Is the HomePod Mini a Good Gift Still? Here's What to Consider

At $99 successful the U.S., the HomePod mini is simply a much affordable acquisition enactment for Apple enthusiasts. However, the talker was released conscionable implicit 4 years ago, truthful you whitethorn beryllium wondering if it is inactive worthy purchasing oregon if you should clasp off.


Below, we outline 3 things to instrumentality into consideration.

First, determination person been rumors astir a HomePod mini 2, but nary of them are recent.

The firmest rumor came from Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo. Back successful February 2023, helium said wide shipments of a caller HomePod mini would statesman successful the 2nd fractional of 2024. However, heading into the last period of the year, it is unclear if that accumulation has really started oregon if it volition soon. There has been nary speech astir a HomePod mini 2 being imminent, truthful a motorboat seems improbable until 2025 astatine the earliest, barring a astonishment announcement.

Kuo did not uncover immoderate caller features planned for the adjacent HomePod mini, but imaginable upgrades could see a newer spot for improved audio, a second-generation Ultra Wideband spot for a lower-latency Handoff experience, and caller colour options. The existent HomePod mini is equipped with an S5 spot and a U1 chip.

While the HomePod mini has received nary large hardware upgrades since it was released successful November 2020, Apple has refreshed its colour options a fewer times. The talker was released successful Blue, Orange, and Yellow successful November 2021, and Space Gray was replaced with a virtually-identical Midnight finish successful July of this year.

The 2nd happening to instrumentality into information is that Apple reportedly plans to merchandise an all-new astute location hub arsenic aboriginal arsenic March 2025. The hub is expected to diagnostic astir a 6-inch show that tin beryllium attached to a tabletop basal with a speaker, truthful the instrumentality could fundamentally beryllium a much utile alternate to the HomePod mini. It has been predicted that the hub could beryllium priced successful the $199 to $299 range, truthful an Apple acquisition paper that idiosyncratic could usage towards that instrumentality adjacent twelvemonth is different thought to consider.

Third, Siri is wide considered to beryllium an inferior integer adjunct compared to the likes of Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant. It's thing to support successful caput depending connected however overmuch your giftee plans to usage dependable commands.

If you bash spell up with gifting a HomePod mini this year, that is simply a good prime too. The talker is simply a spot outdated now, but it remains an capable talker for its price, and it volition proceed to service its intent for respective years.
This article, "Is the HomePod Mini a Good Gift Still? Here's What to Consider" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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