Apple’s $149 HomePod Mini 2 Speeds Up Siri as Mac Speaker Feature Stumbles
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Nov 1
Apple’s $149 HomePod Mini 2 Speeds Up Siri as Mac Speaker Feature Stumbles
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Nov 1
Summary
$149 HomePod Mini 2 impressed in early testing with much faster responses, cutting common Siri and smart-home actions to under 3 seconds from waits that could stretch to 10 seconds on the first model.
Apple’s S10 chip and Wi-Fi 6E appear to drive that gain, while Siri also talks less during home-control commands; the bigger Siri AI upgrade, however, is still slated for a later software update.
Design and usability also improved: the new green finish stood out, audio quality remained strong despite unchanged speakers, and a new Home app setting can disable the touch controls on all HomePods.
The headline new Mac feature fell short, with the reviewer unable to enable the promised persistent AirPlay default-speaker mode on a compatible Mac and HomePod Software 27.2 setup.
That leaves the Mini 2 looking like a more meaningful upgrade than its specs suggested, but still an incomplete one until Siri AI arrives and Apple fixes Mac pairing.