Final week was a busy one for Apple. On Tuesday, we acquired new chips, Mac minis, and MacBook Execs, and Wednesday introduced the stunning return of the full-sized HomePod, with the same design as the unique mannequin in addition to the identical $299 price ticket, about two years after it was discontinued.
And if you dig into it, issues get even weirder. The brand new HomePod isn’t a carbon copy of the unique mannequin, however in delicate and complicated ways in which received’t be all that noticeable to anybody shopping for one. Listed below are 5 details in regards to the new HomePod which have us scratching our heads:
Apple redesigned it to look the identical
At first look (and second and third), the 2nd-gen HomePod appears to be equivalent to the unique mannequin. It has the identical round physique, mesh exterior, and display, however there are slight variations. For one, it’s 4mm shorter and 200 grams lighter. The display on the high is now barely recessed, and the show is bigger and simpler to see. The “seamless mesh cloth” from the unique mannequin is now “acoustically clear mesh cloth,” and stretches a bit extra excessive. There’s a brand new Midnight coloration that appears rather a lot like a barely darker shade of Area Grey. Nevertheless, not one of the adjustments will make a lot of a visible distinction until you’re evaluating a brand new one and an previous one facet by facet, so it appears unusual that Apple went by means of the difficulty of redesigning the HomePod in such small methods.
You’ll be able to’t create a stereo pair with a 1st-gen HomePod
One of many HomePod’s greatest options is its skill to create a stereo pair that “performs every channel in excellent concord, making a wider, extra immersive soundstage than conventional stereo audio system.” It’s not a brand new function, however there’s a catch: You’ll be able to’t pair a brand new HomePod with an previous one. For a stereo pair to work, you’ll want two of the identical HomePods: a 1st gen with a 1st gen; mini with a mini; 2nd gen with a 2nd gen. It makes logical sense because the two have totally different specs, but it surely certain would have been good for Apple to determine a approach to make the 2 play properly collectively.
Foundry
It makes use of an Apple Watch chip as an alternative of an iPhone one
The unique HomePod used Apple’s A8 processor, which had debuted within the iPhone 6 a couple of years earlier, as “the brains behind the superior audio improvements.” When the HomePod mini arrived a couple of years later, Apple used an Apple Watch Collection 5’s S5 chip to “obtain large sound out of such a compact design.” The 2nd-gen HomePod additionally makes use of an Apple Watch chip, the Apple Watch Collection 7’s S7 processor, “to supply much more superior computational audio.” That’s all nicely and good, but it surely’s arduous to not assume an A12 or A13 would offer a little bit of future-proofing.
It nonetheless has an built-in energy cable
One of many unique HomePod’s greatest shortcomings was the built-in energy cable—primarily as a result of individuals naturally tried to disconnect it and typically ended up ruining their audio system. It’s attainable that Apple modified the connector to cease that from occurring, however based mostly on photographs, the HomePod nonetheless has the identical completely hooked up energy cable on the rear of the gadget. A swap to a magnetic connector just like the 24-inch iMac would have been a pleasant enchancment.
The brand new HomePod might look equivalent to the previous one, but it surely’s truly a bit totally different.
Foundry
It helps slower Wi-Fi than the iPhone 6
It’s bizarre sufficient that the brand new HomePod nonetheless has Bluetooth 5 as an alternative of 5.3 (as discovered on new Macs and iPhones), but it surely truly has slower Wi-Fi than the unique mannequin. In response to the tech specs, the primary HomePod supported 802.11ac, higher often known as Wi-Fi 5 whereas the newer HomePod makes use of Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n). Maybe it’s an excessive amount of to ask for Wi-Fi 6E when the brand new iPhones don’t even help it, however we’re shocked to see the brand new HomePod makes use of a Wi-Fi commonplace as previous because the iPhone 4.
The audio specs look like inferior
Right here’s the strangest factor—based mostly on the audio specs, the brand new HomePod isn’t nearly as good as the unique mannequin. Whereas it absolutely “delivers next-level acoustics” as Apple claims, a fast comparability of the tech specs reveals two fewer horn-loaded tweeters (5 vs. seven) and microphones (4 vs. six). In fact, all audio system and microphones will not be made the identical and audio processing counts for lots. We’re assured that Apple will get equal or higher audio out of fewer audio system and microphones—but it surely’s unusual that Apple didn’t truly say the HomePod 2 is best and even stranger that the previous HomePod is seemingly superior to the brand new one on paper.
