Apple releases new HomePod Mini colour – amid questions over future of Siri

No versions of the HomePod are yet able to support Apple’s new Siri – despite their reliance on voice control

(Apple)

Apple has released a new colour of the HomePod Mini – and prompted a whole host of questions.

The HomePod Mini was first released in November 2020. As the name suggests, it was a smaller version of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker.

In the almost four years since the Mini was released, however, Apple has not updated the product. That is despite it now running on relatively old hardware, and the larger HomePod getting an upgrade with better speakers and a new processor last year.

Last month saw the introduction of Apple Intelligence, which includes new experience for Siri that Apple says will make the voice assistant much smarter. But both sizes of the HomePod do not appear to support that update, seemingly because of the relatively slow processors that power them.

That led to some speculation that Apple could release new versions of the home speakers that would include enough processing power to run the new experience. Apple has also suggested that it is working on bringing the new Siri to other platforms, perhaps sparking hope that the HomePods could get the software update after all.

The new HomePod Mini, however, does not include any of those changes. It is in fact almost indistinguishable from the existing one.

The update simply brings a new ‘Midnight’ colour, which is a dark grey. It replaces the existing space grey option.

It seems the two are largely the same, however, with both looking almost identical on the website. In other Apple products, ‘Midnight’ has tended to indicate a slight blue tone, which may be present in the new HomePod Mini.

The change does allow customers to buy the Mini in the same colour that the newer HomePod is offered in. And it brings the two colour names into line.

The update – announced via a press release on Apple’s website, rather than being included in any event – presumably means that the HomePod Mini is not likely to get any other updates soon.

The new colour is available to order now and will start delivering this week. It costs $99, the same as other HomePods, and brings no other changes.