Today at WWDC 17, Apple gave all of us a Sneak Peek at Apple-Designed Home Music Speaker.
At just under 7 inches tall, HomePod represents years of hardware and software innovation:
- Apple-designed upward-facing woofer, paired with the custom A8 chip, enables bass management through real-time software modeling that ensures the speaker delivers the deepest and cleanest bass possible, with low distortion.
- Custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters, each with its own amplifier, provides well-balanced smooth timbre as well as precise directional control of a multitude of beam shapes and sizes.
- Apple-designed A8 chip provides the brains behind the advanced audio innovations.
- Automatic room-sensing technology allows HomePod to quickly learn its position in a room, whether it’s in a corner, on a table or in a bookshelf, within seconds it is perfectly optimized to deliver an immersive music listening experience.
- Six-microphone array with advanced echo cancellation Siri is able to understand people whether they are near the device or standing across the room, even while loud music is playing.
- Siri waveform appears on the top to indicate when Siri is engaged, and integrated touch controls allows for easy navigation.
- Automatic detection and balance of two speakers using both direct and reflected audio to deliver amazing audio wirelessly for an even more immersive experience.
- Easy setup that is as intuitive as setting up AirPods ”” simply hold an iPhone next to HomePod and it’s ready to start playing music in seconds.
Pricing and Availability
HomePod will be available for $349 (US) in white and space gray starting in December initially in Australia, the UK and the US.1 HomePod is compatible with iPhone 5s and later, running iOS 11.
Sources: Apple Newsroom
