Report: Apple will bring HomePod back by 2023

After officially phasing out the HomePod last year, Apple will soon release a new version of the smart speaker, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in a Sunday newsletter.

The report detailed the expectations without citing sources and said the speaker is “unlikely to arrive before”2023. Gurman said that a new HomePod is currently in development, codenamed B620. It will reportedly use the new S8 processor, which will also be used in the next Apple Watch. The new S8 “will have the same specs as the S7, which was also the same as the S6,”Gurman said.

Bloomberg’s newsletter also states that the new HomePod “will be closer to the original HomePod in terms of size and sound quality than the new HomePod Mini.”

“The new HomePod will have an updated display on top, and there has even been talk of multi-touch functionality,” Gurman said.

Apple originally started selling the HomePod in 2018 for $350, but decided in March 2021 to discontinue the product and focus on the more affordable HomePod Mini.

“HomePod Mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, smart assistant and smart home control for just $99. We focused our efforts on the HomePod Mini,”Apple told TechCrunch at the time.

It’s not clear why Apple brought the HomePod back after officially announcing it was discontinued (Apple still provided software updates and support). Apple’s high-end Siri-controlled smart speaker had a hard time competing with the Amazon Echo and Google Nest, despite offering superior sound quality. The HomePod has also struggled to compete with Sonos offerings that work better across platforms.

However, the HomePod has taken years to develop and has received high-end features such as the ability to use machine learning to improve sound quality based on speaker placement and the number of speakers in a room.

And since its discontinuation, there have been some gaps in Apple’s speaker lineup that the HomePod Mini can’t fill. For example, HomePod Mini does not support Dolby Atmos 5.1 or 7.1 virtual surround sound for an Apple TV home theater setup.

And the HomePod Mini has less impressive sound quality, which is understandable since it costs a fraction of the price of the original HomePod.

For Apple fans longing for something more advanced than the HomePod Mini, the HomePod resurgence is an exciting prospect. If Apple brings the speaker back, we hope it adds more flexibility, like Bluetooth streaming, better integration with Android and third-party services, more powerful voice assistant capabilities, and maybe even a lower price. If Apple can provide such updates, there is hope that the HomePod can find a more permanent place in the smart speaker market than its predecessor.