The HomePod mini 2 is releasing today, Friday, October 30, and the $149 speaker reaches stores without its headline feature. Siri AI will arrive in a later software update, and Apple has not set a date.
That price is $20 above the original HomePod mini after Apple’s 2026 price increases, which lifted it from $99 to $129 in June. The new speaker comes in pink, green, blue, white and midnight.
The HomePod mini 2 release date lands before Siri AI and surround sound
Siri AI is coming later as a free update. Personal context requests, such as finding a song a friend texted you, need the owner of the home to have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad on the latest software. The speaker can also recognize up to six people in a household by voice and connect to each person’s device. Without an Apple Intelligence device, the speaker still gets web-based world knowledge, natural conversation and better music discovery once Siri AI is switched on.
Siri AI will be available in English in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The EU is not among those countries.
Four-speaker surround sound needs the new Apple TV 4K (4th generation), which goes on sale November 13, two weeks after the speaker. The setup takes matching front and rear pairs of HomePod mini 2 or HomePod (2nd generation) speakers, so the original HomePod mini does not qualify.
HomePod mini 2 can also be the default speaker for a Mac, alone or as a stereo pair, on any Mac with Wi-Fi 6E or later. A stereo pair needs two speakers of the same model and generation, which means two HomePod mini 2 units.
The S10 chip brings Wi-Fi 6E and drops a microphone
HomePod mini 2 runs on the S10 chip, up from the S5 in the 2020 model, and uses computational audio to adjust dynamic range, loudness and acoustic performance in real time. Wireless moves to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking and an Ultra Wideband chip are also on board.
The microphone count falls from four to three, so Siri now listens through a three-microphone design. The sound hardware carries over, with one full-range driver, dual passive radiators, 360-degree sound and a 3.3-inch height.
The speaker is still a home hub for HomeKit and Matter accessories, and Intercom lets you ask Siri to send a voice message to the whole house or to a single room. Sound Recognition listens for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and notifies an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It needs the updated Home architecture, a separate update in the Home app.
Apple Home Collection video doorbells and cameras can use Face Recognition to announce who is at the door, with HomeKit Secure Video and Face Recognition turned on. Those accessories start arriving in December, and select ones follow in early 2027.
HomePod mini 2 uses 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled copper, gold plating and tin solder in all Apple-designed circuit boards. The paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based.
Sound Glow also reaches the original HomePod mini
Sound Glow makes the top of the speaker glow and pulse with the music, with colors taken from the album artwork. HomePod Software 27.2 brings it to the original HomePod mini and the HomePod (2nd generation), while the 2018 HomePod does not get it. Voice control for Sound Glow needs an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone.
That leaves Siri AI as the feature the older speaker cannot match, because the original HomePod mini will not get Siri AI. The new speaker is compatible with HomePod Software 27.2, which is already out.
Apple is also including three months of Apple Music with a new HomePod mini 2 for a limited time. The offer is for new subscribers only, and the plan costs $11.99 a month afterward.
