Sonos confirms AirPlay 2 coming to newer products

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But owners of older Sonos products can still benefit from the update…

Last October, Sonos announced it would bring Apple’s AirPlay 2 to its products this year. Today, the company has not only filed papers to go public this summer, but also confirmed the AirPlay 2 update will roll out to the Play:5 speaker, Playbase soundbase and its new Sonos One smart speaker. All future Sonos products (surely the Play:3 is next in line for an update…) will also support AirPlay 2.

However, older Sonos products, like the Play:1 or Play:3, will also benefit from this functionality if they share a household with a newer, AirPlay 2-enabled one. AirPlay 2-compatible speakers can be grouped with older Sonos speakers to bring AirPlay streaming to an entire Sonos system.

Sonos says native support on older speakers isn’t possible due to their computing platforms and software architecture, and a lack of ‘horsepower’. The Play:1, for example, has about 1/16th the processing power of the Sonos One.

No specific timeframe has been given for the rollout, other than it will happen ‘this year’.

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Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10+ years in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices. In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.