Apple’s HomePod mini 2 is here, dressed in new colors and powered by a newer chip—with some of its biggest promised smarts still waiting for a future software update. The second-generation smart speaker is almost identical to its predecessor physically, but now comes in pink and green, alongside black and white. The blue finish has also changed shade.
That makes color the most immediately visible update, which is not nothing in a product line whose exterior has barely moved. In a close-up look at Apple’s demo space, The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy found the new finishes especially striking beside iMac models in matching colors. Apple has long understood that selling a device can involve selling the pleasing little arrangement it makes with the rest of the desk. Coordination, apparently, is also a feature.
Inside, the HomePod mini 2 gets an S10 chip that Apple says is capable of powering Siri AI. But the new AI features won’t arrive with the speaker itself: Apple says support will roll out in a future update. That distinction matters. The chip is in the box; the promised software experience is not yet available. Until Apple supplies that update, buyers have a smart speaker with the capacity for those features, rather than the features themselves.
Another addition is Sound Glow, which matches the speaker’s LED lights to the colors of a song’s album artwork. It’s a visual flourish rather than a reason to expect a different kind of speaker, but it gives the familiar glowing top a job beyond looking busy. The mini can also now serve as a Mac’s default speaker, expanding its role beyond a standalone smart-home device.
Apple is launching the HomePod mini 2 alongside a new HomeView smart display and a collection of smart-home devices. The source report says preorders for the $149 speaker open today, with shipping scheduled to start October 30. It does not specify a year in the supplied details, so the date is presented as reported rather than dressed up with calendar certainty.
The pitch, then, is a modest hardware refresh with a more colorful wardrobe, a Mac audio option, and a handful of software-dependent ambitions. That may be enough for people already invested in Apple’s home setup—or for anyone whose smart speaker must match the iMac. For everyone else, the central question is still what Siri AI will actually do once the update arrives. Apple has named the capability, but the useful test comes later, when customers can try the finished features rather than admire the chip that might support them.
Until then, the HomePod mini 2’s clearest upgrade is the one you can see from across the room. The AI, by Apple’s own account, is still on the way.
Sources: Glitch Please! and The Verge — https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009935/apple-homepod-mini-2-hands-on — Reporting by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy; photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge.
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