Apple just gave me a reason to keep my 6-year-old HomePod mini
Macworld ·
Macworld For years, the HomePod mini has been my go-to speaker for everyday listening at home. It sounds great, looks sleek, and deeply integrates into the Apple ecosystem—all for just $99 back when it launched. When Apple unveiled the HomePod mini 2 earlier this month, I was tempted to replace my fully functional stereo pair solely to get the new software exclusives, such as Siri AI. That was until I installed the OS 27.2 update, which brings enough of the second-generation experience to the original HomePod mini to minimize my urge to upgrade. Quite the glow-up Sound Glow essentially brings the Dynamic Island’s animated waveform to the HomePod. The brand-new feature extracts the most prominent colors in a playing song’s album art and displays them on the HomePod’s touchscreen. The hues dynamically pulsate in sync with the track’s rhythm, reflecting the bass and treble in real time. While it technically doesn’t change how a song sounds, it does make the listening experience significantly more immersive and enjoyable. I had assumed Apple would restrict Sound Glow to the HomePod mini 2, as my first-generation stereo pair is always within my sight when working, and such a feature would matter to me. The Music app on my Apple TV 4K 3 already provided a similar visualizer on the big screen; having my HomePod minis react with the same palette would contribute to the overall ambience. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Sound Glow is actually supported on all HomePods—excluding the original full-size model. After installing iOS 27.2 on my iPhone and its HomePod equivalent on my speakers, I was able to turn on and use Sound Glow on my 2020 minis just fine. Now they feel significantly more vibrant and energetic when blasting bops on them. My old HomePod mini is getting new lights and features to match the 2nd-gen model. Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Ghost buster Many users have had to discard their otherwise functional HomePods because of the somewhat widespread phantom touch issue. The flaw repeatedly triggers the affected HomePod’s touchscreen without any user input, pausing/playing music and controlling the volume in a chaotic manner. The latest OS update fixes the issue with a Lock Controls toggle in the Home app that optionally disables the touchscreen. So, whenever your HomePod starts misbehaving, you can kill touch input altogether and continue to rely on the otherwise functional speaker using voice commands or your iPhone. Turning a blind AI While OS 27.2 does not activate Siri AI on my original HomePod minis, the feature is arguably inessential in this context. The classic Siri generally works well for basic audio playback commands, and I tend to have longer, more complicated conversations with Siri AI using the keyboard on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Plus, the new HomePod mini 2 sells for $149, so upgrading my stereo pair would cost me another $300. It would make more sense to maintain my current HomePod setup and instead buy a HomeView for a similar price. This would unlock Siri AI and provide an always-on display as a bonus. Until Apple releases a meaningful upgrade, I will continue to rely on my trusty 6-year-old HomePod minis without a problem. HomePod Software and iOS 27.2 will launch to the general public next week—potentially on Monday, October 26—with the Sound Glow and Lock Controls features. To try them early, you can sign up for Apple’s beta program and download the Release Candidate builds currently available.