NEW HOMEPOD COMING SOON? WHAT APPLE INTELLIGENCE MEANS FOR THE SMART SPEAKER'S FUTURE

The highlight of this year’s WWDC was undoubtedly Apple Intelligence.

Apple dedicated nearly half of its presentation to discussing its unique take on artificial intelligence, outlining the features it would enable and the promising future ahead. The focus was on three key products: the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

This led many to wonder about other Apple devices like Vision Pro, Apple Watch, and HomePod.

While the Vision Pro and Apple Watch were excluded from the discussion, it’s likely that Apple has future AI plans for these devices.

However, the status of the HomePod remains uncertain. Will the HomePod support the new Siri? Is a new model in development?

WILL CURRENT HOMEPODS SUPPORT APPLE INTELLIGENCE?

Apple currently offers two HomePod models: the HomePod (2nd generation) and the HomePod mini. Both models feature chips that seem unlikely to support Apple Intelligence. This means no new and improved Siri, and likely no integration with ChatGPT.

For context, Apple has specified that its new AI features require either an A17 Pro chip, which is currently exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, or an M1 chip or later, found in recent Macs and iPads.

The HomePod features an S7 chip, while the HomePod mini has an S5 chip—both comparable to the chips used in the Apple Watch.

Even if the HomePod lineup included the latest S9 chip from the Apple Watch Series 9, it still might not be powerful enough to support Apple Intelligence.

While it is uncertain if Apple could enable certain Siri-related AI features on these less powerful chips, a more likely solution may be in the works: new, more powerful HomePods.