wirelessly hook them up to an Apple TV 4K, too, for TV and movie audio. Siri can then be used to control the Apple TV 4K hands-free. It’s worth noting that stereo pairs will only support two identical HomePods: you won’t be able to pair a first-gen and a second-gen together, for example, or this new 2023 HomePod and a HomePod mini.

Features like multi-room audio are also controlled by Siri. That responds to the familiar “Hey Siri” wakeword, but it’s also possible to hand off iPhone audio — using Ultra Wideband — to a nearby HomePod. That can include music, podcasts, and phone calls. “Find My” on HomePod allows lost devices to be located by voice command.