How the HomePod can be Apple's new iPod: Fun, popular, and simple

The iPod was recently laid to rest. Now it's time for the HomePod to rise.

- JASON SNELL

The original HomePod flopped (fave.co/3ApnOWM). wasn't discouraged. It reconceived the product and released the HomePod mini, a less high-tech-and more affordable But Apple iteration that seems to have been more successful in the market and suggested Apple had larger home ambitions (fave.co/3GjZdDe).

Now come rumors that Apple's planning on building a new HomePod. In fact, there are rumors that as many as three new HomePods could be headed our way. Could it be, in the same year that the iPod finally faded away, that the HomePod will transform itself from a failure into a key Apple product line?

It's time. Not just for a HomePod comeback, but for HomePod domination. Two HomePods? I want more. I want four. It's time for Apple to rush back into the smart home game, and the HomePod can lead the way.

RETURN OF THE HOMEPOD

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported (fave.co/30H6a5r) that Apple's working on a new HomePod for later this year or early in 2023. The logical assumption here is that the HomePod mini will once again be given a non-mini counterpart, a larger speaker that sounds better-but perhaps is more like a scaled-up HomePod mini than a revision of the original, expensive HomePod.