Apple announces a $99 HomePod Mini smart speaker alongside the 5G-enabled iPhone 12 at its ‘Hi, Speed’ virtual event
- Spherical design of the speaker is similar in appearance to the latest Echo
- Device has a mesh covering and features Apple’s smart assistant, Siri
Apple has unveiled a new smart speaker at its virtual showcase.
It comes in white, space grey and is open for orders November 6, with shipping starting on November 16. It will retail for $99, Apple announced.
The unveiling came during its ‘Hi, Speed’, event which was streamed from Apple’s headquarters in California at 6pm BST.
The Homepod Mini comes in white (pictured), space grey and is open for orders November 6, with shipping starting on November 16. It will retail for $99, Apple announced. The unveiling came during its ‘Hi, Speed’
The annual launch event is nearly one month later than normal and comes as the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted Apple’s well-oiled machine for designing and churning out its biggest-selling product.
The Mini is powered by Apple’s S5 chip, the same one in the Apple Watch SE and Series 5, which Apple says allows for ‘computational audio’.
The speaker has a mesh appearance similar in design to the latest Echo and will interact directly with a user’s iPhone, providing visual, audio and haptic feedback.
It also has a display on top of the speaker which provides the trademark waveform aesthetic now closely associated with Siri. It also has a touch panel on top for play/pause and volume options.
During the presentation of the speaker, which came before the iPhone 12 reveal, the Apple team focused on the audio quality and security of the speaker.
However, it is its price which matters most to the market, as it sees Apple go directly up against Google and Amazon.
The original HomePod cost $349 at its 2018 launch, much more expensive than other options in the market, with Apple once again positioning itself as the top-of-the range option.
Apple has unveiled a new smart speaker at its virtual ‘Hi, Speed’ event, hosted by CEO Tim Cook
The Mini is powered by Apple’s S5 chip,the same one in the Apple Watch SE and Series 5. The speaker has a mesh appearance similar in design to the latest Echo
It failed to muscle in on the duopoly of Amazon and Google. Since then, Apple has woke up and realised the high-end market is not only limited, but saturated.
The future lay in cheaper tech which was more accessible, and yet still had some of the new features, as proved with the success of handsets Pixel 4a and iPhone SE.
As a result, Apple’s hardware tam has now finally rolled the Mini, a true rival to the Echo and Nest range.
While the Apple speaker is just entering the field of cheap smart speakers, the $99 price tag and Apple’s army of fanatics will eat into the dominance of it rivals.
It is equivalent in price to the recently announced Nest Audio and the Latest Amazon Echo.
Several HomePod Mini speakers can be used to play music, providing true stereo sound.
Apple also announced the Mini will be compatible with several third-party music services, including Amazon Music, but excluding Spotify.