Apple Releases New HomePod 15 Beta Update Following Reports of Sudden Failures
Apple today released a new version of the HomePod 15 beta software that's designed to go along with the iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and macOS Monterey betas.

The new software comes as multiple HomePod owners running the original HomePod 15 beta have complained of sudden failures and heat issues that have rendered their HomePods non-functional.
HomePod beta software is distributed on an invite-only basis to select users, so there is no update that can be downloaded by developers or the general public.
There are ways to get the HomePod software if you're not a part of Apple's testing group, but because it's designed for a small number of users on an invite-only basis, we do not recommend using any alternate method to obtain the update.
It is beta software and can be unreliable, as the multiple reports of hardware failures demonstrate. These issues have also affected those with the 14.6 release software, but there does not appear to be a new public version of the HomePod software at this time.
The release notes for the HomePod 15 update do not offer any information and do not indicate whether the failure issue has been addressed.
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