HomePod mini Launches in Austria and Ireland, Coming to New Zealand Later This Month

Apple last month announced that the HomePod mini would be made available in several new countries in June. Now, less than a month later, the ‌HomePod mini‌ has officially launched in Austria and Ireland, and is listed as "available in June" in New Zealand, suggesting availability in the next couple of weeks.

homepod mini thumb feature
The ‌HomePod mini‌ is the follow-up to the original HomePod released in 2018. The full-sized ‌HomePod‌ failed to become a mainstream hit, leading to its discontinuation. The $99 ‌HomePod mini‌ features a significantly smaller design than the original ‌HomePod‌ but offers the same functionality enabled by Siri.

The ‌HomePod mini‌ first launched in October of 2020 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, and the UK. Both the ‌HomePod‌ and ‌HomePod mini‌ will gain support for Apple Music's recently launched lossless audio feature via a software update later this year. Additionally, the ‌HomePod mini‌ will be able to be set as the default output speaker for Apple TV 4K starting later this year.

Related Roundup: HomePod mini
Buyer's Guide: HomePod Mini (Caution)

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 10 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...

Top Rated Comments

mungo2k Avatar
52 months ago
Does anyone know why the rollout is slow around the world? Is it technical or legal? A Siri-language issue? 3 years after the original HomePod release, you still cannot officially buy it in rich, Apple-loving countries like Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, or in other large European countries like Portugal, Italy, Poland, Belgium etc.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PilotWoo Avatar
52 months ago
I sold my Homepod MINI. Disappointed with the sound quality, it didn't play nice on a mesh Wifi network, and Siri was as useless as it is on any other Apple device.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Dave Avatar
52 months ago
It’s still unavailable for purchase on the New Zealand Apple Store.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genovelle Avatar
52 months ago

The sound of the original HomePod wasn't bad enough, so Apple had to try again...
This time they succeeded!
I remember when most people had HiFi in their homes... Uncompressed CD sound on big stereo speakers! TWO of them!!!
How about vinyl?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LimpHamster Avatar
52 months ago

Does anyone know why the rollout is slow around the world? Is it technical or legal? A Siri-language issue? 3 years after the original HomePod release, you still cannot officially buy it in rich, Apple-loving countries like Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, or in other large European countries like Portugal, Italy, Poland, Belgium etc.
Wonder the same, why would it take so long for apple to launch the HomePod in other countries? It is really disappointing. There are more examples of such slow roll-outs, like the swipe to type feature in iOS which is not available in parts of Europe, I suppose the live text feature wont be available in like a decay too :)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiPa Avatar
52 months ago

The sound of the original HomePod wasn't bad enough, so Apple had to try again...
This time they succeeded!
I remember when most people had HiFi in their homes... Uncompressed CD sound on big stereo speakers! TWO of them!!!
Well, all random dude snark aside. Professional testers have rated the HomePod as sounding great. (I wold agree). The mini also sounds fantastic. I have a pair set up in a room with a HomePod, you can play on all three speakers, set the volume so that it splits the sound field in the middle and then move between the HomePod and mini, the tone and musical characteristics are pretty much identical, except for a heavier bass sound on the HomePod, but not unpleasantly so.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)