Following the HomePod miniannouncement at Tuesday's Apple event, The Loop's Jim Dalrymple has answered a key question many people have been asking: Can you pair a HomePod mini with an original HomePod to make a stereo pair?
"The short answer is no," explains Dalrymple. "You can't make a stereo pair of a HomePod and a HomePod mini. You can make a stereo pair of two HomePods or two HomePod minis, but you can't mix and match the two products."
That's not to say the two devices can't be used together at all, however. Dalrymple goes on to explain that if you have a HomePod and HomePod mini in the home, they can be used to play your music in different rooms. Apple's new Intercom feature will also work on both devices.
Dalrymple says an update is on the way for the original HomePod that will add many features that are coming with the HomePod mini, including Intercom, personal update, Maps continuity, multiuser support for Podcasts, and support for third-party music services like Pandora and Amazon music.
In another notable tidbit, he says an additional upcoming feature exclusive to the original HomePod will add "an immersive home theater experience when paired with an Apple TV 4K."
To get the 5.1, 7.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos, you need to pair one or two HomePod speakers to the Apple TV. This feature requires the spatial sound support of HomePod, so it isn’t available for the HomePod mini.
It's understood that this ability to select HomePods as home theater speakers for Apple TV will also fix the lingering issue of Apple TV often forgetting that HomePods are the preferred speakers for audio output.
Lastly, Dalrymple notes that a HomePod and HomePod mini can't be connected to Apple TV at the same time, but two HomePod minis connected to Apple TV will provide stereo sound.
The HomePod mini costs $99 and is available in both White and Space Gray. Pre-orders begin on November 6, and deliveries begin on November 16.
Why would anyone have thought it would be possible to pair two speakers of vastly different sizes and capabilities? The full size HomePod would completely drown out the HomePod mini. Of course you can't stereo pair them.
Not for stereo sound pairing, no. There should never be an option to mix and match HomePod and HomePod mini for stereo sound.
My hope however was to be able to pair two of these as rear surround speakers with the HomePod to the Apple TV 4K. This would be the closest solution to my dream HomePod Sound Bar product that I’ve been wishing for.
Disappointing it can’t yet, but I’m still very interested to hear this upcoming ‘home theater’ support for the original HomePod.
Also, who knows what other options could be unlocked via software updates...
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
Top Rated Comments
My hope however was to be able to pair two of these as rear surround speakers with the HomePod to the Apple TV 4K. This would be the closest solution to my dream HomePod Sound Bar product that I’ve been wishing for.
Disappointing it can’t yet, but I’m still very interested to hear this upcoming ‘home theater’ support for the original HomePod.
Also, who knows what other options could be unlocked via software updates...
HomePod minis can only stereo pairing or multi-room audio.