Next HomePod And Apple Watch May Not Have The Upgrades You Want

Apple revealed the existence of the HomePod in mid-2017, but it took almost a year before it finally launched the product. The company’s first smart speaker had a mixed reception, which wasn’t too surprising considering how far Apple had allowed rivals like Amazon and Google to take the lead in this lucrative market. The original HomePod was also quickly discontinued in 2021 and replaced by the smaller HomePod Mini that launched in 2020. Since then, there has been no word on any new speaker, at least until now.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims a new HomePod is coming next year, and its biggest change will reportedly be an upcoming Apple S8 processor (via 9to5Mac). This is the same silicon that will power the Apple Watch Series 8 and is an upgrade over the Apple S5 found on the HomePod Mini. While there will likely be some other upgrades over the original, larger HomePod, including the possibility of multi-touch control, the tech journalist says the size and audio performance will be nearly the same as the original. While the HomePod is no slouch in that regard, it’s still a bit disappointing that Apple might not give the HomePod 2 an overdue audio upgrade.