HomePod Mini Supports Low-Power Thread Networking Technology

Still with an ugly cable!

Just order the nuclear-powered option then 🤷‍♂️

Should have been waterproof and wireless.

Given how well Apple has hidden the power cord in photos and videos, people are going to assume it's battery operated.

This is super cute, my puppy is going to love chewing on it.

This is super cute, my puppy is going to love chewing on it.

My cat said he couldn't wait knocking this off the book shelves. Told me to get two.

I’ve been saying since Apple discontinued Airport that Apple was heading towards a future where a WiFi router based home network was irrelevant.

Today, Apple implemented two of those necessary pieces. Thread networks devices without the need for a central “home network” and 5G provides speed and bandwidth not only matching that of a WiFi network but exceeding it.

The future of home networks is no home networks. Every device just talks to each other directly and where feasible and necessary, devices connect to the internet via their own embedded 5G chip.

June 2019:

If we look closely at Apple's hardware releases in the last several years, it's possible to interpret their strategy and understand why Apple got out of the router game.

The answer is that each Apple device is its own piece of a mesh network. Every Apple device recognizes Apple devices around it and seamlessly creates a network of all devices logged into the same Apple ID and known Apple ID's.

The reliability of transferring files via AirDrop has gotten to a point where it really does just work. iCloud puts storage in the cloud where any device can access it, even outside of a traditional local network. Printers connect directly to each device, without having to configure them manually. These functions constitute the majority of uses for a home network.

The obvious piece that's missing is of course internet access. iPhones connect to the internet directly via LTE and can even get other devices online like Macs and iPads. But LTE data is expensive and Macs and AppleTVs consume large amounts of data. This is where 5G will come in. Speeds are expected to exceed terrestrial internet and available bandwidth will enable ISP's to charge the same for wireless data as they do for traditional internet — with the added benefit that it's much cheaper to deploy 5G infrastructure than it is optical cabling under city streets and on poles.

Some people will probably say that this isn't viable for offices. Commercial networks were never AirPort's focus. IT departments didn't buy a bunch of AirPort to build networks. It was always primarily a consumer device. We have to see this from a consumer perspective and so for consumers, a direct internet connection via a 5G chip built into each device makes far more sense than configuring WiFi networks at home.

Mesh networks are experiencing a bit of a moment now but I don't think that will last as 5G is deployed and people start relying on their future iPhone's 5G connection when data prices drop to the price of traditional home internet prices. Apple wasn't looking at the short term when they decided to abandon AirPort. They're thinking ahead. I fully expect Macs and even AppleTV's to come with built in 5G chips in the coming years and for Watches and iPads to come with cellular chips standard.

Great to hear that after so many years Stuart Cheshire is still at Apple working on innovative network technology. As a network nerd I absolutely love his work and his talks at WWDC and IETF meetings.