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AirPlay 2 Coming to Sonos Speakers in July
Sonos is planning to implement AirPlay 2 support for its speakers starting this July, the company announced today at an event unveiling new technology.
Sonos has previously said that AirPlay 2 will be available on the Sonos One, the second-generation Play:5, the Playbase, and future products.
Older Sonos speakers will not support AirPlay 2 on their own due to processor limitations, but they can be paired with the Playbase, the Play:5, or the Sonos One to enable AirPlay 2 functionality. A Sonos Play:1 grouped with a Sonos One, for example, will support AirPlay 2.
AirPlay 2-enabled Sonos speakers will also work with other AirPlay 2 speakers such as the HomePod, and Apple Music will work on Sonos devices using Siri on a paired iPhone, according to Sonos.
Sonos today also announced that Amazon Alexa works with its devices starting now in multiple countries, and the company unveiled a new smart speaker for the living room -- the Sonos Beam. The Sonos Beam, priced at $399, is a smart, compact soundbar designed for the TV, and it too will support AirPlay 2 and Siri. The Sonos Beam and other AirPlay 2 Sonos speakers are the first that have dual-assistant support, working with both Alexa and Siri. Google Assistant support is also in the works.
Apple first enabled AirPlay 2 in the iOS 11.4 update, released in late May, and following the release, Apple published a list of all of the speakers that have announced plans to implement support for AirPlay 2. AirPlay 2 will be enabled on Sonos speakers through a software update.
Pre-orders for the Sonos Beam are available starting today from the Sonos website, with Sonos planning to launch the speaker in July.
Sonos has previously said that AirPlay 2 will be available on the Sonos One, the second-generation Play:5, the Playbase, and future products.
Older Sonos speakers will not support AirPlay 2 on their own due to processor limitations, but they can be paired with the Playbase, the Play:5, or the Sonos One to enable AirPlay 2 functionality. A Sonos Play:1 grouped with a Sonos One, for example, will support AirPlay 2.
AirPlay 2-enabled Sonos speakers will also work with other AirPlay 2 speakers such as the HomePod, and Apple Music will work on Sonos devices using Siri on a paired iPhone, according to Sonos.
Sonos today also announced that Amazon Alexa works with its devices starting now in multiple countries, and the company unveiled a new smart speaker for the living room -- the Sonos Beam. The Sonos Beam, priced at $399, is a smart, compact soundbar designed for the TV, and it too will support AirPlay 2 and Siri. The Sonos Beam and other AirPlay 2 Sonos speakers are the first that have dual-assistant support, working with both Alexa and Siri. Google Assistant support is also in the works.
Apple first enabled AirPlay 2 in the iOS 11.4 update, released in late May, and following the release, Apple published a list of all of the speakers that have announced plans to implement support for AirPlay 2. AirPlay 2 will be enabled on Sonos speakers through a software update.
Pre-orders for the Sonos Beam are available starting today from the Sonos website, with Sonos planning to launch the speaker in July.
Tag: Sonos
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20 weeks ago
If they can connect a current model with the old to allow airplay2 , why not provide a bridge replacement to allow old speakers to work?
20 weeks ago
Apple should have bought Sonos and never made the HomePod. Granted that would require Apple to open the ecosystem. Airplay2 for Sonia does nothing for me. Tried the HomePod, went back to Sonos. All is good.
20 weeks ago
So I admit I'm a being a bit slow here, but what will AirPlay2 support allow me to do with my Sonos that I can't do with the Sonos App?
One example is you could play the sound of the video you're watching on your phone through the speakers.
20 weeks ago
So I can buy 2 of the newer Sonos One's and pair each with my older Play 1's and get Airplay 2 on the older unsupported Play 1's??? That is AWESOME!
20 weeks ago
I'm just waiting for the complaints.
"It was promised a year ago!!!"
"Its stupid!!!"
"Apple was better when Steve was here!!!"
"Where's AirPower!!!"
"Where's the new MBPs!!!"
So predictable
"It was promised a year ago!!!"
"Its stupid!!!"
"Apple was better when Steve was here!!!"
"Where's AirPower!!!"
"Where's the new MBPs!!!"
So predictable
20 weeks ago
Seems to good to be true :) Being able to use Airplay 2 in place of a Connect just seems crazy considering how Sonos typically operates but I'll take it if this is in fact true. I just wonder how this will work because the Apple TV is not going to show up in the Sonos app to create a group.
I don't think you'll be creating a group within the Sonos App. Airplay 2 allows the Sonos speakers to be used outside of the Sonos app itself, which is kind of the whole point. :)
20 weeks ago
The Sonos Beam webpage needs at least one correction.
Near the top of the page it says:
Premium sound
Full-range woofers and tweeters harmonize low and high frequencies.
But at the bottom of the page under Specs it says: “One tweeter creates a crisp and clear dialogue.”
So there’s only a single tweeter, presumably located at the center of the sound bar since they reference dialogue. Maybe it also produces some of the L+R signal of the left and right channels, or maybe it’s only for the center channel, who knows.
Near the top of the page it says:
Premium sound
Full-range woofers and tweeters harmonize low and high frequencies.
But at the bottom of the page under Specs it says: “One tweeter creates a crisp and clear dialogue.”
So there’s only a single tweeter, presumably located at the center of the sound bar since they reference dialogue. Maybe it also produces some of the L+R signal of the left and right channels, or maybe it’s only for the center channel, who knows.
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