Another Apple launch event, another notable absentee. Apple launched its more affordably priced iPhone 16e, complete with the benefits of the Californian giant’s latest-generation A18 chip, 6-core CPU and C1, Apple’s first cellular modem designed in-house, but that was just about it. Not that iPhone fans were complaining, that’s a lot of new hardware packed into a phone that’s set to retail at around £599 / $599.
What we audiophiles were all quietly waiting for, though, was the launch of a new HomePod. More specifically, we’d been teased the possibility of a new HomePod 3 with a screen, with tech insiders and journalists alike having posited that a new smart speaker would arrive with a 7-inch LCD display since at least 2023. More recent rumours from late last year also seemed to confirm that a screen-sporting HomePod would land at some point during 2025, so it was reasonable to think that Apple’s latest February 2025 event would include a new model. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.
I’ve grumbled about this before, but the desire to see a new and improved set of smart speakers has only amplified with each passing Apple event that fails to see them arrive. Apple’s September event gave us the AirPods 4, the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro, yet not a hint of any new HomePod, and with all the talk of a new unit arriving in 2025, it was reasonable to assume that now would be the time. Apple clearly thinks that the popularity of its smart speakers, combined with the fact that they’re tied so closely to the ever-popular Siri, means that an update isn’t a pressing concern.
Yet time waits for no tech brand, and it’s increasingly true that an update is required if Apple isn’t going to be left in the dust by its competitors. Rivals continue to muscle in on the smart speaker game, with Amazon expanding its own range of Echo and Echo Dot speakers as Sonos’ Era 300 and Sonos Era 100 counterparts continue to impress. Alexa is the smart assistant to beat at the moment, and with Apple doubling down on its ‘Apple Intelligence’, surely now is the time to take the fight to its greatest rival in the race for AI supremacy. The iPhone 16e is set to integrate ChatGPT into its software via the likes of Siri and Apple Intelligence, so why shouldn't a new HomePod do the same?
It was reasonable to assume that we’d see a new HomePod, too. The second-gen model launched in early 2023, meaning there have been two years since we saw a mainline iteration come to take the place of the established incumbent. The HomePod Mini has been around for even longer, launching in 2020 as a smaller and less costly version of the mainline unit. Five years later, we’re still waiting for a second-gen Mini.
So when could a new HomePod, big or small, be on the way? Our latest predictions suggest that the middle of 2025 could now be the time for us to see a new HomePod finally rear its screen-sporting head, with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reckoning that we won’t see one before Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Those predictions tend to be couched in terms of a sequel to the main HomePod 2, with the Mini’s future very much up in the air. That said, the ‘HomePod with a Screen’ could act as a de facto successor to both established models, so maybe it’s not right to think of the Mini as being made completely redundant.
Whatever the case, it’s time for Apple to kick into gear and give us what we’ve been waiting for. Aside from a sequel to the AirPods Pro flagship earbuds and a fully updated sequel to the AirPods Max, the HomePod needs to be on its way. We’ve waited for over two years for an updated Apple smart speaker, and it’s time for a new unit with better sound, smarter smarts and better third-party app support (Siri control for Tidal, please) to make its debut. We’re done waiting: give us a new HomePod!
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Apple Event 2025: the new iPhone 16e (not SE 4), but no new HomePod or AirPods
